The Gender Recognition Reform Bill

I am constantly surprised by the wide eyed astonishment and hypocritical hand wringing, when an event  that is wholly predictable but contrary to current progressive ideology,  occurs. Such is the case of the rapist and the Scottish Gender Recognition Reform Bill (SGRRB). I have written on similar situations before, the case of Karen White comes to mind. For those who haven’t been keeping up with the news, the purpose of the  SGRRB is to update and consolidate various administrative practises carried out by Government and to make gender transition easier.  As summarised by the Guardian, ‘In 2014, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) introduced its gender identity and gender reassignment policy, which it developed with the Scottish Trans Alliance and is currently being updated. It advises that where an individual is permanently living in a gender other than that assigned at birth, “establishment allocation should usually be the new gender in which they are living”. (The Guardian 26/01/23. Bold highlight mine) There were two things that struck me on first reading the Guardian article. One was that the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) had prepared their gender reassignment policy with the assistance of the Scottish Trans Alliance, so there were no surprises on the outcome here! The other is that the SGRRB was an update of that policy. This would contradict those who would suggest that the Prison policy and the SGRRB are unconnected.

Adam Graham/Isla Bryson The Scottish Sun

You are now up to date on the history of the SGRRB and now we introduce the rapist and the paedophile. To our  left we have Adam Graham, as he was when he was convicted of two rapes. Subsequently, he had a kind of Saul on the road to Damascus moment and declared that he was a woman. I don’t mean to compare Isla Bryson to St Paul in any way other than to say that his transition was equally as sudden. After conviction and before sentencing he was remanded to  Cornton Vale, the only women’s prison in Scotland.

Andrew Burns AKA Tiffany Scott

The paedophile comes by the name of Andrew Burns or, at least it was when he committed a litany of violent offences, including stalking a 13 year old girl. He had a similar, ‘road to Damascus’ moment and now claims to be Tiffany Scott. He is considered to be extremely dangerous and it was the fear that he would be allowed into a woman’s prison, as reported by the Daily Record, that put the spotlight on the Bill (Financial Times 30/01/23). In response, Scottish justice secretary Keith Brown announced that no transgender offender with a history of violence against women or girls would be placed in a female-only facility. Brown had last week defended the Scottish prison’s service right to assess cases on an individual basis and called its record “exemplary”. (Financial Times 30/01/23) It may sound like a technicality but Adam Graham (the rapist) was, in fact, remanded to a women’s prison and Andrew Burns (the violent paedophile) request to transfer to a women’s prison was under consideration by the SPS as reported by the Daily Record. Surprise, Surprise the public blowback caught the Scottish government completely off guard. The Justice Minister sought to dodge the public anger and say that it was in the hands of the SPS. This only inflamed critics more and the First Minister had to jump in with a less than satisfactory response. Opposition parties now ‘smell blood in the water’ and an interview which was supposed to restore confidence in the government only made things worse. Ms Sturgeon repeated the Justice Ministers promise that ‘no transgender offender with a history of violence against women or girls would be placed in a female-only facility’ but as the Mailonline reported she left the door open to exceptions, she said that there’s a ‘danger with a blanket approach because you catch cases that you shouldn’t’.  This was instantly seized on by opponents such as Cybernats group Wings over Scotland, … , who tweeted: ‘Which cases of rapists in women’s prisons SHOULDN’T you catch? Which rapists should you be allowing into women’s prisons? Just the *nice* rapists?’ (Mailonline 29/01/23)

The government has now done what all governments do when their backs are against the wall, they have promised an ‘urgent review’ of the transgender prisoner transfer policy. As followers of the BBC’s  ‘Yes Minister’ series will know the real intention of a review/inquiry/probe is to take the heat out of a bad news day and to revise history in the way that suits the government. However, there are a number of questions on the story so far that are worthy of comment. To get back to my opening line, why was the government so unprepared for an event that had been predicted in debate in Parliament, had happened before in the UK, reference Karen White and in the US? Could it be that they are so divorced from reality that  JK Rowling was correct when she said:

 ‘Never forget, Sturgeon, her government and supporters have insisted that it is ludicrous to imagine anyone would dress in women’s clothes to get access to vulnerable women and girls. Wouldn’t happen. Everyone is who they say they are. To question this is hate’. (Mailonline 29/01/23)

Is it that simple? That these people are so blinded by the new religion they deny the evidence of their own eyes and ears? I had heard of another reason that this issue was pushed and it was that Ms Sturgeon wanted to beat her predecessor in the victim stakes by pushing trans progressive policies. She wanted her legacy to show how progressive and virtuous her leadership had been. There may also have been a political motive, to find an issue that the London Parliament would have to stop and turn it in to a demand for Scottish  Independence. It could be one or all of these motives but I am rather inclined to favour the JK Rowling approach.  My reasons are twofold. The first is the chaos and confusion that this  caused the Government. This didn’t have the appearance of a policy that had been thought through with a prepared strategy to respond to critics. The second is that this is the wrong issue, the wrong hill to be prepared to die on. It is very emotional, threatens women’s safety and crosses all political lines. The public is right to suspect that this is part of an ideological battle and that a politised bureaucracy cannot be trusted to go against their employers, in the this case the Minister for Justice and his boss, the First Minister. Indeed Ms Sturgeon argues  my case by saying: “Trans women don’t pose an inherent threat to women – it’s abusive and predatory men that do that (Sky News 30/01/23) To which JK Rowling tweeted:

‘So in Nicola Sturgeon’s Scotland, trans women AREN’T women if they’re convicted double rapists, like Adam ‘Isla Bryson’ Graham. JK Rowling tweet

If Ms Sturgeon really believed what she said then JK Rowling’s tweet is correct. If we trust Ms Sturgeons  statement that “no transgender offender with a history of violence against women or girls would be placed in a female-only facility” then why does the SPS need to make any risk assessment? The problem is that this last statement was wrung from her as she was facing the political abyss. Part of the defence of the Scottish Gender Recognition Reform Bill (SGRRB is to suggest that it is such a small issue that it is hardly worth all the fuss being made of it. As the Guardian states: trans men and trans women comprised 0.05% and 0.15% of the prison population respectively as of September 2022, (The Guardian 26/01/23). This argument could easily be turned on its head by asking, why do we need a new Bill to provide for such a small population when the risk is borne by the remaining 99.85% of the female prison population? It prompts a question raised by Fair Play for Women   which is, ” when does a female’s right to safety override the feelings of males? Where do we draw that line and who decides?” In a case presided over by  Justice Holroyde, the Judge recognised the competing rights of women prisoners but as I wrote in the Karen White article,

The Judge in this case talked about competing rights. I would say that the first duty of the Prison Authorities is to the women prisoners basic Human Right of safety, privacy and dignity. In other words these rights are superior to those of the trans women.

Surely we can trust the SPS and believe the Justice Secretary when he says that their  record is “exemplary”. Well, not quite, as JK Rowling points out,

“However, trans woman and paedophile Katie Dolatowski, who covertly filmed a 12-year-old and attempted to rape a 10-year-old, both offences committed in women’s public bathrooms, IS a woman and remains in the women’s prison from which Adam Graham is to be removed.” (Mailonline 29/01/23) see note 1 below

If you follow the note below and read the article by the Scottish Express entitled Meet the monsters: the dangerous trans women prisoners held in Scottish jails you might dispute the Justice Secretaries confidence in his SPS. There are similarities between the Scottish Prison Service and their counterparts in the rest of the UK.  Neither were independent from their political masters, both operated out of the public view, there was no accountability, no independent review and both failed. In the case of HM Prisons Service in England  the government had to issue one of the most outrageous apologies I have seen:  The Ministry of Justice has apologised for moving her [Karen White] to the women’s prison, saying that her previous offending history had not been taken into account. The Guardian 11/10/18. I am not aware that any of the senior HMPS officers or, their political master suffered any consequences for this debacle. I would note that the current position in the rest of the UK is less progressive than that of Scotland, as reported in note 2 below. I will leave you with the the response from the Independent Policy Review group,  Murray Blackburn McKenzie to the promise of an urgent review made by the Scottish Government. I only hope that it is conducted by someone other than the Scottish Trans Alliance.

While we welcome this move, the measures are exceptionally limited. They fail to account for the fact that most violent or sexual offending by men goes unreported and that few cases are prosecuted in court. It fails to consider factors other than the risk of a sexual or physical assault, overlooking the impact of the presence of a male prisoner on female prisoners’ psychological safety, let alone their privacy and dignity. It adds a caveat: that an offender with a history of violence against women could be placed in the female estate in exceptional circumstances. And it does not appear to regard as relevant that offenders have a history of violence against men, as in the case of Andrew Burns/Tiffany Scott.

The SPS has separately stated in the media that the ongoing policy review will be independently assessed by experts in women affected by trauma and violence. We welcome this move, although the review must not rely on organisations with a history of diminishing and belittling women’s trauma responses, when these are related to accurately reading another person’s sex.

Lastly, it is disappointing that it has taken a high-profile case hitting the headlines for these issues to receive the attention they deserve at senior levels of government. (MBM 30/01/23)

 

Addendum

Nicola Sturgeon says time is right to resign as Scotland’s first minister. Ms Sturgeon insisted her resignation was not in response to the “latest period of pressure”, which has included controversies over gender reforms, trans prisoners and the strategy on independence. BBC News 15/02/23

Notes

  1. Re JK Rowling tweet. Dolatowski, has now been released from prison on a deferred sentence pending a further court appearance for a review hearing on March 16. Ben Borland, 02/02/23, Scottish Express, Meet the monsters: the dangerous trans women prisoners held in Scottish jails, scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/scottish-news/meet-monsters-dangerous-trans-women-29115407
  2. In England and Wales the policy is markedly different. While there is the same rigorous risk assessment, more than 90% of transgender women in prison are housed in men’s prisons and there is no obligation to move transgender prisoners according to their wishes. Those without a GRC are sent to the prison according to their sex assigned at birth “as a matter of course”. (The Guardian 26/01/23)

Sources

Libby Brooks, 26/01/23, The Guardian, Why Scotland’s gender reform bill is sparking concern over trans prisoner policies, theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/26/trans-prisoners-in-scotland-case-by-case

Lukanyo Mnyanda, 30/01/23, Financial Times, Nicola Sturgeon criticised for ‘botched’ policy on Scottish transgender prisoners, ft.com/content/9ca38e1b-c9b0-46da-9d3c-59709fa5ef5fOn Saturday,

Murray Blackburn McKenzie, 30/01/23, MBM response to the Justice Secretary statement on protecting prisoners, murrayblackburnmackenzie.org/2023/01/29/mbm-response-to-the-justice-secretary-statement-on-protecting-prisoners/

Martin Robinson, 29/01/23,Mailonline, JK Rowling roasts Nicola Sturgeon over decision to send trans double rapist to women’s prison as she points out that trans paedophile who tried to rape 10-year-old is still at jail from which Isla Bryson has been removed, dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11684175/JK-Rowling-roasts-Nicola-Sturgeon-decision-send-trans-double-rapist-womens-prison.

30/01/23, SKY News, No trans women in female jail have history of violence against women, says Justice Secretary Keith Brown, news.sky.com/story/no-trans-women-in-female-jail-have-history-of-violence-against-women-says-justice-secretary-keith-brown-12799278

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *