Woman arrested "had intially been mistaken for a man"

A 5’7” masculine presenting woman might appear in a stressful situation to be a younger man.

I think it would be possible for one person to make this mistake but it sounds like all four victims and eyewitnesses gave similar descriptions so I think it's less likely they are all mistaken.

I agree with PP, either the perpetrator was male or the police have arrested the wrong person. How will witnesses know to come forward if they don't recognise the description of the perpetrator as someone they may have seen around the time of the attacks.

I also wonder how this will work in court if the witness statements all say male and the police put a "woman" in the dock, the court will have to mis gender to account for the discrepancy and secure a conviction. If they fault to secure a conviction because of the discrepancy then they will have failed in their duty to the public.

Do we know for sure that all the victims and the child said it was a man? Or could it just have been the first victim and/or her child?

I probably wouldn't be very surprised to find that the person arrested appears in every way to be a man.

3 is also v unlikely IMO. Given the huge gulf between how the police, and how the women, describe the suspect they must be very sure.

Mis-gendering is the ultimate crime.

So I think the options are:

1. All four women, and the 10 year old, are lying about being attacked by a man.

Or

1. All four women, and the 10 year old, are mistaken about being attacked by a man.

Or

1. The police have arrested the wrong person.

Or

1. The police are mis-sexing the suspect.

1 and 2 seem distinctly unlikely. I can't decide which, of 3 and 4, is worse.

Not forgetting the issue that presented itself in Ireland which put inmates at risk.

I dont know what it's like here but in Ireland there was an article where male prison officers aren't allowed to search oates who say they are women. But the female officers aren't allowed to search In tact males.

A policy that will mean that drugs and weapons may well get through the checks and result in the death or injury of staff or inmates.

The sex matters here very much

The age thing is really confusing.

It matters for statistics and it matters for women to feel supported as victims

Victims may need counselling after violent attacks ESPECIALLY if they are attacked by a trans person and the police/ courts have to report this way

Yes there are butch women and effeminate men BUT let's put the victim first. They deserve truth, respect and help after the attack.

The conviction rate of crimes by men on women is shocking and this is in part down to change in advice for prosecutors.

There is a massive difference between a Crime and a conviction. Women are often left without justice.

#Victimsfirst

And how this crime is recorded matters

Its not irrelevant.

Not if the police are giving out false information about the sex.

Or the perp ends up on custody with members of the opposite sex.

Or of the police officers are having to search someone based on gender or not sex.

Or if the locals Dont feel safe due to the mystery surrounding the whole thing.

The police have arrested the perpetrator. Everything else is totally irrelevant.

I think “initially mistaken for a man” is an incredibly useful phrase. I am going to tuck it in my bra strap for future deployment.

As long as they’ve got the person who did it. Local to me too

Agreed. It's pretty local for me too and I can't fathom the age discrepancy let alone anything else.

I do look forward to the photos during the court case

There will be no photos, a couple of years ago iirc it was decided by ??? Someone/various organisations cannot remember who, that photos of trans women (I assume trans men too but probably not) who commit crimes will not be published.

I'm quite sure that some word salad about feelz was utilized and the result is no photos on MSM. To find the sex of an alleged offender who committed a usually male crime requires looking on various sites.

And so we now do not trust anything reported in MSM because of just this one thing. It may as well all be lies.

As someone who lives incredibly close to where these attacks have happened I genuinely don't care who did it but it's mind blowing the difference between the reports of the attacker and the description of who has been arrested.

There was a Twitter trend in support of transmen yesterday and people were posting photos of themselves etc.
One such photo showed a person with pink and blue eyeshadow and winged eyeliner. They had bright red lipstick on and were wearing a blouse with a bow. This person identified as a transman but I would guarantee that if 100 people were shown the photo they would all say that the person was a woman!
Is it any wonder that people are "misgendered"

Male or female?: