http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/europe\/8455191.stm<\/p>\n
\nItaly 'to open first prison for transgender inmates'<\/p>\n
Many prisons in Italy suffer from overcrowding
\nItaly is to open one of the world's first prisons for transgender inmates, reports say.<\/p>\n
The prison, at Pozzale, near the Tuscan city of Florence, is expected to house inmates who mainly have convictions for drug-related offences and prostitution.<\/p>\n
Gay rights groups in Italy welcomed the move to convert an almost empty medium security women's prison into a specially equipped detention centre.<\/p>\n
It is thought that Italy has a total of some 60 transgender prisoners.<\/p>\n
The centre will house about 30 people, according to reports.<\/p>\n
The BBC's Duncan Kennedy, in Rome, says that until now transgender prisoners have been located in women's prisons where they are often segregated for their own safety.<\/p>\n
Psychological support<\/p>\n
Leading gay rights groups say they welcome the new prison as a dedicated space providing the psychological support transgender prisoners need.<\/p>\n
However, one local council official has said she cannot understand why the Pozzale prison had remained almost empty for so long.<\/p>\n
\"There are at least 30 to 40 women held in nearby prisons who would be ready to be transferred to a medium-security centre such as Pozzale. But very restrictive entry requirements were imposed,\" Franco Corleone told Italian news agency Adnkronos.<\/p>\n
According to Italian newspaper Il Giornale, the prison only has two inmates at present but has a staff of 22 people.<\/p>\n
The prison has its own library, recreation centre, football pitch and agricultural land which produces olive oil and wine.<\/p>\n
Inmates also have their own cell and are given a personal development plan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","topic-tag":[],"class_list":["post-962","topic","type-topic","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tgr.net.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic\/962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tgr.net.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tgr.net.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/topic"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tgr.net.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic\/962\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tgr.net.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"topic-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tgr.net.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic-tag?post=962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}