Lord Advocate is key note speaker.
The Scottish Transgender Alliance is holding the UK’s first trans Justice Conference today, March 13 in Edinburgh which is set to be attended by over 100 delegates.
The conference will bring transgender people together with key officials from across Scotland’s justice system to look at tackling transphobic hate crime, workplace discrimination, and the rights of transgender prisoners.
The Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland QC, will deliver the keynote speech which Scotland’s transgender equality organisation says will send a clear signal that improving equality, and extending access to justice for transgender people, is now a priority for the justice sector.
Nathan Gale, Project Development Officer at the Scottish Transgender Alliance, said: “We are delighted that the Lord Advocate and senior representatives of Scotland’s justice system are showing their commitment to transgender equality by supporting this conference. Transgender people continue to face many difficulties in accessing justice and we hope that by highlighting these issues the justice sector will become more responsive to their needs and provide transgender people with the standard of service that all those engaging with the justice system deserve.”
The Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland QC added: “I am pleased to be speaking at this conference. “Scotland has come a long way in tackling hate crime. In 2009 new powers to tackle crimes of prejudice were made available to police and prosecutors making Scotland one of the first countries in Europe to have legislation in place that allowed us to protect victims of crimes targeted because of their transgender identity.
“Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has also come a long way in recent years and is committed to working with the communities it serves including the transgender community in the development of policies and practice that ensure all those who engage with the criminal justice system are treated fairly and with dignity and respect”
The prosecution last year of a trans man for ‘sex by fraud’ for failing to disclose his birth sex to sexual partners caused a great deal of concern for transgender people about their right to privacy. COPFS has since been working with the Scottish Transgender Alliance to develop a policy to ensure that transgender people are not inappropriately prosecuted for sexual activity. The conference will provide delegates with their first opportunity to discuss the new policy.
Police Scotland will be represented by Superintendent Gavin Phillip and officers will run workshops aimed at building confidence in reporting transphobic hate crime and providing officers with a greater understanding of the barriers transgender people face in doing so.
The Scottish Transgender Alliance welcomes this engagement as tackling hate crime is a key priority for the organisation. The majority of transgender people live in fear due to transphobic hate crime. Three out of four transgender people have been hate crime victims, with one in five being physically assaulted because they are transgender, yet the majority of these crimes go unreported.
The Trans Justice Conference will also feature workshops by the Employment Tribunal Service and the Equality and Human Rights Commission, equipping transgender people and their advisors with a greater understanding of their rights in all areas of life, including employment, health care and access to services.
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