Chief Constable: ‘A man who commits rape will be recorded as a male’

The chief constable of Police Scotland has said that a biological man “who commits rape or serious sexual assaults will be recorded by Police Scotland as a male”. 

Jo Farrell addressed the matter of gender self-identification in the context of sexual crimes during a meeting of the Scottish Police Authority Board in Edinburgh this morning.  

Her statement comes after a letter was sent by Deputy Chief Constable Alan Spiers to the Scottish Parliament’s Criminal Justice Committee yesterday, in which he confirmed the force’s policy and practice on the matter.  

Farrell told the board that to her knowledge there has been no instance on Police Scotland’s systems of a male having been arrested and charged with rape or another sexual offence whose gender was recorded as female.  

Police Scotland has been forced to determine its own policy and practice “in a way that achieves what we consider to be a legal and appropriate balance of rights and duties”, she told board members.  

The policy, which has been in place since 2019, according to the letter to the justice committee, was created in the absence of official direction from either the Scottish or UK parliament.  

Farrell told board members: “Neither the Scottish or UK parliaments have been able to set out a codified approach in legislation to the legal status, rights or duties pertaining to the concept of gender recognition in a way that reconciles with the Equality Act 2010.  

“It is within this context that Police Scotland and other public bodies have determined policy and practice in a way that achieves what we consider to be a legal and appropriate balance of rights and duties.  

“Policing needs to consider this in terms of the many situations and scenarios within which we encounter people, and this is not restricted to criminal investigations.” 

The chief constable described Police Scotland’s role in preventing violence and safeguarding women and girls as “critical”.  

She added that she has been “struck” by the “commentary from some quarters” that the force, under her leadership, is “supporting policies that seek to respect the rights and dignity of transgender and other minority groups” and “perpetuating a policy that is misogynistic”.  

There has been some confusion in recent years about the force’s stance on the matter.  

In 2021, an FOI response from Police Scotland said: “If the male who self-identifies as a woman were to attempt to or to penetrate the vagina, anus or mouth of a victim with their penis, Police Scotland would record this as attempted rape or rape and the male who self-identifies as a woman would be expected to be recorded as a female on relevant police systems.”   

However, Farrell said during the meeting that “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”. 

She added: “By way of further reassurance, as it relates to serious sexual offending, Police Scotland obtain DNA samples from individuals accused of serious sexual assaults and from this sample a DNA profile will be obtained that will determine the person’s biological sex. This profile, and biological sex, is retained on the Scottish DNA Database and is available to be searched against crime scene samples to aid historic and future investigations.  

“I would only emphasise that the discussion around decision making on the operational frontline remains hypothetical – to my knowledge, we have never faced this scenario.” 

Farrell also made it clear that she is committed to supporting the LGBTQI+ community – a community that she said has, “over a period of decades”, not always been able to “to speak to the police, to report a crime or to share information knowing they’ll be treated with dignity and respect”. 

She said: “Everyone must feel able to speak to the police, to report a crime or to share information knowing they’ll be treated with dignity and respect.  

“I stated in May that it was a matter of deep regret that these values, over a period of decades have not always applied to the LGBTQI+ communities of Scotland.  

“That remains my position – and as I said at the time, I am dedicated to building a service that all communities can trust, one that is inclusive, respects diversity, and protects the rights and dignity of all individuals.” 

Reacting to the statement, academic research organisation Murray Blackburn Mackenzie, which has petitioned the parliament to bring clarity to the issue, said: “We welcome the commitment by the chief constable that Police Scotland will undertake a wholesale review of its policies based on self-identification. This is long overdue recognition that the position developed under the previous leadership was not sustainable.

“We are also pleased that Police Scotland will now redress its earlier failure to meet with women’s groups and listen to their concerns. The statement leaves key questions unanswered. These include its policy on recording non-sexual offences, its apparent confusion over the relevant legal framework, and policies on searching. We hope that today’s statement signals the start of robust and transparent engagement on this issue.”