Women’s rights groups warn that criminal record checks could be jeopardized as ‘protective loopholes’ have been created that allow transgender people to hide their past identities from employers are doing.
Campaigners have expressed extreme concern that the Do Not Disclose Service (DBS) regime could be compromised over the potential abuse of a process called the Confidential Submission Route. and a hospital.
DBS is part of the UK Home Office and is responsible for UK protection so that employers can check the criminal background of job seekers.
Kate Coleman runs Keep Prisons Single Sex, founded in 2020. It campaigns for the right of female prisoners to be offered an alternate gender.
Last year she published a report focusing on DBS (pdf) stresses that the system for transgender people is creating “new protection loopholes”. She argued that organizations requesting DBS checks cannot trust the information disclosed.
of sensitive applications The root gives transgender applicants the option of not having any gender or name information that might reveal their previous identity on their DBS certificate. No one else has the right to hide their former identity.
“Because of the sacred nature of this population, the normal requirements of protection that do not apply, given enhanced privacy rights that do not apply to anyone else, this sacred cast of people,” Coleman told The Epoch Times.
DBS was established in 2003 amid calls for stronger criminal records systems after authorities failed to uncover an underage sexual complaint against child murderer Ian Huntley.
protection
Coleman emphasized that there are gender-based protection considerations when working with children and vulnerable adults.
If someone has legally changed their name by deed ballot through the normal DBS route, the organization requesting the application and legally responsible for its protection must see all names on the DBS certificate. I can.
However, while transgender individuals are legally required to inform DBS of their current and former identities, prospective employers will know if applicants have used sensitive application routes. You have no rights.
The report does not suggest that all persons who change their identity via the process of self-reporting do so to circumvent protection, but the process does not imply that they do so by hiding their existing legal identity. , suggests that it can be exploited by those seeking access to children and vulnerable adults. .
Since 2019, only a few thousand standard and extended applications have been processed through the Sensitive Applications Root. DBS process Millions of criminal background checks every year.
“I think people have the misconception that DBS is just a tool and safeguards are not perfect safeguards. Obtaining a certificate is neither the end nor the end of protection,” Coleman said. I’m here.
For example, if someone wants to volunteer to teach children at their local rugby club, they will need to check the enhanced DBS and the Children’s No List, a list of individuals who are prohibited from working with children. Become.
Even if the DBS forms are clearly back, Coleman said the next step for many children’s clubs is to call them if the name is different.
“The first principle of protection should be ‘Why do you want to do this?’ and ‘Do you doubt it?'” Coleman said.
“Then, even if nothing is proven, they check other kids’ rugby clubs and names to see if anything is wrong.
“But if this is done through the root of a confidential application, the only thing that will appear on the certificate is the new name,” she added.
Coleman says that when presenting evidence to conservation groups, he is faced with a “wall of silence” or is told, “Thank you so much, I can’t see anything, it’s actually okay.”
“It’s really scary,” she added.
A cabinet minister last October said he was urgently investigating reports that convicted child abusers were changing their names to avoid detection by authorities, but the government said it would follow suit through classified application routes. Not sure if you’re considering the issue created.
The Home Office did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.
‘Public safety must never be compromised’
The National Educational Trust, an organization that studies the causes and consequences of family breakdown, said in an email to the Epoch Times that the information was “extremely concerning.”
“The purpose of the DBS check is to see if the candidate has had previous convictions and whether they may pose a protection risk,” said Piers Shepherd, a senior fellow at the Family Educational Trust. says Mr.
“The sensitive application route allows candidates to evade such checks by hiding their past identities. Given the recent instances of access to locations, this is highly concerning.”
“It is clear that the mainstreaming of transgender identities raises serious protection issues. Public safety should not be compromised in order to advance minority agendas,” he said. Added.
Other conservation groups and children’s charities did not respond to The Epoch Times.