Gay women who have been convicted of offences linked to same-sex activity will for the first time be able to apply to have their convictions wiped. From Tuesday anyone who has been either cautioned or convicted for abolished offences involving same-sex activity will be able to apply for them to be cleared from their records.
In what is being described by the Home Office as "a significant step forward in addressing the wrongs of the past", the government’s disregards and pardons scheme has been significantly widened from today. Up until now, only men have been able to apply to have convictions wiped under a specified list of offences.
However, as of today anyone – including, for the first time, women - will be able to apply if they have been convicted or cautioned under any repealed or abolished offences relating to same-sex activity. This could include, for example, offences such as ‘solicitation by men’ which may have sometimes been used in the past to criminalise behaviour between gay men which, if it had been conducted between a man and a woman, would have been seen as no more than “chatting up”.
