J.K. Rowling, famed author of the Harry Potter series, has harshly criticized a new Scottish police policy which records biological male rapists as women as long as the rapist “identifies as a female,” with Rowling labeling the policy as Orwellian.
While responding to a Times article on the new Scottish policy, Rowling directly referenced Orwell, ending her tweet with her own flourish, writing: “The penised individual who raped you is a woman.”
Police Scotland confirmed they are now recording rapes by an attacker with male genitalia as an offense by a woman if the accused identified as a woman, regardless of whether they had legally changed their gender.
The move has proven highly controversial.
The measure comes when the Scottish Government is discussing bills to simplify self-identification. These could allow people to change their gender according to their “feelings.” However, the efforts of the police and the Scottish Government have met with opposition from critics, including women rights defenders and feminists.
Assistant Chief Constable Gary Ritchie set out some scenarios where a rapist could be recorded as a woman — including “where a person, born male but who identifies as a female and does not have a full gender recognition certificate and then commits rape.”
Rowling receives death threats
Rowling has received a slew of death threats for speaking out for women’s rights, especially after she was doxxed by activists takes photos outside her home with her address clearly visible.
It is not the first time she has been threatened in such a manner, either.
Rowling went on to reference a number of women who she has been in contact with who have faced extreme pressure for their stance on transgender issues. She wrote on Twitter:
“Over the last few years I’ve watched, appalled, as women like Allison Bailey, Raquel Sanchez, Marion Miller, Rosie Duffield, Joanna Cherry, Julie Bindel, Rosa Freedman, Kathleen Stock and many, many others, including women who have no public profile but who’ve contacted me to relate their experiences, have been subject to campaigns of intimidation which range from being hounded on social media, the targeting of their employers, all the way up to doxing and direct threats of violence, including rape.”
Rowling has been a vocal opponent of many elements of transgender ideology, saying elements of this campaign are an affront to women and harmful to young girls, many who are increasingly partaking in irreversible and harmful surgeries to transform their gender.
Scottish police say they aren’t dropping the policy
Others have come out against the new Scottish police policy. Former Cabinet Secretary for Justice Kenny MacAskill and many have called the move absurd.
“As a lawyer for 20 years and Justice Secretary for almost eight, I’ve seen some legal absurdities. But this tops it all and is dangerous. It’s physically impossible and is about dogma overriding common sense,” claimed MacAskill for The Scottish Sun daily.
Some experts fear that some men could deliberately identify themselves as women to gain better treatment by police officers.
“It’ll only take a few misclassified cases to skew statistics,” said MurrayBlackburn Mackerie analyst Lisa Mackenzie.
Analysts want the police to be forced to accurately record the gender of people accused of rape or attempted rape. The police defend that the new measure complies with the trends of modern society.
