JK Rowling braves backlash after calling out dangers of forcing male and female prisoners to shower together

J.K. Rowling faced backlash on Sunday after she decried the horrifying conditions in a Scotland prison that force women inmates to shower alongside violent males.

"This is the very definition of cruel and unusual punishment," beloved Harry Potter author and philanthropist J.K. Rowling tweeted Sunday.

Rowling was responding to an article in the United Kingdom's Daily Record. The piece details ex-prisoner Amanda Benson's recounting of the terror she experienced in a Scotland prison when she was made to shower alongside "violent trans inmates."

The violent inmates to whom Benson referred were convicted of murder and domestic abuse, per the outlet. Benson was so concerned she would be raped that she had a contraceptive device implanted while she was still in prison.

"These incredibly violent men were walking around the communal shower area naked and sometimes clearly aroused," the 41-year-old mother told Daily Record.

"Neither [of the two trans inmates] appeared to be women. They dressed as men ... they sounded like men," Benson further clarified to the outlet.

"It is utterly outrageous, evil even, that we were put in a position of having to live in fear of being sexually attacked every day," she added.

Rowling continued to defend Benson on Twitter and responded to other commenters in the thread who took the opposite position — that trans women, who are biological men, showering alongside women is normal, safe, and appropriate.

The issue of biological male inmates being housed with biological female inmates is not exclusive to Scotland. It also occurs in American prisons. In 2022, a transgender Rikers inmate, Ramel Blount, was sentenced to seven years for attempted rape of a female prisoner. The incident, which occurred in 2021, reportedly took place just after the victim had just finished showering.

"A woman lived in justified terror of violence and rape because she'd been locked in with a male murderer and a male abuser of women. She had an invasive medical procedure she didn't want in case she was made pregnant against her will. 'Literally nothing happened,'" Rowling responded to another Twitter user in Sunday's thread.

"So do you think it would be okay for [Benson] to share showers with cis women who committed the same crimes? Cuz she did, and all women in womens' prisons do," said Eve 6000 in response to Rowling's tweet. A Canadian drag performer and eliminated contestant in season two of "Canada's Drag Race," 31-year-old Eve 6000 has more than 66,000 followers between Twitter and Instagram.

Upon receiving comments pointing out that violent men who target women could, conceivably, feign being trans while in prison to assure continued access to their preferred targets, Eve 6000 responded by tweeting, "The replies to this tweet are so f*ck*ng dumb lmao."

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