Equalities chief says Sandie Peggie ruling shows it is 'very important' to have single-sex spaces
The Equality and Human Rights Commission chair also said it is important trans people are not left without any facilities they can use.
The UK’s equalities chief says the Sandie Peggie ruling shows it is “very important” for women to have access to single-sex spaces.
However Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson, chair of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, added it is also important trans people are not left with any facilities - and suggests creating unisex toilets is the solution.
Last week an employment tribunal ruled that NHS Fife had harassed Ms Peggie. However, all of Ms Peggie’s claims of victimisation and discrimination, including all her claims against trans doctor Beth Upton, failed and she is now planning to appeal the decision.
Dr Stephenson was asked what she made of the ruling by BBC Sundays with Laura Kuenssberg.
She said: “What that case and others show is there are circumstances where it is very important for some women to have access to single-sex spaces and they can feel comfortable with these existing.
“But it is also important that trans people are not put in a position where there is no services they can use.”
Dr Stephenson said single-sex spaces like toilets and changing rooms do not have “toilet police” guarding them, and that access to these spaces tends to be based on social conventions.
However, she added creating unisex facilities that are self-contained may be the most straightforward solution to this debate.
She added: “If you’ve got two self-contained cubicles, one labelled men and one labelled women, the most sensible thing to do is make them unisex.
“If they are self-contained, lockable rooms, there is no need to say one is for men and one is for women, they can be unisex.”
During her interview she was also asked whether trans women were women, and she said: “My role is around enforcing and upholding the Equality Act 2010.
“In terms of the Equality Act, the definition of women and men is based on biological sex at birth.
“How you then treat people in general social situations such as using the names and pronouns they wish, is a different thing from what the law actually says in terms of the Equality Act.”
She added: “I would want to treat them how they would want to be treated.”
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