We have written to the Secretary of State for Scotland asking the UK government to take whatever action it believes it needs to, to ensure that protections for women and girls in Scotland provided under UK law and international human…
Read More Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill: Use of Scotland Act Powers
The effects of a Gender Recognition Certificate Since embarking on reform, the Scottish Government has refused to state its view on what getting a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) means under the law governing single-sex spaces and anti-discrimination protections for women.…
Read More MBM Stage 3 Briefing on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill
Stage 3 of the GRR(S) Bill is scheduled for Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st December. The parliamentary website for the Bill at Stage 3 is here. The full detailed guidance on rules for Stage 3 of a Bill are available…
Read More Stage 3 of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill: background and resources
Over three years ago, in anticipation of a draft Bill on gender recogntion, we published a blog asking 20 questions on how the Scottish Government expected that a reformed GRA based on self-declaration would work in law, the evidence base…
Read More 20 questions on GRA reform and gender self-declaration (revisited)
From the start, the Scottish Government has avoided being pinned down on the effect of a GRC under the Equality Act. It has taken legal action to force it to come clean on its position. Even then, it has tried…
Read More MBM statement on the ruling in For Women Scotland vs the Scottish Ministers
The BBC recently reported that the UK Government may not recognise Gender Recognition Certificates (GRC) issued under the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, when passed. This would mean for example, that a GRC applicant in Scotland who was born in…
MBM letter to Ian Duddy, Chair, Scottish Human Rights Commission
Yesterday we joined 28 other individuals and organisations, including many with backgrounds in campaigning on women’s rights and delivering services for women who have experienced male violence, in writing to the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Reem Alsalem,…
Read More Letter to Shona Robison on women’s ability to set boundaries based on sex
Outcry at failure to end mixed sex hospital wardsALMOST nine months after the Scottish Executive promised there would be no mixed sex wards in hospitals it emerged yesterday that there are still 34 wards where male and female patients are…
Read More The erosion of single-sex hospital accommodation in Scotland
At Stage 2 of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, the Scottish Government accepted that attaching a criminal offence to making a false declaration is not a watertight deterrent against abuse of the process. The government has introduced further limited…
Read More How strong are the Scottish Government safeguarding amendments?
