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Transgender officers who identify as women in the British Transport Police (BTP) can now conduct strip searches on female suspects, as reported by The Telegraph.
According to newly approved BTP guidelines from September, transgender officers possessing a gender recognition certificate (GRC) are permitted to perform these searches. The policy acknowledges transgender and non-binary individuals’ status from the moment they permanently identify with their chosen gender.
This is the type of Man British Transport Police have given the go ahead to strip search women.
There is something gravely wrong with our country pic.twitter.com/d7BsCEgWzP
— Basil the Great (@Basil_TGMD) November 23, 2024
The guidelines specify that officers will only search individuals of the same sex as indicated on either their birth certificate or GRC. Additionally, BTP staff members now have the freedom to wear uniforms matching their gender identity and access corresponding changing facilities and showers.
Former Conservative MP Miriam Cates criticized the policy, stating: “Are you a man who wants to sexually assault women and get away with it? Just slap on some lipstick and join the British Transport Police! Yet more evidence that the Gender Recognition Act should be repealed.”
A BTP spokesperson clarified that suspects maintain the right to object to specific officers conducting searches. They explained: “An officer may only search as the sex indicated on their birth certificate or listed on their gender recognition certificate, whichever is more recent when enacting a statutory power of search under compulsion.”
The spokesperson added: “A person being searched can object to being searched by any officer; this officer will be replaced by another member of the team to conduct the search in their place. This is regularly done in practice for many reasons, such as a way to de-escalate conflict.”
Retired police superintendent Cathy Larkman, now leading the Women’s Rights Network, condemned the policy as “state-sanctioned sexual assault,” declaring it “absolutely unforgivable.”
British Transport Police policy is to allow transgender male officers with a certificate to strip search women@MailOnline@BTP said its guidance is "in line with equality law"
Why doesn't @EHRC stop this blatant disregard of women's human rights?
https://t.co/z4D7Y0tqng pic.twitter.com/qSACKmspXz— Sex Matters (@SexMattersOrg) November 23, 2024
Maya Forstater, CEO of Sex Matters, stated: “Allowing male British Transport Police officers with gender recognition certificates stating their ‘acquired gender’ as female to strip-search women is a shocking breach of human rights. States have an absolute duty to protect citizens from degrading and inhuman treatment. Forcing a woman to strip naked and bend over in front of someone she can see perfectly well is a man is certainly degrading.”
Earlier this year, a comparable policy was withdrawn following government safety concerns, prompting the National Police Chiefs’ Council to announce a comprehensive review while directing local departments to follow existing protocols.
