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I will be attending the Devon and Cornwall Police consultation later this month representing people who are transgender.
Are there any points which you would like me to put forward which you feel might be beneficial in helping people who might have suffered from any form of transphobic hate crime.
Hi Carol. One thing that got me thinking was a conversation I had here with Sweet Doll over names when dealing with police. What is their policy towards transgender choosen names verses birth names. I can understand if for ID purposes they need to know your birth name but after that I find it important we be addressed by our choosen name. I think if officers were trained to be sensitive towards names of transgender people it could be a useful tool in defusing any possible tensions. So maybe make a point about how important is is for them to treat the victim by their chosen gender name?. Thank you Carol for all you do!! xxx
GIRES provides training for:
For more information about the custom-made training, literature and support for policy development that GIRES provides, please contact Bernard Reed, a trustee of the charity, at:
GIRES, Melverley, The Warren, Ashtead, Surrey KT21 2SP, England
Tel: 01372 801554
Fax: 01372 272297
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.gires.org.uk
The Police
Providing Safety for Transgendered People Internally and Throughout the Community
The police occupy a highly influential role in society and can support transgendered people in two ways:
In the UK, the government requires the police to accept and support diversity among the people they employ and throughout society, especially targeting 'hard to reach' groups. Among the groups now specifically protected by that instruction are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people. The position of those who are transsexual has also been strengthened by the law. Amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act protect them in the workplace. The law now clearly protects them against rape. Any crime that is found to be aggravated by transphobia will attract a stiffer penalty from the court. The Gender Recognition Act enables those who have permanently transitioned to obtain a birth certificate that records their true gender and to be treated for all purposes as being of that gender.
In supporting the work of the police, GIRES has already made presentations on gender identity and transsexual issues at training sessions arranged by the forces in South Yorkshire (that involved also a wide range of local agencies) and Essex. For Kent Police, GIRES provided a half-day segment in a two-week course on diversity for training officers. GIRES also presented two workshops at the London Conference of the European Gay Police Association and another at the Leeds Conference of the International Association of Women Police. It has, in addition, made presentations to the Metropolitan Police Service and to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC). GIRES is contributing to the development of training materials and policy documents by CENTREX (the national police training agency), HMIC, the Association of Chief Police Officers and Cleveland Police.
Based on its experiences of working with the police, GIRES has prepared a module that could be used by training personnel in their own diversity programmes, with whatever input they thought appropriate from the members of the GIRES team, which always includes a trans police officer. The module consists of a three-hour session, covering the following topics:
