British Transport Police are at present allowing some alleged criminals to self-identify as female when arrested. These alleged criminals are clearly not women as eye witnesses can testify. The crime is then recorded as a female crime and reported as such to the press. An example of this was recently reported widely in the tabloid press where many were shocked to see “women” - as the press called them - in a video allegedly repeatedly stomping on a man's head. The man suffered a broken eye socket. Two police officers also received injuries. The bodies of the suspects appear to be male. The bodies of the suspects appear to be wearing dresses and wigs. Eye witnesses have confirmed that the bodies were male. But the suspects were recorded as female because they said they were.

This is against the codes provided in the Police and Criminal Investigations Act 1984.

There is no provision in the PACE act 1984 to allow for self-identification other than at Code C and this relates only to the right to be searched by an officer of the opposite sex.

In the necessity of searching a suspect, guidelines suggest that a person arrested must be treated according to their "preferred gender". As such anyone identifying themselves as a woman must be searched by another woman. Even if they do not present as female. This will involve forcing female police officers to search males according to a misguided application of the Equality Act 2010.

At Code D - which is legislation for "Identification of persons by police officers" there is no such provision for self-identity or for using a "preferred gender". In fact if an intimate body search is necessary that must be preformed by a medical practitioner in order to obtain sperm and other biological information.

It seems that British Transport Police are misusing/misunderstanding the Equality Act 2010 and also misunderstanding/misapplying the provisions in the Gender Recogniton Act 2004 which refers only to the application for and use of Gender Recognition Certificates.

Suspects should be required to validate their sex as claimed upon arrest and at interview stage and certainly before a crime is reported as female to the press.

Establishing the sexed nature of crime is utterly essential to preserving the validity of crime statistics which show that most violent crime is committed by males upon other males and that most violent crime committed upon females is committed by male.

If men can simply self-identity as female against any current legal provision then no crime statistics are relevant.

We call upon the Government to commit to ensuring that the British Police are aware of the legal requirements to establish the sex of suspects. We call upon the British Government to apply the laws currently in place.

One of the reasons women are distressed by the current moves to adjust the Gender Recognition Act to allow anyone to identify as female is that males will be legally allowed to do this. Currently they are not.

Apply the law. When men commit crime. Arrest, charge, record and report them as men.