Written submission from Ms Julia Lamb Tod (EAA0010)
My concerns about current enforcement of the Equality Act are in relation to current practice regarding the protected category of sex, and sex specific spaces. Currently both the Prison Service and those operating Women’s Refuges allow trans women to be housed in these women’s spaces; trans women who identify as female but are still male bodied. The guidance, which defaults to housing people according to the gender they identify with, means women, who already carry a significant burden related to male violence (1 in 4) and sexual assault (1 in 3) are being expected to live side by side with male bodied people who identify as female, opening women up to being retraumatised, and revictimised. I understand that both prisons and refuges have a duty to safeguard their clients but we know this is not foolproof as this recent case from Newhall Prison exemplifies http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5964539/Transgender-prisoner-female-jail-sexually-assaulted-four-women.html In addition, public services such as sports facilities, and hostels do not have the capacity to do checks on those using the facilities in order to safeguard all their clients. Currently, transsexuals use the toilet corresponding to their gender identity, and it seems this has been broadened to include those under the wider trans umbrella who self identify as female; there is no reasonable way to check the sex of people accessing public toilets, which means women and girls are potentially at risk. Currently Jess Bradley NUS Trans Officer stands accused of inappropriate behaviour in public https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/jess-bradley-suspended-nus-statement-14972542 Jess gave evidence to the select committee on trans which informed the public consultation. Whatever the outcome of this investigation for Jess Bradley, we know these behaviours are not uncommon and the public find them unacceptable, none of us want our children exposed to flashers and public masturbation. While the majority of trans people are only interested in living their lives with dignity and respect, the small number who do pose a risk to women is an unacceptable burden to place on women already under siege. It risks women feeling unable to use public facilities previously believed to be sex specific and limit women’s capacity to be involved in and access public life.
As I understand it, the current Equality Act protects a person who has had gender reassignment, transsexuals, which is a very small and specific category of people, not the broad umbrella that trans stands for today, and not the one described in the current consultation document on the Gender Recognition Act. Currently the guidance given by government and other bodies with regard to trans people does, in my view, breach the Equality Act as it now stands. Further, I am concerned that the current proposals to amend the Gender Recognition Act by simply self identifying will compound the situation further for women and girls making the protected category of sex void – anyone may self identify meaning male bodied, male presenting, female identifying people may seek a gender recognition certificate and access women’s spaces regardless of their presentation and the distress this may cause women and girls. With this in mind, I believe we need to strengthen the protected category of sex by giving clarity to it, and if the law decides to broaden the GRA to include all trans identified people, we need to create a third gender-neutral space in public facilities that can be accessed by trans people, thus their dignity and safety will be protected, as would women’s and men’s. The other protections in terms of employment, health, housing etc. would apply to all.
As things currently stand public bodies have moved ahead of the law pre-empting the outcome of the GRA consultation. As previously stated, prisons and refuges and public toilets are no longer operating as sex specific spaces, in addition some shops have removed sex specific changing rooms and made them gender neutral spaces. I believe government and some public bodies are imposing these changes on the population before the population is sufficiently informed about what transgenderism is. I understand the desirability of making society accessible to all people, but we cannot improve the lot of a small section of society at the expense of a significantly greater proportion of society. As I understand it, trans people make up less than 0.5% of the population; women make up 49 – 51%. It must be possible to create an equitable solution to the dilemma facing trans people, and a third space is one such solution.
Countries like Canada and New Zealand are being faced with the consequences of not thinking through the implications of self identified gender legislation and the conflict inherent in this and the protected category of sex in the Equality Legislation.
This is a submission to the New Zealand Parliament putting forward a case to amend gender recognition legislation: https://reneejg.net/2018/03/01/bdmrra-submission/
This is from Canada where a case against a shelter has commenced due to a natal female sexual abuse victim being expected to share a room with a non transitioned trans woman: https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/kristi-hanna-human-rights-complaint-transgender-woman-toronto-shelter
And this dissertation from the Faculty of Law at the University of Oslo https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IqRzw1jCwDHvTKvAdUCkhGHkeWeUH3V_/view
With this consultation and the consultation on the Gender Recognition Act we have a perfect opportunity to consider where other countries are experiencing the conflict between GRA’s and Equality Legislation, and create equitable systems respecting the rights of all.