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Displaying 598 contributions
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Meeting date: 24 May 2022
Pam Gosal
Yes.
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Meeting date: 24 May 2022
Pam Gosal
Thank you for your opening statements. You have touched on this, but will you go into a little more depth on how you see the self-ID policy working across sports, from the grass roots to the competitive elite levels? What evidence base is there on the impact of testosterone on performance?
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Meeting date: 24 May 2022
Pam Gosal
The consideration of cost does not explicitly factor in the development of additional careful consideration of applications from children, sensitive investigation, or even face-to-face applications. You also stated in your response that it is unclear whether National Records of Scotland currently has the expertise to undertake such a role, and that it is likely to require additional specialised staffing. Has the provision of support been hastily thought about, with no real consideration of the potential costs and of the services that will be provided?
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Meeting date: 24 May 2022
Pam Gosal
Good morning to the panel and thank you for your opening statements. Going back to the mechanisms and the process, the commissioner’s response to the consultation highlighted that there is no mechanism in the proposed reform for setting out how an individual child’s understanding of the process and its consequences would be assessed. Does that concern still stand?
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Meeting date: 24 May 2022
Pam Gosal
Malcolm, do you want to add anything?
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Meeting date: 24 May 2022
Pam Gosal
My next question is for Bruce Adamson and Ellie Gomersall.
Last week, we heard from the Equality and Human Rights Commission that individuals who acquire a GRC can access women’s and girls’ single-sex spaces such as toilets, changing rooms, refuges and hospital wards, and that the exclusion of individuals with a GRC would be direct discrimination, subject to justification.
There are concerns from those opposed to the bill that the self-declaration aspect could open the bill up to abuse by bad-faith actors. Do you think that certain groups of individuals, such as people who are on the sex offenders register, for example, should be ineligible to apply for a GRC on the basis of self-declaration? If not, are there any other safeguards that you think would be best placed to ensure that the bill has no unintended consequences for children’s rights?
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Meeting date: 24 May 2022
Pam Gosal
I want to follow that up. You mentioned that the process is pretty rigorous right now but, under the bill, the process will be much easier. If there are no safeguards in place, will that open up the process to such predators?
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Meeting date: 24 May 2022
Pam Gosal
Thank you. Commissioner, this is a big concern and a big question that everybody is asking. Can you give me your view on it?
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee (Hybrid)
Meeting date: 17 May 2022
Pam Gosal
Colin, do you have anything to add?
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee (Hybrid)
Meeting date: 17 May 2022
Pam Gosal
Going back to what Dr Crawford said about support and something that Vic Valentine said about having explainers, that suggests that you are looking at having a much wider support mechanism. If you are looking at people who have disabilities and need extra help, that cannot just be an explainer on a piece of paper. Support services will have to be provided to say what a GRC is and what it means. Am I right that you are saying that what is needed is more than just explainers and descriptions?