Transgender police officers can strip search women under new guidelines.
British Transport Police policy allows recently transferred officers to intimately search women if they have been issued a gender recognition certificate.
Titled ‘Transgender and Non-Binary Search Post’, it was authorized in September by the deputy chief of police for network surveillance.
It comes after the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) was forced to withdraw similar guidance in January after concerns were raised about women’s safety.
The guidance, seen by the Mail, says: ‘British Transport Police recognizes the status of transgender and non-binary detainees/staff from the moment they permanently identify as that gender with or without a GRC (gender recognition certificate). ).
‘This means that even when a person has not legally changed their sex, we must continue to use the correct pronouns and recognize the person’s gender. BTP officers/staff will only register people of the same sex as on their birth certificate or GRC.’
It covers “more thorough” searches that involve removing coats, hats and shoes, as well as “EIPs” or strip searches in which the searched person removes all clothing.
The guidance adds: “An officer can only conduct searches based on the sex indicated on your birth certificate or listed on your GRC, whichever is the most recent when enacting a statutory power to search under duress.”
British Transport Police (BTP) said its guidance is in line with equality laws and that someone being searched can object to being searched by any officer.
British Transport Police policy allows recently transferred officers to intimately search women if they have been issued a gender recognition certificate (file photo)
In a separate policy, BTP officers are told they can also wear “a uniform of the gender of their choice” and use the locker rooms and showers of their chosen gender identity.
The documents add that any officer who transitions will receive a new account in the police computer system, as well as a new uniform collar number. They can also request a new warranty card with the chosen name.
The document adds: “The person is not required to provide any evidence of the name change, such as a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) or a deed scrutiny document, except for background investigation.”
Cathy Larkman, a retired police officer and national police leader for the Women’s Rights Network, said strip searches “require sensitivity, professionalism and courtesy” and should only be conducted by someone of the same sex.
He added: ‘British Transport Police believe that possession of a GRC confers some form of right on a male officer to strip-search a woman, or on a female officer to be pressured into strip-searching a detainee.
“Their eagerness to introduce this despite clear warnings indicates that they have forgotten about women’s rights or, at best, can do without them.”
It comes after a backlash earlier this year in which similar guidelines from the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) were temporarily withdrawn after the Conservative government raised concerns.
British Transport Police (BTP) said its guidance is in line with equality laws and that someone being searched can object to being searched by any officer (file photo).
The NPCC said it was carrying out a review of the policy, which had been implemented by most police forces, and that forces would revert to previous search policies while it is carried out.
Women’s rights campaigners have written to the chief constable of the British Transport Police to express their concerns about the policy.
Maya Forstater, chief executive of human rights charity Sex Matters, which sent the letter, described the guidance as a “shocking violation of human rights”.
She said: ‘BTP’s policy violates that obligation, by treating the ‘gender identities’ of male officers as more important than the more fundamental rights of women.
“BTP’s policy exposes the absurdity of thinking that a Gender Recognition Certificate gives a man the right to be treated as if he were a woman in a wide range of person-to-person interactions, including in situations involving nudity.”
A BTP spokesperson said: “An officer can only search for the sex indicated on your birth certificate or listed on your Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), whichever is more recent by enacting a statutory power of search under duress.”
«A registered person may object to being registered by any official; This officer will be replaced by another member of the team to conduct the search in your place. In practice, this is usually done for many reasons, including as a way to reduce the intensity of the conflict.’