Police Scotland urged to give gender 'clarity' on rapists
Police Scotland has been accused of misleading a parliamentary inquiry over allowing rapists to self-identify as women.
Chief Constable Jo Farrell said last year that the public and MSPs should be ‘assured’ that a man who commits rape or serious sexual assault will always be recorded as male.
Now it has emerged that this stance - which campaigners said was a major policy U-turn - was not communicated to officers.
Murray Blackburn Mackenzie (MBM), the gender-critical think tank, said this suggests that Police Scotland ‘has repeatedly misled a parliamentary inquiry’.
The controversy over the Police Scotland approach came in the wake of high-profile cases including that of Adam Graham, who began identifying as Isla Bryson while waiting to stand trial accused of two rapes.
Bryson was convicted of rape in February 2023 and jailed for eight years, initially being sent to the all-female Cornton Vale prison outside Stirling, before being transferred after the case sparked public uproar.
The rapist is now being held in an all-male prison.
In 2021, MBM lodged a petition at Holyrood urging the Scottish Government to require Police Scotland to ‘accurately record the sex of people charged or convicted of rape or attempted rape’ – which is still being considered.
Chief Constable Jo Farrell said last year that people should be 'assured' a man who commits rape would always be recorded as a male
MBM said the behaviour of Police Scotland in response to a simple question - could a rapist ever be recorded as a woman, because he tells the police that he identifies as one? - was ‘extraordinary’.
It said: ‘The national force, having previously said the answer to this is “yes”, is now saying “no”.
‘This implies that Police Scotland has repeatedly misled a parliamentary inquiry over the past four years.’
The under-fire force had previously sparked outrage when it told the Scottish parliament’s petitions committee that the sex or gender identification of anyone who comes ‘into contact’ with the force would be based ‘on how they present or how they self-declare’.
In an apparent U-turn in September last year, Ms Farrell said it is ‘absolutely pertinent and relevant that the person who allegedly has committed that crime [rape] is going to be a man’.
This position was later confirmed by the Chief Constable in a lengthy statement to the Scottish Police Authority, stating: ‘‘To be clear – a male rapist cannot demand to be called a woman and further traumatise his victim – this would not happen.
To my knowledge, this has never happened.
‘You can be assured that a man who commits rape or serious sexual assaults will be recorded by Police Scotland as a male.’
In September 2024, Deputy Chief Constable Alan Speirs reiterated this position in writing to the parliament’s criminal justice committee.
Now Police Scotland has confirmed in a response to a question from MBM under freedom of information laws that it has ‘not adopted any change in policy; we still refer to a positional statement from 2019’.
The position states police require ‘no evidence or certification as proof of biological sex or gender identity other than a person’s self-declaration’.
Police Scotland previously told MSPs that allowing people to self-identify their gender was ‘consistent with the values of the organisation’ and ‘the values of respect, integrity, fairness and human rights whilst promoting a strong sense of belonging’.
Scottish Tory equalities spokesman Tess White said: ‘After repeated changes in position, the public will want Police Scotland to provide urgent clarity on their policy.
‘The force’s mixed messages are totally unacceptable and risk criminals exploiting this uncertainty for their own gain.
‘Despite the SNP’s gender self-ID bill rightly being vetoed by the previous UK Conservative Government, it is clear it has become embedded in Scotland’s public bodies.
‘Unnecessary confusion has been created here which risks undermining public confidence in whatever the force ultimately decide is their policy.’
MBM said it was ‘for the petitions committee to decide how seriously to take evidence that for four years it was given seriously inaccurate responses, requiring it to keep open a petition that could have been swiftly closed’.
A Scottish parliament spokesman said: ‘The petition is still being considered by the committee and it agreed in October to invite police Scotland to give evidence.
‘It looks forward to hearing from Police Scotland in due course.’
Assistant Chief Constable Catriona Paton said: 'We are carrying out a review of sex and gender to ensure that Police Scotland’s recording practices are consistent with good practice, comply with equality, human rights and data protection law, and meets its operational requirements.
'We will be engaging with a range of stakeholders, associations and legal experts throughout the course of the review.'
An MBM spokesman said: ‘The latest twist in this long-running saga suggests that Police Scotland either gave wrong advice to the public petitions committee, or misinformed the media.
‘As such, we are very surprised that the committee has not sought clarity from Police Scotland, ahead of its planned meeting in September.’
