"Now, the Scottish police force will record biological sex and separately note whether the individual is transgender. This new policy will apply to all victims and complainers, suspected and accused people, and people at risk across all crimes and offences."
"Police Scotland has now changed that guidance amid national rollbacks on trans rights, including a legal challenge from For Women Scotland last year, which opposed data collection by gender instead of biological sex, as well as the hotly contested 2025 Supreme Court ruling that defined "woman" as biological sex under the Equality Act."
"Updating Police Scotland's 22 relevant systems to meet this new data recording standard is a complex process. Although the ability to record sex/gender already exists, technical updates are required to clarify our data fields, introduce the transgender data set and ensure that biological sex and transgender status are clearly distinguished and not used interchangeably."
Police Scotland has reversed the previous pro-trans policy that allowed self-identification of gender, implemented under former first minister Nicola Sturgeon's government. The new policy requires recording biological sex separately and noting transgender status for all victims, complainers, suspects, accused individuals, and at-risk persons across all crimes. This change follows national rollbacks on trans rights, including legal challenges from For Women Scotland and a 2025 Supreme Court ruling defining "woman" as biological sex under the Equality Act. Police Scotland stated the policy aligns with existing operational practices and requires technical updates to 22 systems to distinguish biological sex and transgender status. Interim guidance is scheduled for April 2026.
#police-scotland-policy-reversal #transgender-rights #biological-sex-recording #gender-identity-legislation #data-collection-standards
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