Doug Beattie: Only birth sex is relevant when police officers conduct intimate searches

Doug Beattie says the party will raise the PSNI’s policy of allowing males with gender recognition certificates to conduct intimate searches on women at the Northern Ireland Policing Board.

The Upper Bann MLA told the News Letter “The searcher and those present must match the biological sex at birth of the individual being searched.

“There should be no exception to this rule and our policing board member will be raising it with the Chief Constable”.

Mr Beattie has also raised the issue of allowing male prisoners who identify as women into the female prison estate.

​“The Ulster Unionist Party continue to support the LGBT+ and other minority communities throughout Northern Ireland while at the same time ensuring there is no diminution in societal rights, particularly women’s rights.

“On the issue of the justice system it is important we do not leave anyone placed in custody feeling more vulnerable than what would be expected from having their liberty taken away.

“To that end biological women at birth who identify as transgender men should not under any circumstances be placed in a male prison.

“Likewise biological men at birth who may identify as transgender women must not under any circumstance be placed in a women prisons.

“It is important the justice minister clarifies this at the earliest stage of the new year and if necessary brings forward supporting legislation in order to give the judiciary and the PPS guidance on such matters”.

Last year the NI Prison Service said it introduced guidance on the care and management of transgender prisoners in 2022 following a review. It said: “When a person who is transgender is committed to custody by the courts, NIPS will consider their specific needs on a case-by-case basis following committal to an establishment as directed by the court”. It added that a “person-centred and risk-based approach” is taken.