Chamber and committees

I want to go back to something that we discussed earlier. We had a consultation, and 59 per cent of people who spoke about the bill opposed the principles of the bill. It was quite a considerable number.

In relation to the Equality Act 2010 and the women who are concerned about safeguards and opt-outs on a single-sex basis, if the proposed reform happens, do you think—looking through a human rights lens—that those exemptions, as Amnesty International Scotland described them, should be justified on the basis of less stringent criteria? Amnesty did not say that—I will get this right for the convener. It said:

“those exemptions must be justified on the basis of quite stringent criteria.”—[Official Report, Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee, 31 May 2022; c 58.]

From a human rights angle, do you think that, in terms of women’s views on safeguards and opt-outs, those should be made simpler in law, so that the exemptions are there and those women feel protected, for the reasons that we are hearing?

Thank you for that. On the requirement for documentation in countries such as Croatia, Finland and Germany, why did those countries come to that decision, unlike the examples that you have given, where no medical documentation is required?

This morning, the Scottish Human Rights Commission suggested that we should have a post-legislative review. Has that happened anywhere else? Are there any international comparisons?

I am not sure whether that is based on puberty or social capacities, but perhaps the committee could look at that.

I have asked all our witnesses about the Cass review. A lot more young people are accessing gender identity services in England. Should our reforms be paused to take account of the full report of the Cass review, rather than just the interim report?

I will ask one more question. Do you feel that we are ready for this reform? So many people are concerned about the resource, given the number of people who are self-identifying, as stated in the Cass report, and who are seeking help from gender identification clinics. Do you think that we are really ready for this, without the resource to provide support to people?

I completely agree with that. Other members need to ask questions, so I shall leave it there.

[Inaudible.]—then, in evidence, suggested that more research needs to be done by the Scottish Government.

Yes, and that is relevant to the committee’s evidence gathering.

Do I have time to ask another quick question, convener?

Convener, I do not know whether anybody is planning to ask about the issue of age. It came up in the previous evidence session, with regard to evolving capacity.