Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:48 pm on 24 May 2022.
Business Minister, I would like to ask for a statement, please, on the stopping of the use of genderless language during the drafting of legislation to prevent the unjust and dangerous erasure of women in policy and law. We have seen genderless language creep into our law making, and this has been again recognised by UK Government Minister Lord True, who has now released a statement on the matter. They have come to the conclusion that a number of drafting approaches are available to deliver the desired policy outcome while still using sex-specific language. One approach is to use sex-specific language to refer to the main case—for example, women—with the addition of further wording so that the provision also has the desired policy outcome for the less common cases. Using gender-neutral language can lead to the erasure of women in law and, in some cases, cause significant and insidious harms. I hope to see a statement from the Minister, please, business Minister, updating us all on what approach this Welsh Government is taking in relation to the drafting of legislation to prevent the erasure of women in order to stop the undoing of all the hard work over decades to protect women. Thank you.