Statement on the closure of our petition on recording sex accurately in cases of rape
Statement
On Wednesday 10 December the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee closed our petition, which called for Police Scotland, the Crown Office and Scottish Court Service to accurately record the sex of people in cases of rape or attempted rape.
We are pleased that Chief Constable Jo Farrell has moved to fully support our petition and drawn a clear line under the confusing and offensive statements previously issued by the single service, which prompted us to submit our petition in June 2021 and persisted for most of the time it remained before the Committee. That Police Scotland is now taking account of the Sullivan Review and extending the principle of accurate recording to all crime and offences is a significant step forward. We hope this sets an example to other UK police forces.
We would like to thank Tess White MSP, Carol Mochan MSP, Michelle Thomson MSP, Ruth Maguire MSP, Rachael Hamilton MSP and Sharon Dowey MSP who attended Committee sessions and/or wrote in support. We would also like to thank all the signatories to our petition and all those who submitted supporting material to the Committee, including Professor Alice Sullivan.
Although the Committee has now closed the petition, we are pleased that it has also agreed to our request to write to the Crown Office and the Court Service to confirm that they will follow Police Scotland’s lead. Whilst not within the scope of the original petition, the Committee has also agreed to our request that it should write to the Scottish Prison Service for the same confirmation. We welcome its recognition of the importance of consistent and reliable data throughout the Criminal Justice System.
Lastly, we are pleased that MSPs continue to engage with Police Scotland on its handling of sex and gender more widely.
This includes securing recognition for Police SEEN (Sex Equality and Equity Network) to ensure that Scottish policing properly represents officers and staff with the mainstream and protected view that sex matters in policy and law, and in particular, in policing.
