Policing
Our work on policing includes research and analysis on the loss of robust data on sex, on police workplace policies that disadvantage women, and the influence of lobby groups that advocate against the recognition of sex in law and policy. In the context of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill we have also examined the policing of hate crime and ‘hate incidents’ and highlighted the likely chilling effects on freedom of expression.
Latest updates and analysis
-
Letter to the Convener of the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Following today’s parliamentary evidence sesssion on our petition to require Police Scotland to record sex accurately in cases of rape or attempted rape, we sent the letter below to...
6th December 2023
-
Correspondence with the Scottish Police Authority regarding Police Scotland LGBT Allies Toolkit
In October we published an article about the Police Scotland LGBT Allies Toolkit. The article questioned how a scheme that asks officers to ‘evangelise their allyship’ to certain groups...
28th November 2023
-
A perfect storm? Police cuts and hate crime
It was recently reported that in response to severe financial pressure Police Scotland is looking to cut 600 officers and 200 staff in the year ahead. The force is...
30th October 2023
-
‘Evangelise your allyship’: police impartiality and the Police Scotland LGBT Allies Toolkit
On 1 June 2023 Police Scotland posted the following tweet: We submitted a Freedom of Information request for a copy of the Police Scotland LGBT Allies Toolkit, pictured in...
20th October 2023
-
Recorded police warnings: the need for transparency and accountability
On 23 July 2023 at a public rally organised by the grassroots feminist group Women Won’t Wheesht, a transactivist punched a 54-year old woman, Julie Marshall. The assault resulted...
10th September 2023
-
Police Scotland policy on recording rape: an exercise in institutional sexism and misogyny
it is right for me, the right thing for me to do as Chief Constable, to clearly state that institutional racism, sexism, misogyny and discrimination exist… we know, I...
11th June 2023
-
Police Scotland: Leaving the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index
On 20 February 2023 the Daily Mail reported that Police Scotland had withdrawn from the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index (WEI) scheme. The scheme is described by Stonewall as ‘the...
23rd March 2023