Scottish Government urged to always record rapists as men

Dr Lucy Hunter Blackburn and Lisa Mackenzie were at Holyrood’s public petitions committee to demand this, saying there has been a “longstanding failure” to deal with this issue.

The pair then accused the government and Police Scotland of a lack of “ethical leadership”.

Speaking to the committee, Dr Hunter Blackburn said: “Our point here is simple - rape is a male crime, and when a man rapes a woman, they should be recorded in all the statistics as a man.

“There is a moral obligation here to victims.

“It is not acceptable for the victim of rape to see the state class [their rapist] as a woman when they know full well it was a man.”

She added: “The outgoing Police Scotland chief constable says the force was institutionally sexist, and we can’t think of anything more misogynistic than this.”

The Scots law definition of rape is “when a person intentionally or recklessly penetrates another person’s vagina, anus or mouth with their penis” without their consent.

Ms Mackenzie added she was particularly concerned that due to the low numbers of women recorded as committing these sorts of crimes, adding trans women to the data could look like there has been an “explosion” in female rapes and divert police resources.

The pair also criticised the government’s record-keeping on this, saying they had questioned data showing a woman carrying out a rape in 2018/19.

They told the committee the government said they’d have to comb through newspaper articles to get the correct answers on this data, something Dr Hunter Blackburn described as “extraordinary”.

She added: “You are all men [on this committee] and we are two women - this is not an experience we would choose.

“This is not normal.

“Please don’t read into the fact that we’re sitting here means we are comfortable.

“We think Police Scotland and the Scottish Government’s unwillingness to take leadership has made this drawn out.

“It should not take two and a half years to decide that rapists should be recorded as men.”

The committee will continue to debate the women’s petition.