UN Special Rapporteur raises concerns about Scottish Gender reforms

[ChazsBrilliantAttitude]

https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=27681

So many of the issues we have all been raising for example:

"While I commend the Government for listening to the voices of transwomen,
including organizations that represent them, I am concerned that the consultations for this proposal do not appear to have been sufficiently inclusive of other groups of women, most notably female victims of violence. It has been reported that five survivors of male violence approached the Scottish Parliament EHRCJ to speak in a private session about their concerns in relation to the Bill and their own experiences of self-exclusion. The convenor reportedly informed the group that the Committee did not have time to see them and to put their objections in writing.
I would like to recall the UK’s obligation to make sure that all processes that
affect the lives of all women and girls put them at the center of their deliberations, as well as its responsibility to take and enforce all measures to end violence against women. Second-guessing and questioning the needs of survivors of violence born female for single sex assistance and protection services is not victim-centered and ignores and undermines the survivor’s involuntary trauma, agency, and dignity.'"

And:

The Times view on Sturgeon’s Scottish independence bid: Desperate and Distracted

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/8827ac70-6b2e-11ed-b361-431d7dcc7c0e?shareToken=299cbc21ee2d9ce66a65b511320f2e3f

"When the SNP does act decisively, evidence of incompetence soon follows. The latest example of this has been Sturgeon’s insistence on driving through reform of the gender recognition act in the face of huge opposition. Although the first minister insists that making it easier for people to legally change gender has no negative implications for others’ rights, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls — Reem Alsalem — has intervened to criticise the legislation, expressing concern that the proposals may potentially open the door for violent males to abuse the process of acquiring a gender certificate and the rights that are associated with it."

The UK Government has ratified the Convention on the Elimination on all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). This obliges the UK Government to uphold the rights of women under CEDAW, to protect women against male violence and to support women who have experienced male violence and to eliminate harmful stereotypes (as well as a number of other things).

The CEDAW Committee takes evidence on how CEDAW is implemented in signatory states and raises concerns where women's rights are violated and then makes various recommendations in periodic country reports. Most states do take heed of these recommendations because they don't want to be accused of breaching the rights of women, but it is more or less voluntary, so states can and do ignore recommendations at times.

However, the UK Government typically seeks to heed the recommendations and the Scottish Government has been very vocal about its commitment to CEDAW.

The country reports on the UK, as produced by the Committee, stress that it falls to the UK Government to ensure that women's rights under CEDAW are upheld across the whole territory of the United Kingdom. Scotland is not a state actor, the UK is.

What this means is that it falls to the UK Government to step in if the GRR Bill fails to meet its obligations as a signatory to CEDAW.

Before anything else of course this is already the case, because of the refusal by both the Scottish Government and the Committee responsible for the GRR Bill to consider the reform's impact on women, something which is an important obligation states have under CEDAW.

TL;DR: this letter gives the UK Government a very good reason to stop the GRR Bill from being implemented.

That's interesting Charley. Makes sense. What mechanisms would the UK government use to stop it?

Our body's reaction is a strange thing. In no way the same but I had a horrible bully of a manager many years ago. I had managed for 19 years to have no contact with her due to being in a different field and geographical area. Then a few weeks ago, out of the blue at work, I received a work related email from her.

I immediately went into some kind of freefall, and a massive anxiety attack. I had no control over this, this is not something that needs to be weaponised by TRA's.

Thanks so much for explaining this so clearly @CharlieParley

Recommend the book The Body Keeps the Score (Bessel van Der Kolk)- if you haven't read it already, and want to understand more about how the body holds trauma.

See also 'waking the tiger' by Peter Levine.

That's really informative, CharlieParley. Thank you. More 'interesting times' ahead for our beleaguered country.

What this means is that it falls to the UK Government to step in if the GRR Bill fails to meet its obligations as a signatory to CEDAW

I wonder if Sturgeon would welcome this, so she could spin it as Westminster trying to oppress the Scottish people?

Yep, I think this is a win-win for NS from an independence POV. If the UK government block it then it becomes an issue the SNP can spin, and if it passes then there are yet more ways in which Scotland diverges materially from UK law, hence more argument for independence.

So let's say the UK government stops this (not sure how but for argument's sake). How does:

• stopping the medicalisation of minors
• stopping violent males abusing self-ID
• stopping poor data collection, and so on

Get spun as a win? Wouldn't it also possibly highlight there are reasons not to leave the Union or want more power to be devolved?

While I commend the commitment and, often bravery, of UN special rappoteurs who speak truth to power, the fact of the matter is that they are regularly ignored.

In fact, Nils Melzer, the UN special rappoteur on torture (until recently), who intervened regarding Assange’s treatment, documented that the West showed even greater disregard and outright disrespect when called out than any dictatorship or banana Republic that doesn‘t fall under the ‚Western value‘ umbrella.

So much for the power of the UN special rapporteur.

Thank you for your clear explanation re CEDAW @CharlieParley .

From this BBC article:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-63730621

In a letter to the UK government, UN special rapporteur Reem Alsalem shared fears that the legislation "would potentially open the door for violent males who identify as men to abuse the process of acquiring a gender certificate and the rights that are associated with it".

She added: "This presents potential risks to the safety of women in all their diversity (including women born female, transwomen, and gender non-conforming women)."

This wording is nuts. Woman is not an identity ffs. Are "gender nonconforming" women no longer deemed female by the UN? If a violent man identifies as trans he's a-ok to come into intimate spaces?

I think that's a misquote, going from memory.

BellaAmorosa do you mean the BBC article has misquoted one or both of the paragraphs I quoted?

Thank you to the sharers & the explainers.

I'm writing to my MSPs again (thank goodness for email - the stamps would have bankrupted me by now 😂) pointless though it seems.

I expect it is the wrong kind, but an embarrassing intervention for NS and her government. If only they would listen!

Raised my hackles too. I'm so tired of the lies.

Yes, I think so. The bit in brackets after "diversity". I haven't checked again but I'm fairly sure.

Yes, the government and parliament websites are useless and the dead link for the Scotland Office is embarrassing. The UK parliament holds sessions to question the Secretary of State for Scotland on reserved (i.e. not devolved) affairs relating to Scotland, but I'm not sure how regularly they are held.

It's monthly: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00c3b7c

It's not a misquote. The wording is nuts, but it allows her to strike a middle tone, whilst still claiming affiliation to the Genderwoo club.

Essentially, she's saying the lack of safeguards means as gender identity is subjective, fluid, and unobservable, and, therefore, unverifiable, the Scottish GRC allows any male at any time to claim access to female-only spaces or provisions on the basis of a Gender identity claim.

Because Gender ID is based on self perception, as opposed to material reality, and Scottish GRA Reform doesn't call for any qualification (no hormones, sex offenders A-OK, no requirement for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria, etc.) we won't be able to tell the difference between a transwoman and any predatory or opportunist males.

Excellent piece by Ash Regan: "So many questions on new gender law still need answers" archive.ph/k0dob

@Fenlandia and @HatefulHaberdashery
Apologies. You are both correct.

Times comment today:

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/d0021188-6b4d-11ed-b361-431d7dcc7c0e?shareToken=b3c2832ebb703ed7852e103b208e3011