Crime
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Males no longer allowed in Scottish women’s prisons: the law is clear
For Women Scotland has won another important victory against the Scottish Government, forcing it to finally remove all trans-identifying...
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Abusive strip-searching rules: our legal challenge
Why we’ve taken police chiefs to court, with guest Cathy Larkman.
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Police strip-searching: Sex Matters’ judicial review
On Tuesday 16th June Sex Matters will be in the High Court for a judicial-review hearing. Our claim is...
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Prisons
Updates, publications and other resources related to prisons.
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Housing men in women’s prisons is cruel and unlawful
In 2021, in the case of FDJ v Secretary of State for Justice, a female prisoner challenged the Ministry...
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Legal opinion on prison policy in relation to trans-identifying male prisoners in light of the Supreme Court’s judgment in For Women Scotland
Ben Cooper KC and Myles Grandison explain how the April 2025 Supreme Court judgment has implications for criminal justice...
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One year later
The Supreme Court made the law clear. So why are we still waiting for the rights of women and...
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Transgender Homicides in Britain, 2000–2025: Victims and Perpetrators
Michael Biggs and Ace North analyse all homicides involving transgender people in Britain from 2000 to 2025 and find...
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For Women Scotland returns to court
Judicial review of Scottish Prison Service policy
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Crime and Policing Bill: combatting exposure and the importance of single-sex spaces – briefing for peers
Large-print version of this briefing.
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Digital identities risk enabling “catfishing” crimes
The Children’s Commissioner’s Office has agreed to meet with Sex Matters after we raised concerns that the government’s plans...
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What does the For Women Scotland judgment mean in practice?
The judgment handed down yesterday by the Supreme Court returns the Equality Act to clarity. Many organisations have fallen...
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Why do people think “transgender rights” have gone too far?
It’s not just about self-ID Support for the law that allows people to change the sex recorded on their...
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Letter to the Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire
We wrote to Chris Philp MP about the new policy of the National Police Chiefs’ Council that allows male...
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Sex and the police: confusion over the law and state-sanctioned sexual assault
Update on the review into activism and impartiality in policing HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary Fire & Rescue Services...
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Gender diverse prisoners and sex-based patterns of offending
Jo Phoenix looks at evidence from a Correctional Services Canada study on the transgender and gender-diverse prisoner population in...
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A policy in search of evidence
Why we need to treat with caution claims about the specific harms of keeping trans-identifying men in male prisons
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New MoJ transgender prisoner policy: Sex Matters’ response
Sex Matters welcomes the Ministry of Justice’s announcement that men who identify as women will no longer be housed...
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Searching for a simple answer
What does a gender-recognition certificate actually do? The question comes into sharp focus when people are forced to undress,...
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Accommodation of transgender prisoners and Article 3 ECHR
Claire Methven O’Brien writes for Scottish Legal News on how attention has recently focused on policy and practice concerning...
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Call out bad reporting with our new tool
Media coverage of sex and gender is often confused, biased, misleading or simply wrong. This has become clearer than...
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Rights and wrongs: how gender self-identification policy places women at risk in prison
Jo Phoenix, Professor of Criminology at the University of Reading, describes how the decision to include anatomical males who...
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Charlie Falconer’s testimony
The Women and Equalities Committee held an evidence session on 31st January on the Gender Recognition Reform Bill and...
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Fair Play For Women
Campaigning and consultancy group which raises awareness, provides evidence and analysis, and supports policy-makers to protect the rights of...
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Trans law is a ‘magic key’ for predators
Mark McLaughlin for The Times
Sex Matters Chair Naomi Cunningham is the legal expert quoted.
A legal expert... -
Female inmates do not trust Nicola Sturgeon to decide who is sent to female prisons
Ex-Cornton Vale Prison inmate Amanda Benson talks to Times Radio.
“Putting a double rapist into a female... -
Minister defiant over trans rapist Isla Bryson
Mark McLaughlin for The Times
Maya Forstater is extensively quoted. The article was later revised.
The... -
Clarify the Equality Act: sign the petition
The Equality Act 2010 protects everyone’s rights and covers everything from schools to hospitals, pubs to sports, and everybody’s...
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Mass harassment in HM Prisons and Probation Service
As reported in The Telegraph today, HM Prisons and Probation Service’s Pride in Prison and Probation (PiPP) staff network...
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Why Sex Matters is calling for clarification of the Equality Act 2010 – a briefing
Sex Matters has launched a petition calling on the government to clarify that in the Equality Act 2010, “sex”...
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Women’s Rights Network
Combined grassroots groups of women who oppose sex self-ID. Supports local, in-person networking. Has topic-related groups (such as sports,...
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DBS checks and identity verification: safeguarding loopholes created by changes of identity
An analysis by Keep Prisons Single Sex of the exceptional privacy rights given to those who change their gender...