The German women’s rights initiative Was ist eine Frau? (“What is a Woman?”) has drawn public attention to a proposed bill by the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia that would use gender identity as a basis for prisoner placement — raising the alarm about the risks to women’s safety and rights.
Prison policy in Germany is determined at the state level, and North Rhine-Westphalia argues that the national self-identification law passed in 2024 should be reflected in its own prison regulations.
German prisons are officially sex-separated, yet there have already been several cases of trans-identified men being transferred into women’s facilities. Was ist eine Frau? cites at least one documented case of a trans-identified man committing assault in a women’s prison in North Rhine-Westphalia in 2024.
If passed, the proposed law would effectively abolish sex-separated prison placement in the state, significantly lowering the threshold for male prisoners to be transferred into women’s prisons by simply declaring a female gender identity.
Housing women with male prisoners – who commit the vast majority of violent and sexual crimes – is extremely dangerous. Many incarcerated women are themselves survivors of male violence. Some may be pregnant or accompanied by small children in prison, adding further layers of vulnerability, including for unborn babies and infants.
International conventions, such as the United Nations’ Bangkok Rules (Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders), explicitly require states to implement sex-specific protections for incarcerated women. Maintaining sex-separated prison facilities is named as a key element of such protections. A policy that facilitates the transfer of male prisoners into women’s institutions constitutes a violation of international human rights standards.
North Rhine-Westphalia is Germany’s most populous federal state, with 18 million residents, housing around 9,300 male prisoners and 647 female prisoners. This represents approximately 25% of the male and 30% of the female prison population in the country. A change in prison policy here would not only affect a significant number of female inmates but could also set a precedent for other German states.
The draft law explicitly refers to the national self-ID law as its legal basis. This politically motivated shift aligns with a broader trend at the European level, where gender identity policies are being advanced through the European Commission’s LGBTIQ+ Equality Strategy, undermining sex-based protections in prisons and beyond.
Take action: Share information about what is happening – and, if you are in Germany, support the campaign by Was ist eine Frau? by sending a protest letter (in German) to the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia.