Below is the article copied from the archive (wasn’t sure how to screen shot so just copied text)
“Britain’s leading equality watchdog has been formally asked to launch an investigation into Police Scotland amid claims of bias in the ongoing battle over trans rights.
The campaign group Fair Play for Women has urged the Equality and Human Rights Commission to investigate whether Police Scotland is in breach of its public sector equality duty to foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not.
The campaign group pointed out that the Equality Act states that “having due regard to the need to foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it involves having due regard, in particular, to the need to tackle prejudice and promote understanding”.
As revealed by The Times on Saturday, Nicola Murray, 43, director of Brodie’s Trust, was visited by the police because of a policy statement she posted on social media confirming that the charity would not refer women to Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (ERCC) because it “is a female-only service and ERCC is not”.
Murray founded Brodie’s Trust to support women from all over the world “who’ve suffered pregnancy loss through domestic violence or forced termination” by directing victims to local services for help.
The charity relies on the single-sex exceptions in the Equality Act to offer its services exclusively to people born female. In contrast, ERCC is a transinclusive service provider.
Murray was visited by two police officers in November when she was reported for hate crime after stressing Brodie’s Trust’s female-only services.
That followed Mridul Wadhwa, the ERRC chief executive officer and a trans woman, stating that rape survivors would be “challenged on their prejudices”.
Assistant Chief Constable Gary Ritchie said of the officers’ visit: “Hate crime and discrimination of any kind is deplorable and entirely unacceptable. Police Scotland will investigate every report of a hate crime or hate incident.”
Fair Play for Women claimed that the comment was “inaccurate and misleading”. Nicola Williams, the group’s director, said: “The Equality Act 2010 sets out that discrimination can be lawful when that discrimination is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. The statement made by Police Scotland . . . conveys the meaning to the public that service providers who lawfully discriminate on the grounds of sex are themselves deplorable, and it suggests that use of the single-sex exceptions is in some way unlawful.
“Police misrepresenting the law in this way is a serious matter. The idea that service providers are in any way deplorable and acting unlawfully is likely to foster bad relations between potential service users who are included and those who are excluded, as well as fostering bad relations with the service provider itself.
“It is also reasonable to expect this police statement would have a ‘chilling effect’ on other service providers who wish to lawfully provide female-only services. Thus, fettering the ability of service providers to choose the most appropriate, and least discriminatory, service to their target service users.”
The Equalities and Human Rights Commission last week warned the Scottish government against simplifying the law on gender recognition. It also indicated that new guidance on single sex spaces in relation to the Equality Act 2010 was also imminent.
Police Scotland said it did not want to comment on the complaint by Fair Play for Women. A spokesman also reiterated Ritchie’s statement.”