Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 10
10
Paragraph: 97
The Government should remove the diagnosis of gender dysphoria from the Gender Recognition Act by...
Recommendation
The Government should remove the diagnosis of gender dysphoria from the Gender Recognition Act by 2023, reflecting the support for this in responses to its own consultation. It must ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place when doing so, including retaining the requirement for a statutory declaration. Robust guidance on how a system of self-declaration would work in practice should also be developed. For example, male prisoners with a record of sexual assault or domestic violence, who self- identify as a woman, should not be transferred to a woman’s prison.
Paragraph Reference:
97
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
19. It is our view that the position we set out in September 2020 is right and appropriate. The diagnosis requirements in the GRA ensure that the legal gender recognition process is rigorous and provides assurance that the system is robust. 20. Being transgender is not a mental illness and we will take steps to amend the specific reference to gender dysphoria as a “disorder” in the GRA via a remedial order in due course. 21. Regarding safeguards (paragraph 96), the Equality and Human Rights Commission is currently looking to update its guidance on the workings of the single-sex exceptions in the Equality Act. These should not be confused with the requirements under the Gender Recognition Act. We refer to this further in our response to Chapter 3 below. 22. Clear guidance is already in place for the specific example referenced by the Committee. The Ministry of Justice’s 2019 guidance on care and management of prisoners who are transgender3 provides a robust framework for assessing and determining the appropriate location of prisoners within the prison estate, including assessing both risks to, and from, prisoners. Over 90% of trans women prisoners are held in the men’s estate, and some are also held in specialist units. There have been no assaults or sexual assaults by trans women in the women’s prisons since MoJ strengthened the risk assessment framework in 2019.