Police Scotland scraps self-ID guidance and will now record biological sex

Police Scotland has reversed a longstanding policy that allowed suspects and victims to self-identify their gender, and will now record biological sex for all crimes and offences.

The self-identification approach dates to at least 2019, when Police Scotland confirmed to the Scottish Parliament that it recorded incidents according to a person's self-identified gender, requiring no evidence or certification beyond self-declaration.

The policy is understood to have evolved as "best practice" rather than being formally introduced through legislation, and Police Scotland has been unable to provide information as to who took the decision or whether an impact assessment was undertaken.

It sat within a broader push by the SNP government under Nicola Sturgeon, which was actively pursuing gender self-identification reform and introduced the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill in 2022, though that bill was ultimately blocked by the UK government.

The change marks a significant departure from guidance in place throughout Sturgeon's tenure as first minister from 2014 to 2023. Under that policy, individuals could determine how their gender was recorded in police data.

Alongside biological sex, officers will now separately note whether a person identifies as transgender. The policy applies to victims, suspects and people considered to be at risk.

The shift follows two key legal developments: a challenge brought by women's rights group For Women Scotland in June 2025, which opposed the collection of data by gender rather than biological sex, and the UK Supreme Court's April 2025 ruling that the definition of "woman" under the Equality Act refers to biological sex.

Police Scotland said the update aims to align with the Supreme Court ruling while balancing legal accuracy with human rights considerations. The force acknowledged the transition will not be straightforward, noting that technical updates are required across 22 internal systems to clearly distinguish biological sex from transgender status in its data fields.

Critics have described the policy change as a significant regression in trans rights.