Women from around the UK have gathered at the Ministry of Justice in London today to protest against male convicts being allowed into female prisons.

The demonstrators are encouraging women to send a postcard to their MPs, demanding that this "ridiculous and dangerous" policy be changed.

This action follows a three-month relay of women passing a large banner from prison to prison, which reads 'no men in women's prisons', and a synchronised protest on January 25 at female prisons across the country.

Speaking to GB News, protesters told the People's Channel that allowing men who identify as women into the single-sex space is "dangerous" for female prisoners.

Protesters outside the ministry of justice have called for women's prisons to stop allowing men in

Co-founder of the campaign group Fair Cop, Sarah Phillimore, told GB News: "We are protesting today outside the Ministry of Justice and we are protesting against the inclusion of men in the female prison state.

"What we are hoping to achieve is to stop it because it is insane, it is mad. Men cannot be women, it doesn't matter how they identify."

Highlighting the potential danger of female prisoners sharing such an intimate living space with a biological man, Phillimore warned: "This is putting some of the most vulnerable women in society at serious risk of emotional and physical harm.

"It has got to stop, it has got to end."

Protesters gathered outside the Ministry of Justice today

Also at the protest, writer Joan Smith told GB News that she is "shocked" by the current prison system still allowing male criminals into women's prisons, even sharing with women who have committed "non-violent crimes".

Smith explained: "I spend a lot of my time writing about violence against women and girls, and I'm really shocked by the fact that some of the most vulnerable women in this country are being sent to prison, usually for non-violent offences.

"And then they find themselves, in some circumstances, expected to share intimate spaces like showers and lavatories with men who say that they're women."

She stated: "I don't think anyone can identify as a woman - I don't think it means anything."

The protesters told GB News that allowing men into women's prisons is 'dangerous' for women

Hitting out at the continued "indifference towards women", Smith claimed that the vulnerable women "need protecting".

She told GB News: "We're actually doing this to vulnerable women, and it says a great deal about the indifference towards women generally. So that's why I'm here today."

Demanding a closure in the loophole which allows men to still be allowed in women's prisons, another protester urged the Government to prioritise women's "safety and privacy".

She stated: "We're here today at the Ministry of Justice to raise awareness about men in women's prisons, in prison cells with women, and we don't think that's acceptable.

"It's dangerous for their safety, their privacy and their dignity, and we want all the loopholes closed."