Police Scotland will seek advice on how to properly record trans offenders, after a U-turn on allowing rapists to identify as women. 

At a meeting of the Scottish Police Authority on Thursday, Chief Constable Jo Farrell said the force's view was that a "man who commits rape or sexual assault will be recorded by Police Scotland as a male."

She added: “The organisation I lead is wholly committed to tackling violence against women and supporting survivors effectively. We will do this while upholding our values of integrity, fairness, respect and a commitment to upholding human rights.”

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Previously, as revealed by The Herald on Sunday, Police Scotland said that the "sex/gender identification of individuals who come into contact with the police will be based on how they present or how they self-declare".

The comment came in response to a petition lodged by the policy analyst group, Murray Blackburn Mackenzie. 

Ms Farrell said the policy, which has been in place since 2019, was created by the force due to a lack of direction from either the Scottish or UK parliament.  

She said: “Neither the Scottish or UK parliaments have been able to set out a codified approach in legislation to the legal status, rights or duties pertaining to the concept of gender recognition in a way that reconciles with the Equality Act 2010.  

“It is within this context that Police Scotland and other public bodies have determined policy and practice in a way that achieves what we consider to be a legal and appropriate balance of rights and duties.  

“Policing needs to consider this in terms of the many situations and scenarios within which we encounter people, and this is not restricted to criminal investigations.” 

The Chief Constable said she had been “struck” by the “commentary from some quarters” that the force, under her leadership, is “supporting policies that seek to respect the rights and dignity of transgender and other minority groups” and “perpetuating a policy that is misogynistic”

The force has now made a commitment to engage with women’s groups as well as seeking “formal” advice as part of a review over the coming months.

SPA Board member Katharina Kasper said leadership had been “sorely lacking.”

She said a legal review was needed “because if you are recording gender you cannot have sex-based policies”.

Ms Kasper added: “How you treat this topic is more than just statistics – it will be pertinent to whether female police officers will have to conduct searches of people who are clearly male but insist on having a different gender identity to that; it will also be important to respond to situations where women and children feel they are having to deal with a male in a space they would expect to be a single-sex space.

“When someone who is male shoots into single-sex space, will you be able to deal with that if that individual maintains they are female?

“These are not really hypothetical scenarios. They happen on a daily basis. Until there is clarity on how you deal with sex and gender I don’t think this will go away.”

She urged “transparency” and “logical conclusions” in a bid to restore public confidence, and said the policy should be in writing, and subject to audit.

Ms Farrell said she was “not going to get into a series of hypothetical scenarios” but she insisted “discretion” is used.

Ms Kasper said: “I think there is an expectation your policy is written down, that it is clear, that legislative analysis is absolutely sound and not just against what your internal position is, but that you’ve consulted with relevant external bodies.

“If you are saying there is discretion, the data needs to be such that you can segregate instances where you have overwritten your policy. At the moment it is not possible to test whether that discretion is in line with policy. There needs to be a way of auditing your policy to ensure it does what it needs to do.”

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SPA chairman Martyn Evans said: “I particularly welcome seeking formal guidance, that has been absent, it isn’t for them to sit on the sidelines. We rely on those whose full-time job it is to give advice. I welcome commitment to bring it back to policing performance committee.

“This has been an issue for around four years now. Clarification around the question of public confidence is very welcome.”

(Image: Newsquest)

 

Responding, Murray Blackburn Mackenzie said there were still questions to be answered: "We welcome the commitment by the Chief Constable that Police Scotland will undertake a wholesale review of its policies based on self-identification.

"This is long overdue recognition that the position developed under the previous leadership was not sustainable.

"We are also pleased that Police Scotland will now redress its earlier failure to meet with women’s groups and listen to their concerns.

"The statement leaves key questions unanswered. These include its policy on recording non-sexual offences, its apparent confusion over the relevant legal framework, and policies on searching.

"We hope that today’s statement signals the start of robust and transparent engagement on this issue."