Will Gender Self‐Declaration Undermine Women's Rights and Lead to an Increase in Harms?

This article considers and rejects claims that reform of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA) to allow gender self‐declaration will undermine non‐trans women's rights and lead to an increase in harms to non‐trans women. The article argues that these claims are founded on a mistaken understanding of...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Modern Law Review Vol. 83; no. 3; pp. 539 - 558
Autor principal: Sharpe, Alex
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell May2020
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:This article considers and rejects claims that reform of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA) to allow gender self‐declaration will undermine non‐trans women's rights and lead to an increase in harms to non‐trans women. The article argues that these claims are founded on a mistaken understanding of the proper legal relationship between the GRA and the Equality Act 2010 (EA), and that the harm claim, in any event, lacks a proper evidential basis. The article considers three legal arguments made by gender critical feminists: that sex‐based exceptions under the EA cannot be invoked against trans women with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), that the appropriate legal comparator for a trans woman non GRC‐holder in a discrimination case is a non‐trans man, and that section 22 of the GRA, which protects the privacy of GRC‐holders, undermines the ability of women's organisations to regulate access to women‐only spaces.