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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Mermaids advise the CPS on 'sex by deception'

68 replies

ArabellaScott · 29/01/2024 20:13

https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Mermaids-Consultation-Response_-Deception-as-to-Gender_-proposed-revision-to-CPS-legal-guidance-on-Rape-and-Serious-Sexual-Offences-1.pdf

Mermaids Response to Consultation on the Deception as to Gender section in the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) legal guidance

'as a charity that support young trans and gender diverse people, we are concerned that many of the recent prosecutions for sex crimes on the basis of deception as to gender affect young people'
...
'Even if a trans person lies about their gender history or assigned sex at birth, they remain an authentic man'

[verbatim copy and pastes - Arabella]

The consultation:

https://www.cps.gov.uk/consultation/consultation-deception-gender-section-rape-and-serious-sexual-offences-rasso-legal

https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Mermaids-Consultation-Response_-Deception-as-to-Gender_-proposed-revision-to-CPS-legal-guidance-on-Rape-and-Serious-Sexual-Offences-1.pdf

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PatatiPatatras · 30/01/2024 14:16

It's a bit of a nonsense to have facts enshrined in law. I doubt the curvature of the earth, the existence of milk and adult teeth or that fire burns in a process of oxidation is enshrined in law...

And people dispute the above knowledge constantly. Scientifically, it should be possible to dispute the received knowledge and prove otherwise or acknowledge you got it wrong and the received knowledge was right all along.

But in the case of sex and curvature of the earth and of all other recent disputes, it is the very process of peer review and updating the scientific body of knowledge which has been corrupted.
No amount of law making can fix that. There's an underlying flaw in the system and I can't quite put my finger on what it is.

Using the law is a stop gap. This will keep happening until science regains its integrity.

ArabellaScott · 30/01/2024 13:51

Froodwithatowel · 30/01/2024 13:20

Well.

Largely claiming they will be emotionally stressed if they are in any way held accountable for abusing another person, or not protected from their abuse victim doing shame inducing things like complaining, crying, feeling raped or assaulted, or wanting protection under the law.

It's like trying to complain to a cop that you'll be emotionally stressed if he arrests you for having just battered that person, but you want them arrested for bleeding on you because it's just upsetting and shaming, as if you've done something wrong.

The law is there to protect the public from those who would abuse. Why they abuse, and how they feel while and after abusing is not bloody relevant to anyone but their therapist and possibly their parole officer.

'Crybully' comes up again.

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MrsOvertonsWindow · 30/01/2024 13:48

So interesting that the transactivist captured CPS fought so hard and for so long to keep their secret collusion with Mermaids, Stonewall etc hidden. All part of the Denton's playbook. Keep all your anti democratic actions hidden and secret.

There really needs to be a major investigation into how this critical state organisation has been captured by these powerful, anti democratic, self serving organisations engaged in destroying the social contract.

RethinkingLife · 30/01/2024 13:40

Froodwithatowel · 30/01/2024 13:23

And of course the mistake had nothing to do with the fact that Alison Pritchard – Deputy National Statistician for Data Capability is a trans-identifying male.

Oh look! It's yet another undeclared, unmanaged, wholly unethical conflict of interest for political gain thing again.

It's bloody everywhere.

Edited

Nolan Principles of Public Life are for the little people. Not those who already have unswerving confidence in their moral compass and Being On The Right Side of History.

Apollo441 · 30/01/2024 13:26

The actual DSD figure is less than 0.018%

Froodwithatowel · 30/01/2024 13:23

And of course the mistake had nothing to do with the fact that Alison Pritchard – Deputy National Statistician for Data Capability is a trans-identifying male.

Oh look! It's yet another undeclared, unmanaged, wholly unethical conflict of interest for political gain thing again.

It's bloody everywhere.

Froodwithatowel · 30/01/2024 13:20

NotBadConsidering · 30/01/2024 09:33

Charitable object:

'TO RELIEVE THE MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL STRESS OF ALL PERSONS AGED 19 YEARS AND UNDER WHO ARE IN ANY MANNER AFFECTED BY GENDER IDENTITY ISSUES, AND THEIR FAMILIES, AND TO ADVANCE PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE SAME.'

Including those who may be sex offenders who are emotionally stressed by the fact they didn’t deceive their victim well enough.

Well.

Largely claiming they will be emotionally stressed if they are in any way held accountable for abusing another person, or not protected from their abuse victim doing shame inducing things like complaining, crying, feeling raped or assaulted, or wanting protection under the law.

It's like trying to complain to a cop that you'll be emotionally stressed if he arrests you for having just battered that person, but you want them arrested for bleeding on you because it's just upsetting and shaming, as if you've done something wrong.

The law is there to protect the public from those who would abuse. Why they abuse, and how they feel while and after abusing is not bloody relevant to anyone but their therapist and possibly their parole officer.

VinegarTrio · 30/01/2024 13:12

DeeLusional · 30/01/2024 11:02

That 0.2% of the population is a "mistake" by ONS, the number is much smaller than that. ONS "accidentally" misframed the question to reach the inflated figure. And of course the mistake had nothing to do with the fact that Alison Pritchard – Deputy National Statistician for Data Capability is a trans-identifying male.

That’s why I said that the 0.2% includes things like women with PCOS to try to maximise the reach of the category.

But, even if the figure were 0.2% in any meaningful sense, it wouldn’t change the basic fact that sexual dimorphism IS a characteristic of humans.

Health conditions and other disorders don’t make that not true.

IcakethereforeIam · 30/01/2024 13:00

Do they do this with other crimes? Rapists and their victims perhaps?

They seem to be signalling that they don't think it is a crime, or at least not a particularly serious one.

Karensalright · 30/01/2024 11:13

This is so ridiculous it is beyond belief.

Noticed the CPS consulted two groups separately.

Women’s services in one workshop (my god would i have loved to have been there) Presumably the voices of victims and potential victims.

And the other group workshop representing, erm,perpetrators, and potential perpetrators.

How extraordinary.

DeeLusional · 30/01/2024 11:02

VinegarTrio · 30/01/2024 10:19

I love a bit of columbo posting.

It’s all just ridiculous.

We really do need to have the factual basis of biological sex established in law. There’s a sentence you’d never have imagined even 10 years ago.

People are male or female. And, no TRAs, the 0.2% (an estimate including women with PCOS - so casting the net as widely as possible) who have some kind of health condition that affects sexual development do not somehow make that untrue, any more than the existence of people with limb deformities etc does not make the statement ‘humans are a bipedal species’ untrue.

How people want to think of themselves and how they want others to think of them - their ‘identity’ - has nothing to do with this.

There are a whole range of circumstances in which the simple fact of someone’s sex matters - and it’s not OK to deceive others about it. Consent to sexual activity is one of the most fundamental of those circumstances.

There is a very good reason why we use the shorthand ‘sex’ to refer to sexual activity. Because the biology matters. It matters whatever your sexual orientation or preferences.

That 0.2% of the population is a "mistake" by ONS, the number is much smaller than that. ONS "accidentally" misframed the question to reach the inflated figure. And of course the mistake had nothing to do with the fact that Alison Pritchard – Deputy National Statistician for Data Capability is a trans-identifying male.

VinegarTrio · 30/01/2024 10:29

VinegarTrio · 30/01/2024 10:19

I love a bit of columbo posting.

It’s all just ridiculous.

We really do need to have the factual basis of biological sex established in law. There’s a sentence you’d never have imagined even 10 years ago.

People are male or female. And, no TRAs, the 0.2% (an estimate including women with PCOS - so casting the net as widely as possible) who have some kind of health condition that affects sexual development do not somehow make that untrue, any more than the existence of people with limb deformities etc does not make the statement ‘humans are a bipedal species’ untrue.

How people want to think of themselves and how they want others to think of them - their ‘identity’ - has nothing to do with this.

There are a whole range of circumstances in which the simple fact of someone’s sex matters - and it’s not OK to deceive others about it. Consent to sexual activity is one of the most fundamental of those circumstances.

There is a very good reason why we use the shorthand ‘sex’ to refer to sexual activity. Because the biology matters. It matters whatever your sexual orientation or preferences.

Weirdly this posted again when I reopened the thread.

Oops

VinegarTrio · 30/01/2024 10:19

I love a bit of columbo posting.

It’s all just ridiculous.

We really do need to have the factual basis of biological sex established in law. There’s a sentence you’d never have imagined even 10 years ago.

People are male or female. And, no TRAs, the 0.2% (an estimate including women with PCOS - so casting the net as widely as possible) who have some kind of health condition that affects sexual development do not somehow make that untrue, any more than the existence of people with limb deformities etc does not make the statement ‘humans are a bipedal species’ untrue.

How people want to think of themselves and how they want others to think of them - their ‘identity’ - has nothing to do with this.

There are a whole range of circumstances in which the simple fact of someone’s sex matters - and it’s not OK to deceive others about it. Consent to sexual activity is one of the most fundamental of those circumstances.

There is a very good reason why we use the shorthand ‘sex’ to refer to sexual activity. Because the biology matters. It matters whatever your sexual orientation or preferences.

WarriorN · 30/01/2024 09:42

The entire premise of mermaids is deception and gaslighting.

NotBadConsidering · 30/01/2024 09:33

Charitable object:

'TO RELIEVE THE MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL STRESS OF ALL PERSONS AGED 19 YEARS AND UNDER WHO ARE IN ANY MANNER AFFECTED BY GENDER IDENTITY ISSUES, AND THEIR FAMILIES, AND TO ADVANCE PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE SAME.'

Including those who may be sex offenders who are emotionally stressed by the fact they didn’t deceive their victim well enough.

ArabellaScott · 30/01/2024 09:26

DeeLusional · 30/01/2024 09:20

There seem to be some people on here who are under the delusion that Mermaids is a charity to help children and young people who are struggling with their gender identity. It's not. Mermaids is an organisation dedicated to transitioning young people, come hell or high water, regardless of what issues might be causing the young people to be confused about who they are.

Charitable object:

'TO RELIEVE THE MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL STRESS OF ALL PERSONS AGED 19 YEARS AND UNDER WHO ARE IN ANY MANNER AFFECTED BY GENDER IDENTITY ISSUES, AND THEIR FAMILIES, AND TO ADVANCE PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE SAME.'

I wonder when the CC investigation will ever finish up?

Over a year, now.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/regulator-announces-statutory-inquiry-into-mermaids

Regulator announces statutory inquiry into Mermaids

The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into Mermaids, after identifying concerns about its governance and management.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/regulator-announces-statutory-inquiry-into-mermaids

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Boiledbeetle · 30/01/2024 09:21

ArabellaScott · 30/01/2024 09:01

If the accused was pretending to be trans they are a sex offender and the other party a victim of sexual assault.

If the accused is really truly trans they are brave and stunning and the other party is a bigot.

Having only just woken up, then read that, I'm back off to bed.

The world is no longer fit for use!

DeeLusional · 30/01/2024 09:20

There seem to be some people on here who are under the delusion that Mermaids is a charity to help children and young people who are struggling with their gender identity. It's not. Mermaids is an organisation dedicated to transitioning young people, come hell or high water, regardless of what issues might be causing the young people to be confused about who they are.

Allthegoodnamesarechosen · 30/01/2024 09:18

@VinegarTrio

🎯

RethinkingLife · 30/01/2024 09:11

MrsOvertonsWindow · 29/01/2024 20:52

I seem to recall that there's an odd story about the origins of this? I recall reading something by the Gay Mens Network ? that suggested there are out of control staff in the CPS running amok with consultations like this and managers too scared to challenge them? Or something like that.
Certainly the nature of the consultations suggests the usual CPS stitch up against women's interests? And for some odd reason the targets for prosecutions in this area all seem to be women?

It's all very odd

The CPS and their waggish appointments that may underpin some of this fear and the consultations. iirc, this appointment (Sophie Cook) is known to have defended sex by deception (see Glinner link).

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womensrights/4561116-cps-appoints-trans-activist-who-was-critical-of-women

Cook, however, does not believe that knowledge of a person’s sex is a necessity when consenting to sexual activity with them.
“Transgender people are entitled to a private life and the personal choice as to how much of their history they disclose”, [Cook] said, claiming that ‘forcing transgender people to disclose their history to prospective partners’ is ‘infringing their ‘human rights’.
[Cook] doesn’t show the same concern for the ‘human rights’ of women who may prefer to know the sex of the person with whom they are physically intimate.

https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/sophie-cook-the-cps-and-speaking

PS: Cook had a role in the CPS' extension of domestic abuse to include displaying pre-transition photos, 'withholding' money for transition costs etc.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4843625-domestic-abuse-according-to-the-cps-includes

CPS appoints trans activist who was critical of women | Mumsnet

Can't see this shared yet. "The advert said the speak-out champion would “be responsible for improving confidence amongst our employees in being able...

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4561116-cps-appoints-trans-activist-who-was-critical-of-women

ArabellaScott · 30/01/2024 09:02

Apologies for Columbo posting.

Peter Falk Detective GIF by PeacockTV
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ArabellaScott · 30/01/2024 09:01

If the accused was pretending to be trans they are a sex offender and the other party a victim of sexual assault.

If the accused is really truly trans they are brave and stunning and the other party is a bigot.

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ArabellaScott · 30/01/2024 09:00

No thought appears to have been given to the victims of sex by deception. Those familiar with Mermaids may be surprised they missed the glaringly obvious point, which is that if a victim accuses a trans person of being their birth sex rather than the sex they identify as they are surely guilty of transphobia.

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ArabellaScott · 30/01/2024 08:58

It's a refreshingly simple approach to crime.

'Ask them if they dunnit and if they say 'no', believe them'.

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ArabellaScott · 30/01/2024 08:57

ResisterRex · 30/01/2024 07:36

The whole thing was drawn around concern for sex offenders. Did that concern start in-house? Or from the outside in, and then the CPS ran with it? They must respond to this consultation before the election IMO. We need to know what direction they plan to go in.

You can see the questions that were asked (I assume CPS posed these) in Mermaids' submission.

Charitably one could say this was looking at the law and whether 'sex by deception' is a law that is fair/being fairly prosecuted?

Mermaids' response is that if someone tells you they are a certain sex then they are, and if they admit they were lying about their sex, then they're not.

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