The Government is being urged to quickly take action to protect transgender prisoners from sexual and physical violence in prison.
The University of Auckland's Equal Justice Project has slammed Department of Corrections policy placing transgender women in men's prisons, unless they have had access to full sex-change surgery.
In a report into the issue, it says the practice is discriminatory and the women are at risk of sexual assault and rape.
Green Party MP Jan Logie says when we lock someone in prison, we have an obligation to ensure that they are safe.
She says transgender women do not deserve to be put at risk of sexual assault while under our care just because their anatomy does not match their gender.
