Tory government wants police to ‘misgender’ most trans crime victims: ‘More culture war cruelty’

The government has asked police across England and Wales to record trans victims of crime by the sex recorded on their birth certificate.

The concept of “legal sex” is foggy in the UK, although it is often thought of as the sex listed on a person’s birth certificate, which can be changed with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC).

Because of the intrusive and difficult process to obtain a GRC, less than one per cent of trans people in the UK have one. The system does not offer legal recognition for non-binary people.

Fresh guidance from the Home Office has requested that police use this definition of sex when recording trans and non-binary crime victims in official statistics – it means that the overwhelming majority would effectively be misgendered. The guidance also applies to suspects.

The guidance, which is currently voluntary, was revealed by a Freedom of Information request submitted by the anti-trans group Keep Prisons Single Sex.

The group claimed the guidance as a victory, insisting that “male rapists will no longer be recorded as female in police crime stats”.

According to The Independent, a Home Office spokesperson said that the guidance could become mandatory by April 2023.