Sex in the Census 2021 website launched; 3 part action plan

[ConservativesForWomen]

sexinthecensus.org

"The census has always asked “What is your sex”?
We believe that people should answer the census accurately and honestly.
We think that this is the best way to collect the information needed to understand the population and to plan and fund public services.
Counting the number of male and female citizens is vital for the census, and because the census sets the standard for other data-collection across society."

The website has a 3 stage action plan, a comprehensive set of FAQs, and a useful resources section that provides more background.
15 groups collaborated on this campaign and clicking on their logos on the home page takes you direct to the individual website of each organisation.

Hope some of you find it useful.

I will be v interested to see the wording of the letter, but at first sight I think this is a good way of dealing with it. I didn't know that you could object to how your own data is stored, so if enough ppl write to the data controller & instruct that their answer to the sex question is stored as their sex registered at birth & require a response, and by law they have to comply, this will send a message. They were trying to avoid a boycott, instead they will get a court case to defend (hopefully) and this requirement for lots of people. I also think they will have taken into account feedback that indicated they would not have had a good take up of a boycott.

The gender identity question would give good data on the trans population, except that its voluntary. It will be possible to tell from the answers whether someone is mtf or ftm, & if their gi is something other than man or woman (or variations) their actual sex will be as for the sex question.

Janina I emailed my MP about this issue. I did not question the inclusion of the gender ID question, I purely concentrated on the sex question and how it had to reflect biological reality. It's so annoying & frankly pathetic that the answer he's sent is for a different question! It's like he sent you someone else's reply. They get cut and paste text from HQ, so he (or assistant?) will have just pasted in the text for letters about this issue and the census.

Thank you OP. Would you suggest we personalise the letter or not?

What Shadowy said.

It's all terribly naice and all, but it's not direct action.

It is unfortunate we are in a lockdown and can't easily emulate the actions of the suffragettes, but I was hoping for something a bit more than letter writing.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/apr/01/suffragettes-census-1911-boycott

Sorry - I just dont understand what the point of this is!

Does anyone think they are going to go through and count who has added remarks beside the sex question - well I dont!

Any more than them cataloguing letters sent with returned paper census forms. They are propably deemed not part of the census and will be binned

And none of this deals with the totally objectional inclusion of the question on gender. The census does not normally include questions on passing fads.

It seems to me we should all get behind the Fair Play for women court action. I am looking forward to the Census being told they have got to re-run the whole census again because they didn't follow their brief, ie the collection of facts.

But somehow we need to get this situation into the public domain. Apparently the census facebook page has been deleting comments from anyone who points out that this census will not be factual.

But also the problem is (not surprisingly as we know the trans influence on the media) loads of people are discussing how progressive it is to have the quesiton on gender without mentioning it is opptional, but as those this is a tremendous victory for a more progressive society.

Whereas it will be like the GRA, the stepping stone to a time when the sex questions disappears and there is only the quesiton on gender.

More of us should be writing to local papers and pointing out that this census will:

1. Allow you to lie about your biological sex
2. Validate a perception of the world through the gender question that in fact is only the perspective of a tiny minority (NB to all Jedis - now is the time to claim you are being discriminated against)
3. By not having a valid quesiton on sex and a later optional one on whether you have transitioned the Census is not collecting valid stats that should be informing decisions on future planning. ie the optional question should have been: Have you transitioned from your birth sex: i Yes have had sex reassignment surgery ii Yes waiting for sex reassignment surgery iii Yes but will not be having sex reassignment surgery Do you have a GRC?

There's nothing stopping us doing something more creative/active alongside the letter-writing Stumbled.

I like your idea of writing to the local papers, anything to increase awareness. I'm buttonholing friends and family - even my unreconstituted brother thinks it's ridiculous and has agreed to take part in the campaign. He wouldn't have done so if it had been more 'out there' so that could work in our favour.

And a bunch of us are meeting to plot tonight.
Every little helps...

@TheShadowyFeminist

"Presumably the more people do this the more the message is heard."

The message has been getting hammered for quite some time & not had any impact. Action would, but this 'campaign' does not advocate any action, just 'fill the census' while writing (as demonstrated below) to MPs who easily/wilfully misinterpret or ignore those letters.

This census, once it goes ahead (especially with women filling it in as suggested) we won't get the integrity back. It'll open the floodgates across so many areas to completely disregard the PSED to gather data on sex & it makes any future campaigning 10 times harder because the 'gold standard' on data has by then confirmed that data on sex is superfluous & won't be collected for at least the next 10 years.

Faced with those consequences, I cannot believe that the big reveal on the 'co-ordinated action' is just 'fill the census in' and add a strongly worded letter that will be ignored/binned & nothing gained.

It also does nothing for any court case/JR being challenged by FPFW.

It's a toothless & empty gesture, not worth the dramatic build up. It's admitting defeat & trans activists will be pissing themselves at this.

The FAQs seem to indicated that a response to letters is required:

"Will ONS respond to my letter?

The data protection officer who receives the letters has one calendar month to respond to your objection. If they decide to reject it, they have to explain why."

P.S to everyone - was this thread hidden (or moved from a different board) as I was looking out for something on it yesterday on this board and didn't see anything.

Not everyone is going to be keen to boycott the census and potentially face a £1000 fine. It is easier to persuade family and friends who are slowly becoming aware of these issues to participate in an action like this.

There's nothing to stop others from planning more radical forms of action.
It is part of the sort of political game playing that's needed - it wouldn't be a good look for an organisation like FPFW and others to be urging people to break the law. They are building up credibility with politicians, government departments, media etc so they can be taken more seriously and make progress via the available mechanisms.

There's always space for grassroots organising for more direct action. This has been severely hampered of course for the past year due to the pandemic.

I must admit, I was hoping for something a with a bit more oomph, but I think you're right @NonnyMouse1337

Suggesting breaking the law by boycotting the census is not the way for an organisation like FPFW to go.

Agree, it is important to behave like grown ups while no one else does, ONS included and to maintain credibility as Nonny says.

I don't want to encourage any women to face fines or worse, particularly at a time when the pandemic is very unequally impacting on them. Nor do I have the faintest doubt that while there would probably be very little appetite for consequencing some groups for choosing a hyperbolic and dramatic boycott should they choose to make a point that way, there would be great enthusiasm and the full force of the law thrown at women for doing so.

while there would probably be very little appetite for consequencing some groups for choosing a hyperbolic and dramatic boycott should they choose to make a point that way, there would be great enthusiasm and the full force of the law thrown at women for doing so.

Exactly. One rule for them and another for us. The other side can do no wrong while threatening violence or burning effigies, but make no mistake that women's orgs will be heavily penalised and badmouthed for even the tiniest step out of line.

That would explain the gentility of the campaign response Michelle / Nonny ... women are damned for even the smallest whisper of discontent.

I'm been noticing the proportion of times that those speaking up for women feel they have to preface their remarks with a statement of support for transpeople's rights compared to how often transpeople do the same for women's rights. It's running at 99% vs 0% at the moment.

Hoping the Resisters and/or other activist groups and individuals will find ways to assert the importance of #SexInTheCensus that will boost the main campaign. Come on the witches!

I'm with you @oldstyle, me and a couple of friends are starting to plot. Possibly ribbons (suffragette colours of course! ) with written labels in local areas, nothing that can't be easily removed, send photos to local press, free sheets etc. I know it will absolutely infuriate the usual suspects, but will defo raise awareness. I just wish I had a suffragette costume lol.

Thank you for this, I have sent my thoughts on, hopefully each voice counts

If the DCs were back in school here it would be worth getting some badges done with the hashtags on for conversations at the school gates. Trying to think of alternatives. The three actions on the website do seem a little tame, but I can see the issue. If we're complaining about undermining the integrity of the data we can't really suggest something that does just that - though I guess the TAs they consulted suggested that they would. As PPs have said we need to do something to get awareness of this campaign out there. That's the first step really.

If we're complaining about undermining the integrity of the data we can't really suggest something that does just that

So instead we will write to our MPs, who will ignore, and fill it in like the good little women we are.

This is frustrating, and I'm as scared as anyone else about being targeted or losing my job.

"The data protection officer who receives the letters has one calendar month to respond to your objection. If they decide to reject it, they have to explain why."

Anyone who imagines the responses to this will be anything other than a dismissal or fudge is kidding themselves on.

This 'campaign' is a non event. It demonstrates that there's more concern over how it'll look than what is at stake.

There was a groundswell of anger to be built upon & it's being squandered. But I'm sure all those who signed up to this 'campaign' will continue to congratulate themselves on how hard they tried. Nothing like a bit of 'down with this sort of thing' finger wagging. I'm sure the ONS are suitably quaking over the threat of compliance with filling in the census. 🤦🏻‍♀️

If the JR fails, this 'campaign' will achieve feck all.

Looking forward to seeing the websites and campaigns of those who are criticising the joint campaign of the 15 women-led groups.

Post the links here so we can all get behind them......

Sorry, are we supposed to clap along and praise this ridiculously ineffective campaign? Are the 15 women led groups who spent time pouring over all the options and devised 'compliance' as the killer tactic above criticism?

Pardon me for seeing through this build up to nothing of substance. But you carry on the charade if it brings you comfort.

@TheFleegleHasLanded

Looking forward to seeing the websites and campaigns of those who are criticising the joint campaign of the 15 women-led groups.

Post the links here so we can all get behind them......

That is a shitty and predictable response.

Those groups have set themselves up to be the voice of many women, and they're the groups that are most likely to get seats at tables. Of course they can and should be criticised when they do ineffectual or potentially damaging stuff (remember Fair Play's disastrous and offensive disabled toilets debacle?).

This is a non-action.

Thank you so much for this! It makes me feel I can at least do something

ConservativesForWomen Did the sexinthecensus group consider the group and/or individuals making complaints to the Office of Statistics Regulation about the ONS?

Quality and/or use of official statistics

You can report a concern about the quality and/or use of official statistics by emailing [email protected].

========

About the Code

The framework for the Code of Practice is based on three pillars.

Each pillar contains a number of principles and detailed practices that producers should commit to when producing and releasing official statistics. On the page for each Code principle you’ll find a table with guidance and resources.

The Office for Statistics Regulation reviews compliance with the pillars, principles and practices of the Code.

Download the Code (PDF, 0.42MB)
code.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Code-of-Practice-for-Statistics.pdf

Trustworthiness is a product of the people, systems and processes within organisations that enable and support the production of statistics and data.

Quality means that statistics fit their intended uses, are based on appropriate data and methods, and are not materially misleading

Value means that the statistics and data are useful, easy to access, remain relevant, and support understanding of important issues.

From:

code.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/the-code/

==========

Breach of the Code

(THIS DOES NOT SEEM TO BE RELEVANT AS IT APPLIES TO REPORTING BY STATISTICS ORGANISATIONS OF INTERNAL BREACHES)

A breach is caused when an organisation producing official statistics fails to meet the standards outlined in the Code of Practice for Statistics. If a breach occurs, please complete the Breach Report Template and submit it to the National Statistician by emailing [email protected].

Continued at:

code.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/contact-us/

Thanks Mole. This sounds like a useful addition to the range of options.

If you haven't done so already, please email your MP with your concerns.

sexinthecensus.org/do-it-now/

From today, you can request a paper copy of the census.

sexinthecensus.org/when-your-census-code-arrives/

Link to request paper copy:
census.gov.uk/en/request/paper-questionnaire/enter-address/

Thanks for the reminder @NonnyMouse1337. Just ordered my paper copy. I await a response from my MP, but I got a promising acknowledgement.

Can I also add, if anyone who sees this isn’t already aware of the campaign by FPFW, and the update yesterday, please have a read here and consider picking up a spade if you’re able to.

fairplayforwomen.com/census-dirty-tricks-wont-stop-us/