In the case of sexual assault; gender/sex of doctor

[MrsSnippyPants]

My local Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) has this in their FAQs:

"Q. Can I choose to have a male or female doctor / police officer?

Every effort is made to accommodate your wishes. If you are not happy with the gender of the doctor or police officer, you will be given the option of waiting until we are able to accommodate your wishes. "

Should this say 'sex' not gender? A friend of mine is asking what would happen if she wanted to be seen by a doctor who had been born female and had remained female, and wants to find a polite way to express that.

I keep thinking I have got my head around all this issue, yet wake up every day with more questions.

I'm pretty sure the short answer to this is 'yes' - it should be sex, not gender, and specifically birth sex not legally acquired. I filled in the GRA consultation yesterday, there was a section which clarified this is the case at the moment - I think it was

'Question 14: Do you think that the operation of the occupational requirement exception in relation to gender reassignment in the Equality Act 2010 will be affected by changing the Gender Recognition Act?'

• the 'occupational requirement exceptions' under the EA should currently cover this.

Hopefully someone else will be able to put this better.

From the Equality Act 2010:
"In very limited circumstances it may be lawful for an employer to specify that a job applicant must not have the protected characteristic of gender reassignment.
In law, this approach is known as an ‘occupational
requirement’ and it can provide the employer with a defence to a
discrimination claim. "

Would the role of a doctor employed to deal with female rape victims be an example of such an 'occupational requirement'?

I believe so. Your friend should probably write, citing that and asking for explicit clarification re sex v gender.