A review into the recognition of sex and gender in public services has said that the government should require all public bodies to take a firmer line on recording the biological sex rather than gender identity.
The recommendation follows a number of cases in which failure or refusal to take sex into account potentially placed members of the public at risk.
Of these the most egregious is the failure of police forces to record the sex of those accused or found guilty of sexual offences.
The most high profile incident of this kind was Isla Bryson. Bryson is a biological male who was previously known as Adam and now identifies as a woman. In 2023 Bryson was found guilty of raping two women, although by this time Bryson had begun the process of “transitioning”.
Bryson was initially sent to a women’s prison before public concern led to relocation to a male facility.
The review into government practice in this area was led by Professor Alice Sullivan from the Social Research Institute and University College London. The review said the government should require all police forces to record the sex of offenders, rather than their gender identity.
So far, the government has pledged to consider the reviews findings, but has stopped short of saying it will implement them.
Another area of concern is the health service. The review has said that the NHS should cease issuing new NHS numbers to people who self-identify as a new gender.
There are “clear clinical risks” to this practice as it can mean people will not be called up for sex-specific procedures, such as smear tests or prostate examinations. The review also identified the risks of lab results for patients being misinterpreted with “potentially fatal consequences” if the patient’s biological sex is not clear.
Across the board, public bodies were criticised for having inconsistent records of people’s sex or gender.
The report also noted that staff in public services were afraid to challenge the new fluid approach to sex and gender, with many feeling that their workplace was a “hostile environment” in which they could not raise concerns on questions of sex and gender.
