The Crown Prosecution Service in the Classroom

This is a post by Sarah Phillimore

On Friday January 24th 2020 I was alerted to the recently launched ‘Commentary on the LGBT Bullying and Hate Crime Schools Project Classroom activities and guidance for teachers’ [EDIT this guidance is no longer available at this link. It was removed from circulation and withdrawn after the CPS received a letter before action threatening judicial review]

This is for key stages 3 and 4 – i.e. children aged 11-16.

The CPS initially said this pack could ONLY be seen by teachers.

I found that extremely alarming. I have a child of my own in the school system so my alarm extends far beyond my professional criticism of guidance that is in places muddled or plain wrong.

I set out at the end of this post my detailed comments on the text in the pack. I could not access the videos or PowerPoints and did not seek them out as the CPS were apparently saying this was the reason the pack may not be shared with parents, because it involves ‘sensitive’ case studies of – I assume – ‘real life’ children.

I will put aside for now the wisdom of attempting confidentiality around such private data in a pack that is presumably sent to every secondary school in the country. This is the least of my worries right now.

I emailed the CPS to ask them if I may publish the guidance and my commentary. They emailed me on January 27th to ask if they could see my commentary. I emailed it the same morning. EDIT They then replied on the 29th with a link to the text of the guidance which was now public. But not the videos or powerpoints. I don’t flatter myself that my decision to blog or not to blog made any difference to their decision – but I suspect the telephone calls from numerous journalists made them realise they could not continue to keep the text hidden from parents.

If they had not done this, I would have published the guidance in any event. It is a matter of public interest. I have not shared the videos or PowerPoints and therefore I hope that risk to vulnerable children is reduced. But putting vulnerable children in official school guidance and using that as a reason to keep parents from seeing it, would be a bizarre and unacceptable state of affairs and I very much hope that is not what has happened here.

Perhaps the CPS would like to explain what prompted their change of heart.

TL:DR Summary of concerns

As the table below indicates, I am very concerned about this guidance. But if I was asked to pick my Top Three, they would be these.

• At page 25 there is an alarming list of behaviour, some of which is trivial or undefined which is offered as examples of ‘hate’ – this is particularly concerning as the Guidance repeats throughout that there is no statutory definition of homophobia or transphobia, and a ‘hate’ crime or incident relies entirely on the subjective perception of the alleged victim or bystander. This list includes ‘ostracising from a friendship group’ and separately (and undefined) ‘rejection’.
• At page 33 there is an apparent attempt to create a ‘hierarchy of rights’ and to place LGBT+ at the top. This would seem to be unlawful as it discriminates against other characteristics protected by the Equality Act, such as race and disability. Surely schools should be developing robust policies against bullying which apply to all children, not attempting to set up one minority group as more deserving of protection.
• I note that section 4 has as ‘activity 1’ ‘identifying potential criminal charges’. I am troubled by the implications of this, in the context of guidance that purports to help teachers and students ‘identify and report’ hate crime. Nor am I clear what a teacher is supposed to do if they or a student identify another classmate as having displayed ‘hateful’ behaviour. Where will it be recorded and to whom will it be disclosed?
  

Given that the guidance is very clear about how seriously such hate crimes and incidents should be taken, I am worried that a clear incentive is being set up here to encourage students to report one another’s behaviour or for a teacher to feel under pressure to refer it on to the police.

It is giving a very clear message to girls that anyone can be any ‘gender’ they like (including ‘pan’ ‘omni’ and ‘a’ sexual, none of which are defined anywhere in the guidance) and that it is ‘hate’ to object to anyone in your space, or to ‘reject’ them – again undefined but clearly means something other than social ostracism as that is given its own separate mention. So what DOES ‘rejection’ mean in this context? It has to mean sexual rejection. There is no other way children can ‘reject’ each other. They aren’t offering employment prospects.

I am therefore very troubled that this guidance was initially being kept from parents in its entirety – although they may now, after media pressure, see the text of it.

As is sadly common with all documents I have read which purport to promote the rights of the ‘trans child’, I can see no acknowledgment of or discussion about parental responsibility or Gillick competence in this guidance. As it is aimed at 11 year olds I consider that is a potentially serious omission.

I hope that a legal challenge will be made to this guidance. The influence of Stonewall etc is clear to see.

The time to speak up is now.

I will leave you with this quote from mumsnet user michelleoftheresistance

It’s already known the massive comorbidities going on with children presenting with gender identity issues, pretty much the same comorbidities coming up over and over again for other vulnerable kids. Treating one group as more privileged and better served than others is going to create resentment, particularly at a time when mental health care and SEND provision is dire and many families are angry and struggling. It will do nothing to meet the Code of Practice or Equality Act’s requirement to promote good relationships between groups: this will actively damage it. It does nothing to address the root problems underlying why children are becoming confused and distressed about their identities and bodies. It’s also inevitably going to incentivise transitioning. And that’s on top of the always there, bald insensitivity and rejection of female kids with history of abuse and sexual trauma, female kids whose religions don’t allow for going along with personal choice of sex over reality, female kids whose disabilities won’t bend in that direction, etc etc. 

Further reading

Thread on mumsnet discussing the CPS Pack

The Safe Schools Alliance have written a template letter for parents to send to the CPS

Serious questions.

If Jelani Maraj had claimed to be a transwoman who found sexual rejection ‘hateful’ would she have got 25 years?

And would this 11 year old have been taught in a US school that women have penises and her teachers call ‘rejection’ a hate crime? https://t.co/OaP9ZeniwL

— Sarah Phillimore (@SVPhillimore) January 28, 2020

Detailed comments on the CPS pack

My commentary is in italics

HOW TO USE THIS PACK
How to use this pack – it is directed at ‘gay bisexual transgender and questioning people’ BUT NOTE at page 16 it includes ‘asexual’ ‘pansexual’ and ‘omnisexual’ people but gives no definition, then says definition of terms may change in any event. What is meant by ‘questioning’ people? How are they identified or defined?

The Glossary of Terms says (p19) ‘the process of exploring your own sexual orientation and/or gender identity’.
How is this different from ‘being a teenager’?

P7 Section 4 deals with identifying criminal charges ‘these are optional and additional. Teachers can use as many or as few of them as they wish… However we strongly recommend teachers consider them as they will deepen the students’ understanding of impact of anti LGBT behaviours…’ Unhelpful phrasing. So if this section is ‘optional’ all others are compulsory?
Clear indication given that teachers are to devote time to this
WHO is identifying criminal charges and why is this the job of a teacher?

P8 Before using this pack teachers are advised to ‘inform themselves’ by visiting a number of websites. Including Gendered intelligence and Stonewall. Clear evidence of bias in linked materials. Stonewall and Gendered Intelligence are well known for promoting narrative that questioning GI is ‘transphobia’. Other sites – Proud Trust and Schools Out I had not known about, but brief glance at their websites indicate they are in the Stonewall mould.
Why no reference to Transgender Trend or Safe Schools Alliance?

P9 ‘LGBT issues are best addressed in a school environment which explicitly supports and includes students’ What does this mean? Is asking questions about biology/GI to be seen as not supportive or inclusive and therefore frowned upon?

P9 All staff need to know how to challenge students demonstrating hostility to LGBT people What is the definition of hostility?

P9 Teachers must be especially mindful of the fact that some students in their groups will be LGBT and must be protected whether they are out or not Protected from what? Questions? Challenge?

P9 Make sure the students understand that anti LGBT behaviour is not caused by LGBT people; it is caused by people with homophobic attitudes. Trans people are not necessarily homosexual. Transgender is NOT a sexual orientation. This is setting up potentially corrosive expectations – that anyone who asserts anti LGBT bullying will be telling the truth and therefore presumably no investigation of their allegations will be required.

P9 Teachers should bear in mind that the most important thing is for students to discuss, think about and understand the issues This is not an appropriate exhortation when there is little clarity about what constitutes appropriate questioning and what will be seen as homophobia or transphobia. What ARE students allowed to discuss?

P10 STARTING TO USE THIS PACK
When an act is classed as a hate crime, the courts can impose a tougher sentence on the offender under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 It is odd for this sentence to immediately follow the exhortation that it is discussion that is important.

P10 What does the CPS mean by hate crime?
ANY criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on race, sexual orientation, disability, or person being transgender Exactly the problems identified in the Fair Cop JR – Subjective definition of crime – Protected strands do NOT mirror the protected characteristics of the Equality Act – Being transgender in any event is NOT a protected characteristic. The actual protected characteristic is gender re-assignment “the process of transitioning from one gender to another.”

P10 What does the police mean by LGBT hate incidents? There is no statutory definition of a homophobic or transphobic incident Again – definition of ‘crime’ or ‘hate incident’ entirely subjective. Teacher has no objective standard by which to judge the behaviour of students.

P14 The CPS and the role of the police
P14 ‘It is more likely that prosecution is required if the offence was motivated by any form of prejudice against.. race, gender, disability age, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity’ Again, does not reflect the protected characteristics of the Equality Act. Why not?
Again, ‘gender identity’ is NOT in any event a protected characteristic.

[EDIT May 19 2022 I have revisited this blog post in light of the Tribunal hearing today, dealing with an appeal against the CPS refusal to disclose details of its discussions with Stonewall and other groups. I am now not sure what point I was making here; hate crimes deal with ‘monitored strands’ NOT protected characteristics and ‘transgender identity’ is a monitored strand. This confusion between ‘monitored strands’ and ‘protected characteristics’ is I am sure responsible for a lot of confusion about these issues]

P16 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
What do we mean by LGBT+? … represents other sexual identities including pansexual, asexual and omnisexual and questioning people exploring their sexuality. Where will we find the definition of these terms?
Is there a universally accepted definition?
I note the Glossary at p19 does NOT contain a definition of ‘asexual’ ‘omnisexual’ or ‘pansexual’

Pg 19 defines ‘intersex’ as ‘When a group of conditions cause people to be born in between male and female. Sometimes this does not show up at birth.’ This is an inaccurate and offensive attempt to define disorders of sexual development.
P19 ‘transition’ is defined as ‘a process through which some transpeople begin to live as the gender with which they identify, rather than the one assigned at birth’. ‘Gender’ plays no part in the birthing process. ‘Sex’ is observed and recorded at birth unless a baby is one of the tiny percentage who have ambiguous external genitalia, due to a DSD.
P19 Transphobia is defined as ‘discrimination against and/or dislike of trans people’ This is NOT the definition of a ‘phobia’. The NHS defines a phobia as “an overwhelming and debilitating fear of an object, place, situation, feeling or animal”
Again – WHAT constitutes discrimination or dislike? Any questioning of the assertion that a transwoman is a woman for e.g? Any reference to humans as sexually dimorphic species?
How can a mere ‘dislike’ of any person’s characteristics, possibly constitute a ‘phobia’ And absent any accompanying discrimination, can it become a hate crime or hate incident?

P20 ‘This glossary is not a definitive list and it is important to remember that people should be referred to in the way that they wish to be referred to. It is also important to note that definitions can vary and can change over time’. In the context of guidance offered under the mantle of identifying hate crimes, this simply isn’t good enough. How will the teacher know the definitions have changed? Who changes them? How is knowledge of this change disseminated?

P 21 SECTION ONE Activities and worksheets
P23 Everyone has a sexual orientation … it is the part of a person’s identity that describes who people experience attraction to, commonly based on gender… gender identity is a person’s sense of themselves as being a boy/man woman/girl both or neither. Gender identity is not necessary dictated by a person’s physiology. This is nonsense. Sexual orientation is a monitored strand. It means sexual attraction to the same sex. This definition effectively erases lesbians by saying that a male bodied person can identify as a woman even if retaining penis and testicles.
If a teenage lesbian then objects to a sexual encounter with a male bodied person – is that sufficient ‘dislike’ or ‘discrimination’ to warrant a referral to the police?

P24 Students should be told that the behaviour in school is dealt with through education, the school disciplinary procedures etc.. it would be rare for incidents to be reported as crimes. Explain then the circumstances in which an incident WOULD be reported as a crime.

P25 Categories of hate crime or hate incidents As a general point, some of the examples given are filmsy and particularly dangerous when coupled with the existence or not of ‘hate’ being determined by the alleged victim or bystander.
‘ridiculing and stereotyping comments’ Unclear what this means.
Ostracising and excluding from friendship groups So it is enough that the ‘victim’ or any bystander simply perceives this ostracism as being by virtue of being trans
How can schools sensibly police friendship groups?
Rejecting someone or not wanting to work with them because of their sexual orientation, trans identity or perceived trans identity So a lesbian teenager is compelled not to ‘reject’ another student who alleges they are a transwoman?
What IS included in this word ‘rejecting’?
Showing or distributing anti LGBT+ leaflets comics or other propaganda’ Define propaganda! On this definition the recent episode of South Park would constitute ‘hate’
Wearing Anti LGBT+ Symbols – for eg badges or Tshirts What will count as ‘anti’? The LGB Alliance? Fair Cop?

P33 LGBT Bullying ‘worse’ than all other forms of bullying I think this is the core of my concern with this document. Primacy is being given to LGBT rights on a false basis. For example claims this bullying is ‘different’ because people get killed. Well, so do disabled children! So do black children! This is a very concerning document. It is unlawful to give primacy to right group over another. That in itself risks discrimation.

The person being bullied or attacked because of their sexual orientation will be afraid that other members of their community might also be attacked and are at risk WHAT IS THIS DRIVEL
Most of the ‘examples; here apply equally to race hate.

P36 It is never appropriate to ask a gay person to use separate changing facilities Really? So where does the gay transwoman go, if in reality she is visibly male bodied with penis and testicles and makes girls uncomfortable when sharing a space? Presumably if any girl objects she is guilty of ‘hate’.
P67 Tell the students that no one should put up with bullying, whether its happening to them or they are drawn into a situation where it is happening to someone else. So provide an impetus to escalate any complaint?

P90 We will not tolerate bullying or harassment and if we see it we will report it and see that it is dealt with. Sinister in context. Report to who?

P101 SECTION FOUR IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES
Inside and outside school – on the bus So children are to be on the look out for crimes even beyond the school.
P104 In the final class they can discuss the possible charges they have identified and what the potential consequences would be Sinister in context
Tell the students that guidance from the EHRC generally encourages organisations and service providers to be trans inclusive. This means treating trans people according to their gender identity and only excluding trans people from facilties in exceptional circumstances where this can be justified. Unhelpful and confusing fudge of existing law.
Worksheets to ‘train’ children as investigating offices and to decide what charges to bring Dear Lord.

Further commentary on the videos by a colleague at Fair Cop

SP : I have not seen the videos, but from these comments I am concerned. The use of language such as ‘henchperson’ seems utterly bizarre and deliberately pejorative.

1. Videos: FEAR acronym – False Evidence Appearing Real – does not distinguish between justifiable fear and baseless prejudice. Conflating the two, and reducing fear to the category of baseless prejudice .is gaslighting girls into accepting boys into their toilets and other single-sex facilities.
2. Definitions of homophobia, transphobia, etc. Interesting to note that the definition of homophobia does not extend to those perceived to be gay, but the definition of transphobia does extend to those perceived to be trans.
3. The definition of hate crime/incident: this includes not merely acts that are objectively negative (where it is perceived that the perpetrator is motivated by hate), but also omitting to do something (where it is perceived that the perpetrator is motivated by hate). This omission does not need to be something that an individual reasonably and legitimately expects, or that the law demands is provided (e.g toilets). The omission could also be something that the LGBT+ person simply desires (e.g. the girls toilets, or admission to a particular girls friendship group). The only necessary factor is that it must be perceived by someone that the decision has been motivated by hate.
4. Video: Transition.
   The questions in and of themselves are actually quite valid. Here we see the attitude of the girls (which is aggressive) conflated with the content (which includes that which is reasonable) with the result that the content is also positioned as unacceptable and a hate incident.
5. Video: Toilets.
   The girls merely correctly identified him as a male.
6. Discussion of, much less asserting of, sex-based rights under the EA becomes impossible and falls into the category of hate bullying/hate incident/hate crime. This is because any discussion of these rights, that permit the exclusion of trans individuals where it is a proportionate means to a legitimate end, must make reference to people’s biological sex whatever their felt gender identity may be. Thus it involves misgendering, upsetting people, being seen as offensive and may out people as trans against their wishes. It simply cannot be the case that discussion of existing rights enshrined in law, and the protection and needs of the members of a protected category become hate incidents or hate crime and liable to criminal prosecution.
7. Where are the other 2 in the series of 3 resource packs developed to increase awareness of identity-based bullying and hate crime? Are these similarly forbidden to parents? (This is different from edition 1 of this document).
8. The definition of transgender on page 19 means that a male who has neither socially nor medically transitions should still be fully accepted as a girl purely based on his say so.
9. Use of the term ‘henchperson’ is extremely sinister. This entire document is designed to install fear and to train children to police each other’s behaviour, friendship groups, speech etc.

Further Reading

See here the ‘live tweets’ of the Tribunal hearing on May 19th 2022 to determine an appeal against the CPS refusal to disclose information about its discussions with Stonewall and others, on the basis that ‘public interest is minimal’ and such sensitive issues require a ‘safe space’ for full and frank discussion.