Scottish Conservative MSPs Rachael Hamilton and Pam Gosal have written to the convenor of the Holyrood Equalities Committee to call for an emergency session to hear evidence on the Gender Recognition Reform Bill from UN Special Rapporteur Reem Alsalem.
The calls come after Nicola Sturgeon dismissed Ms Alsalem’s concerns over the Bill as “not well founded” and refused to pause the legislation in order to give MSPs more time to consider her assessment.
Since then, MSPs from the Scottish Conservatives, Labour and SNP have met privately with the Special Rapporteur to discuss her concerns.
The Scottish Conservatives are calling for the entire Holyrood Equalities Committee to be given an official opportunity to hear Ms Alsalem’s evidence and consider her concerns prior to the bill proceeding.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls said parts of the Bill presented “potential risks to the safety of women in all their diversity”, and that “empirical evidence” suggested predatory men may try to abuse the gender recognition process under the new reforms.
Scottish Conservative Equalities Spokesperson, Rachael Hamilton MSP said: “It’s astonishing to see how recklessly the SNP have dismissed and ignored the concerns of a United Nations expert on violence against women and girls.
“Reem Alsalem has expressed grave fears that these reforms could risk women’s safety. That should have been enough to pause this misguided bill straight away.
“At the very least, it’s only a matter of due diligence that Ms Alsalem’s concerns should be considered by the parliamentary committee tasked with scrutinising this legislation.
“Instead, the SNP have done all they can to dismiss this damning evidence and try to railroad this potentially harmful legislation through parliament without proper scrutiny.
“It is now essential that the Equalities Committee is allowed to consider Ms Alsalem’s evidence in an official committee session – so that MSPs and the Scottish public can hear what she has to say.
“And this must happen before the legislation is voted into law, so that we can address Ms Alsalem’s concerns and make sure we do not pass a bill that will harm women and girls.
“That’s why my colleague Pam Gosal and I have written to the convener of the committee.”
Notes:
Please see attached a copy of Rachael Hamilton and Pam Gosal’s letter to the Convener of the Equalities Committee, Joe Fitzpatrick.
The UN Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls has criticised the SNP Government’s Gender Recognition Reform bill. Reem Alsalem stated in a letter to the UK Government that the Bill presents ‘potential risks to the safety of women in all their diversity (including women born female, transwomen, and gender non-conforming women)’ and that ‘the ongoing efforts to reform existing legislation by the Scottish Government do not sufficiently take into consideration the specific needs of women and girls in all their diversity, particularly those at risk of male violence and those who have experienced male violence.’ Reem Alsalem also stated that ‘it is important to note that insistence on safeguarding and risk management protocols does not arise from the belief that transgender people represent a safeguarding threat’ and that it is ‘instead based on empirical evidence that demonstrates that the majority of sex offenders are male, and that persistent sex offenders will go to great lengths to gain access to those they wish to abuse.’ (OHCHR, 23 November 2022, link).
Reem Alsalem has met with MSPs from the Scottish Conservatives, the SNP and Labour. The UN Special Rapport on Violence against Women and Girls has met with MSPs from the Scottish Conservatives (Douglass Ross, Rachael Hamilton and Pam Gosal), the SNP (Shona Robison and Ash Regan) and Scottish Labour (Anas Sarwar) to discuss her concerns about the Gender Recognition Reform Bill. (Twitter, 6 December 2022, link, Twitter, 1 December 2022, link, Twitter, 9 December 2022, link, Twitter, 9 December 2022, link).