The Scottish government’s proposal to amend the laws governing gender recognition has the support of a UN human rights expert.
A final parliamentary vote on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill has been held.
Gender identity expert Victor Madrigal-Borloz has urged MSPs to pass the proposals into law in order to protect trans people and guarantee adherence to human rights laws.
This comes after a different UN expert claimed that men who are violent could “abuse” the system.
People will no longer require a diagnosis of gender dysphoria to apply for a gender recognition certificate under the terms of the proposed new laws.
The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, which is expected to pass next week, will also reduce the time required for an applicant to live in their acquired gender.
The Scottish government argues the current process to change a person’s legal gender is too difficult and invasive.
It says there is “no evidence” women and girls will be harmed by the bill.
However critics, including Harry Potter author JK Rowling, have voiced concern that it could undermine hard fought for women’s rights.
Mr Madrigal-Borloz, the independent expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, gave evidence to the Scottish Parliament on gender recognition reforms in June 2022.
In a letter published on Friday, he said the legislation would bring Scotland in line with international human right standards.
He also has expressed concern about “arbitrary obstacles” for legally recognising gender identity. He said such measures contravene human rights obligations, branding them “authoritarian and anti-democratic”.
And he said any efforts to water down the legislation could be born of prejudice against trans women – who are “among the most vilified, disenfranchised and stigmatised” people in the world.
He added: “Through my work in dozens of countries I have witnessed shocking acts of violence to which they are subjected, including killings, torture, beatings, and systematic social exclusion from health, employment, housing, and education.
“United Nations human rights bodies that have spoken on the matter have constantly found that legal recognition of gender identity through self-identification is the most efficient and appropriate way to ensure the enjoyment of human rights, and I am yet to learn of a country in which this is not the case.”
Reform fears ‘not supported by evidence’
In theory, only a small number of people would be directly affected by any reforms, with the NHS estimating that transgender people make up about 0.5% of the population.
However, some campaigners are concerned that allowing anyone to “self-identify” as a woman could impact on the rights women have fought for decades to secure, and which are themselves enshrined in equalities law.
There are also concerns about access to women-only spaces and services, including hospital wards and refuges.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said that some people have “genuinely held concerns” about the plans but argued that others have latched onto the issue to spread transphobia.
Mr Madrigal-Borloz, a senior visiting researcher at the Harvard University Law School Human Rights Program, argued the evidence from other countries where self-identification is standard does not support fears about abuse of the system by predatory males.
“Throughout history, unsubstantiated myths falsely portraying marginalized groups of people as dangerous to others have been levelled to try to justify imposing arbitrary and deeply discriminatory restrictions on their human rights,” he said.
“As recently as a few decades ago in the UK, and still today in many other countries around the world, such harmful myths falsely portrayed lesbian women and gay men as predatory – causing great harm. Today, we see such harmful narratives repackaged and redeployed against trans women.”
Safety fears
Reem Alsalem, UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, warned last month that the Scottish bill could endanger people.
She said it “would potentially open the door for violent males who identify as men to abuse the process of acquiring a gender certificate and the rights that are associated with it”.
“This presents potential risks to the safety of women in all their diversity (including women born female, transwomen, and gender non-conforming women),” she wrote in a letter to the UK government.
A Scottish government spokesperson said many of the issues raised by the UN rapporteur have been addressed by parliament.
Source: BBC.com