Second Welsh police force to change policy on trans staff using female facilities
Martin Shipton
A second Welsh police force has confirmed that it intends to change its policy on trans members of staff accessing toilets, changing rooms and showers.
Earlier this month Gwent Police said it would no longer allow trans women who are biological males to use such female facilities.
The decision followed a threat from the gender-critical Women’s Rights Network (WRN) to take the force to court unless the policy was changed in the light of last year’s Supreme Court ruling that the definition of women in the Equality Act 2010 relates to biological women.
Now South Wales Police has indicated its intention to pursue the same course.
WRN stated on its X account: “Yet another Welsh police force is dragged towards legal compliance by grassroots women.
“@swpolice also operated an unlawful ‘Transgender and Gender Reassignment policy’ which allowed access by men into women’s showers, changing rooms and toilets.
“Astonishingly, they made NO ATTEMPT to change this until WRN Wales reminded them of their legal obligations.”
The group said a Freedom of Information request had uncovered the force’s policy, which stated: “Use of single gender facilities: from the point that the individual declares that they are living and working in that gender, an individual can use the toilet and changing facilities appropriate to their acquired gender.”
WRN said it subsequently wrote to South Wales Police challenging the policy and that the force withdrew it within days of receiving the letter.
The group added: “SUCCESS! OR IS IT? South Wales Police claim to be ‘reviewing’ their policy and will bring a new one in after ‘consultation’ with staff groups.
“We are frankly sick of hearing this. They should just comply with the law. This is just kicking the rights of their brave female officers, staff and visitors into the long grass.”
WRN also criticised a reference in the force’s correspondence to “ECHR guidance”, saying: “Your letter to us refers to the ‘ECHR’ guidance – that’s the European Court of Human Rights. We think you meant the EHRC guidance (Equality and Human Rights Commission).”
Ceri Rosser, deputy coordinator of Wales WRN, said: “Once again, it falls to grassroots campaigning women’s groups to make the police follow the law.
“Police forces should not have to be told that their policies are unlawful and that they are breaching the legal rights of women, yet here we are once again.”
Supreme Court judgement
She said South Wales Police should have reviewed its policies and practices following the Supreme Court judgment.
Ms Rosser added: “The police service wants women and girls to believe that they take our safety and violence against us seriously and that it is a priority for them.
“That assurance is an entirely empty one, when they display such ignorance and arrogance regarding our basic legal rights.”
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The hate continues.
Who will be next.
There’s nothing hateful about female police officers needing assurance from their employer that it’ll comply with the law and refuse to allow male officers to randomly walk into the female changing rooms.
Male police officers never were, trans women officers (if they exist) with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment were. And still are, under the law.
Listen tp the people being abused here, rights are for all people.
Ask where the money is coming from to push this.
Getting a police force to follow the law – who’d have thought it would be so hard. If officers don’t want to follow the law they should resign. No surprise so few people have confidence in our boys in blue.
I mean, police forces knowingly tolerating cis male officers with nicknames like ‘The Rapist’ probably harmed confidence more.
This enduring fiasco of multiple Welsh police forces refusing to act within the law is entirely down to useless ‘leadership’.
Little surprise women’s confidence in law enforcement is at an all time low.
Police forces having to be strong armed into (checks notes) COMPLYING WITH THE LAW by a group of volunteer women. Police forces having to be (checks notes again) told that males should not be allowed into women’s changing rooms, showers and toilets. There is something seriously wrong with our police forces when they value the rights of women so lightly and that they will so easily ignore the law. Looks very much like rank misogyny to me. Bravo to the wonderful and courageous women who refuse to know their place, refuse to keep quiet, and who speak up and firmly… Read more »
The EHRC Code does not apply to workplaces regardless of how much astroterf groups like WRN insist it does.
Trans women are women.
The Equality Act does though. And that’s the law the Code is providing guidance on. Do you really expect the EHRC guidance for employers to differ from that for service providers on this issue?
And then there’s the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 which very definitely do apply to workplaces and which require separate single sex changing and sanitary facilities. Don’t forget that the Good Law Project inadvertently clarified that the Supreme Court definition of sex, man and woman applies to the Regs too.