Engender blog

Women's and Human Rights organisations restate support for Gender Recognition Reform Bill

Women's and human rights organisations in Scotland, including Engender, have written to the UN Special Rapporteur for Violence Against Women and Girls restating their support for Scotland's Gender Recogntion Reform Bill.

We wrote to Ms Alsalem detailing why they do not share concerns she expressed about the Bill. In our letter we state:

"We see the paths to equality and the realisation of human rights for women and trans people as being deeply interconnected and dependant on shared efforts to dismantle systems of discrimination."

We also assert that:

"Most rape crisis services in Scotland provide lifesaving support for women, men and non-binary people. All specialist violence against women and girls organisations have robust safeguarding procedures in place which include risk assessment at the point of service delivery. There is no rape crisis service in Scotland that requires a gender recognition certificate. Where services are available to women only, women are not required to provide ‘proof’ of their sex. All rape crisis services in Scotland are inclusive of trans women and have been for 15 years. In those 15 years, there has not been a single incident of anyone abusing this."

The letter highlights the lengthy consultation the Bill has undergone to date, including two public consultations, eight public evidence sessions and most recently a stage two process which saw the Scottish Parliament's Equalities Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee pass the Bill to stage three after further review.

The Bill is due to be given final consideration by MSPs in the coming weeks.

You can read the full letter here.

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