This report sheds light on challenges faced by Transgender persons in Indian prisons. The report analyses the international and legal frameworks in the country which provide the foundation for policy formulations with regard to confinement of LGBT+ persons, with particular reference to the Transgender community. This report also documents the responses received to right to information requests filed to prison headquarters across the country, which in addition to providing the number of Transgender prisoners in Indian prisons between 1st May 2018 to 30th April 2019, also provides relevant information on compliance within prisons with existing legal frameworks relevant to protecting the rights of Transgender persons in prisons, especially in terms of recognition of a third gender, allocation of wards, search procedures, efforts towards capacity building of prison administrators etc. The finalisation of this report has involved an intense consultative process with individuals and experts, including representatives from the community, community-based organisations as well as researcher and academicians working on this issue. This report aims to enhance the understanding of these issues among stakeholders such as prison administrators, judicial officers, lawyers, legal service providers as well as other non-state actors. It is aimed at better informed policy making, and ensuring that decisions made with respect to LGBTI+ persons in prisons recognize and are sensitive of their rights and special needs.

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Today over 1.5 million people are imprisoned in Commonwealth countries and the average occupancy level is 129%. The rise in prison populations is often attributed to the existence of punitive systems that have failed to fulfil the rehabilitative purpose of imprisonment. This article sets forth pertinent data on prisons in the Commonwealth nations, which have evolved from common colonial histories and traditions, to highlight perennial problems within the system. To further illustrate these concerns, it delves into a reflection from the findings of the Report of the Indian Jails Committee, 1919–20, and the Indian prison system of today. In doing this, the article encapsulates the journey of reforms implemented in the last 100 years in India.

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