Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA
It would be lovely to live in a world where everyone had good intentions. No violence, no child abuse, no robbery. Women wouldn’t have to feel nervous about walking home at night, parents wouldn’t have to worry about children playing out. But no society is crime-free, which is why we have the law, the courts and the police.
That has not stopped Nicola Sturgeon asking Scottish women to pretend they live in a utopia. To make it easier for people to legally change their sex, the first minister is pushing through reforms that many believe would compromise women’s safety. Last week, Reem Alsalem, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, wrote to Sturgeon to warn her it would be open to abuse by male sex offenders, endangering women and girls. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has also flagged its concerns.
