{"id":205295,"date":"2025-06-22T14:19:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-22T14:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/205295\/"},"modified":"2025-06-22T14:19:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T14:19:12","slug":"police-scotland-review-of-sex-and-gender-data-recording","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/205295\/","title":{"rendered":"Police Scotland: Review of Sex and Gender Data Recording"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This is our submission to the Police Scotland\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/kaevc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">consultation<\/a>\u00a0on its review of sex and gender data recording. The consultation closed on 22 June 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Police Scotland <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/LF7UU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">proposes<\/a> to adopt the following definitions of sex, gender identity and gender reassignment:\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Gender reassignment<\/strong>: the process of changing one\u2019s sex to align with a person\u2019s gender identity. A person has the protected characteristic of gender reassignment under the Equality Act 2010 if the person is proposing to undergo, is undergoing or has undergone a process (or part of a process) for the purpose of reassigning the person\u2019s sex by changing physiological or other attributes of sex.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sex<\/strong>: the biological sex of a person assigned at birth based on physiological characteristics including chromosome composition and reproductive organs.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Gender identity<\/strong>: a person\u2019s internal sense of how they perceive themselves in terms of gender. Gender identity can be the same or different from the sex of a person assigned at birth.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Questions to be asked by Police Scotland when sex and gender identity are specifically required to inform police action e.g. searches in custody (strip searches; intimate searches):<\/p>\n<p><strong>Question 1<\/strong><br \/>Option A: What is your sex as assigned at birth?<br \/>Option B: What is your birth sex?<br \/>Option C: What is your sex registered at birth?<br \/>[Male, Female, Not disclosed]<\/p>\n<p><strong>Question 2\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>Do you consider yourself to be:\u00a0<br \/>transgender;<br \/>non-binary; or<br \/>gender diverse?<br \/>[Yes \u2013 trans man, Yes \u2013 trans woman, Yes \u2013 Non-binary, Yes \u2013 Other,\u00a0No, Not disclosed]<br \/>(If the answer to this is no, then no need to move to question 3)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Question 3<\/strong><br \/>Do you consider yourself to have the protected characteristic of gender reassignment? <br \/>[Yes, No, Not disclosed]<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-2002d2b1cb0313e71fb2ac2767a66735\" style=\"color:#2fad96\"><strong>Question 1<br \/>To what extent do you agree or disagree with the proposed approach for recording sex and gender for Police Scotland?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Strongly agree \/ Agree \/ Neither agree nor disagree \/ <strong>Disagree<\/strong> \/ Strongly disagree \/ Don\u2019t know<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-85e0c67a43f6b9ccc58c219dae528532\" style=\"color:#2fad96\"><strong>Which option is your preference for \u2018Question 1\u2019 in the section above?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Option A: What is your sex as assigned at birth? \/ <strong>Option B: What is your birth sex?<\/strong>\u00a0\/ Option C: What is your sex registered at birth?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Comments:<br \/><\/strong>The given definition of sex is incorrect as sex is not \u201cassigned at birth\u201d. We would suggest an alternative definition of: \u201cSex means being male or female. It is an objective, biological characteristic about a person that is observed at birth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For consistency across organisations the form of the question should follow the UK Censuses (England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland) question: \u201cWhat is your sex?\u201d, with the response categories \u201cFemale, Male\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If needed, and to clarify a Gender Recognition Certificate is not taken into account, guidance for the sex question should provide clarity on the target of the question as follows. \u201cThis question is about your sex at birth\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Since this question relates to intimate searches, an accurate response is necessary for the safeguarding and dignity of the respondent and police officers. It is therefore not appropriate to offer an option to not disclose the information and further investigation should be undertaken to establish the facts if needed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-352a72a7afb1b5893977fdb25b3f61ac\" style=\"color:#2fad96\"><strong>Question 2<\/strong><br \/><strong>Do you support the proposed response options in \u2018Question 2\u2019 within the \u2018More information\u2019 section above?<\/strong><br \/>These are proposed as follows:<br \/>[Yes \u2013 trans man, Yes \u2013 trans woman, Yes \u2013 Non-binary, Yes \u2013 Other,\u00a0No, Not disclosed]<\/p>\n<p>Yes\/ <strong>No<\/strong> \/ Don\u2019t Know<\/p>\n<p><strong>Comments:<br \/><\/strong>Care should be taken only to collect information which is needed. For the purposes of conducting intimate searches the relevant information is sex, so a transgender question should not be asked in this context.<\/p>\n<p>We strongly recommend that the option of \u201cgender diverse\u201d is not included in any question as this can easily be seen to include people who do not conform with gender stereotypes but do not consider themselves to be transgender.<\/p>\n<p>The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 is the only legislation that references \u201ctransgender identity\u201d. In order to categorise crimes for this purpose the form of the question should follow its terms (allowing for a \u201cNo\u201d, and \u201cPrefer not to say\u201d response)\u00a0 as follows:<\/p>\n<p>Do you consider yourself to be:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>a female-to-male transgender person;<\/li>\n<li>a male-to-female transgender person;<\/li>\n<li>a non-binary person; or<\/li>\n<li>a person who cross-dresses.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cTransgender identity\u201d in the Hate Crime Act is different from the term \u201cgender identity\u201d and applying a concept from a small group who consider themselves transgender to the broader population is problematic. \u201cGender identity\u201d is a disputed and controversial concept, and there is no agreed definition. Indeed the definition given in the accompanying notes to this consultation allows for a gender identity to be the same as sex at birth. But gender identity is not sex, they are different and distinct concepts with different definitions, so this cannot be correct. Any such conflation is confusing and unhelpful.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGender identity\u201d is also not a protected characteristic and there is no requirement under the PSED for such data to be collected.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Consideration should be given instead to asking about the protected characteristic of gender reassignment which may be necessary for the purposes of equalities monitoring. A question on transgender identity is unlikely to be a good substitute or specific enough as some identities (non-binary, agender, etc) are not covered by the gender reassignment characteristic and will not assist in compliance with the PSED.<\/p>\n<p>The definition of gender reassignment given in the information accompanying this consultation erroneously includes the phrase \u201cthe process of changing one\u2019s sex to align with a person\u2019s gender identity\u201d. However, the definition of gender reassignment in the Equality Act does not refer to the concept of \u201cgender identity\u201d and we recommend the Act\u2019s definition should be adhered to without any additions.<\/p>\n<p>To capture the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, we suggest asking a direct question addressed to this target, such as: \u201cDo you have the protected characteristic of gender reassignment?\u201d with response options: Yes\/No\/Don\u2019t know\/Prefer not to say.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A guidance note should be included prominently alongside the above question as follows: \u201cA person has the protected characteristic of gender reassignment if the person is proposing to undergo, is undergoing or has undergone a process (or part of a process) for the purpose of reassigning the person\u2019s sex by changing physiological or other attributes of sex.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite the cumbersome language of the legislation, testing by the Equality and Human Rights Commission suggests that respondents are willing to answer a question framed in these terms.<\/p>\n<p>However, data should only be collected which is needed for a specific purpose. The PSED does not imply a duty to ask for data which is unlikely to be useful and it may be that the collection of sensitive data which identifies a small group of people is not necessary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-0bdb0c7b3df4632564714db4243e88eb\" style=\"color:#2fad96\"><strong>Question 3<br \/>Should we include a \u2018not disclosed\u2019 option when asking for sex and gender data?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yes \/ <strong>No<\/strong> \/ Don\u2019t know<\/p>\n<p><strong>Comments:<br \/><\/strong>NB. This is a different Question 3 from that given in the notes accompanying the consultation. We have answered that question about gender reassignment in Question 2 above.<\/p>\n<p>Where sex data is collected for the purposes of intimate searches a \u201cnot disclosed\u201d option should not be provided since an accurate answer is necessary for the safeguarding, welfare and dignity of the respondent and police officers. Further investigation should be undertaken to establish the facts if needed.<\/p>\n<p>Collection of data on sex is required to fulfil the PSED and, in order to give an accurate picture as possible, an opt out should not be given. Accuracy in crime statistics is similarly important and any proportion of respondents not disclosing their sex could quickly lead to a significant distortion in data, particularly when crime numbers for a particular offence are small or crimes are sex specific. Where information on sex is not essential it is fine to provide an option not to disclose but organisations should not be asking the question where the information is not required. Sex data is not sensitive data and if it is needed, it should be provided accurately with no opt out.<\/p>\n<p>Data on \u201cgender\u201d should not be collected at all. This is a confusing term and is likely to lead to corrupted data that is a mix of sex and \u201cgender identity\u201d. Where questions are asked about the specific concept of gender identity the respondent should have the option of \u201cNone\u201d as well as \u201cprefer not to say\u201d.\u00a0 Similarly, with a gender reassignment question the option not to disclose should be available since this may be considered sensitive data and relates to a small population.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-ed14b08640318b793322aef94b5fe448\" style=\"color:#2fad96\"><strong>Question 4<br \/>What else would you like us to know?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Sullivan Review: \u201cReview of data, statistics and research on sex and gender\u201d has informed our responses to the consultation questions. For ensuring consistency across organisations, research and its recommendations please see:<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/assets.publishing.service.gov.uk\/media\/67d98b8a4ba412c67701ed92\/review-of-data-statistics-research-on-sex-and-gender.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/assets.publishing.service.gov.uk\/media\/67d98b8a4ba412c67701ed92\/review-of-data-statistics-research-on-sex-and-gender.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This is our submission to the Police Scotland\u00a0consultation\u00a0on its review of sex and gender data recording. The consultation&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205296,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5009],"tags":[748,2814,4884,82740,82741,530,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-205295","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scotland","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-data","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-hate-crime-act","12":"tag-intimate-searching","13":"tag-police-scotland","14":"tag-scotland","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114727456952020091","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}