Rape Crisis England & Wales (RCEW) want to update our stakeholders on our response to the recent Supreme Court judgement, considering the potential impact and implications it has for our members and the survivors they support.
The outcome of the case has clarified that where the Equality Act 2010 is concerned, the terms ‘man’, ‘woman’, and ‘sex’ refer to biological sex and not gender identity, and that a Gender Recognition Certificate does not alter this.
This ruling has implications for many aspects of equality law in the UK, and RCEW take the needs and rights of all survivors, and our duties under the EA 2010, seriously. Our current focus is on ensuring we take appropriate advice and update our policies and practices in response to the ruling and any subsequent guidance such as the updated Code of Practice from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), and supporting our members to do the same.
The definition and provision of ‘women-only spaces’ remains a powerfully emotive topic within the women's sector, as it has been in wider society, compounded by divisive media coverage and a lack of legislative clarity or sufficient statutory guidance to support service providers to interpret this complex and emerging area of law and ethics.
As independent organisations, our centres have needed to define for themselves whether and how the women-only spaces they provide include those who identify as trans and nonbinary. All have worked to keep survivors at the heart of their decision-making and service delivery, whilst attempting to navigate significant confusion about the law in this area.
The severe underfunding of Rape Crisis centres (RCCs) over many years has added to this picture, forcing many to make very difficult decisions about who they can help, and how. The forthcoming guidance will be important in supporting our members to provide the best possible support they can, bearing in mind the severe financial pressure they remain under.
Severe under-funding is also an existential crisis for our members, which is why we will continue to push for a level of funding that reflects the scale of sexual violence and allows our members to meet the needs of all survivors who need their help.
We have written a more extensive piece outlining in more detail the background to this issue, which you can find below.