UK Prosecutors Can Refer to Transgender Sex Offense Suspects as Men, New Guidance States

Barristers in the United Kingdom have been informed by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) that they can refer to transgender women accused of sex offenses as men, where deemed appropriate. This change in guidance comes after a legal challenge initiated by the gender-critical campaign group Sex Matters.

The updated guidance allows prosecutors to use male pronouns for transgender women defendants if doing so is necessary to avoid unfairness. Previously, the CPS guidance stipulated that only witnesses, such as victims of sexual assault by a transgender person, could be referred to using pronouns that match their birth sex.

The legal challenge by Sex Matters argued that existing CPS guidance was "legally flawed" because it conflated sex and gender in relation to a person's ability to consent to sex. While the group's claim in the High Court did not succeed in declaring the guidance unlawful, it prompted the CPS to amend its directives concerning cases involving "deception as to sex."

In one instance cited, a transgender woman, Lexi Secker, who was jailed for rape in 2024, was referred to as 'she' throughout her sentencing hearing. Secker, who was living as a man and using the name Alex at the time of the offense in 2023, was later referred to as 'Lexi Secker,' 'Ms Secker,' and 'she' during court proceedings.

Maya Forstater, Chief Executive of Sex Matters, described the update as an "important improvement," stating that the High Court's criticisms of previous CPS guidance on sex by deception had led to these changes. She reiterated the group's stance that a person's self-identified gender is not relevant to the issue of consent and that the CPS guidance had conflated sex with "gender identity."

A CPS spokesperson commented that the court rejected the claimant's interpretation of the law on consent and affirmed the CPS's prior statement of the law. The spokesperson added that CPS guidance undergoes rigorous scrutiny to ensure it assists prosecutors in applying the law correctly in criminal cases.