Dutch Minister has made the assessment framework for sex registration public
UCERF researchers Marjolein van den Brink and Jet Tigchelaar developed a framework for the assessment of ‘unnecessary sex registration’ in 2019. This research report was made public on Friday 3 July 2020. It was commissioned by the Minister of Education, Science and Culture, and also responsible for Dutch emancipation policies.
Aims of reducing sex registration practices
The purpose of the framework is to support companies and other organisations in their efforts to reduce the frequency of sex registration practices. Even though allowed by law, sex registration is very often not necessary or even very useful, when considered properly. The Dutch government wishes to curtail this practice because of its disadvantages, in particular the ‘administrative burden’ that the practice presents to people whose legal sex is not (entirely) the same as their self-identified gender, and the effects of sex registration on the continuation of gender stereotypes and norms. The reduction of the practice of sex registration facilitates the possibility for people to decide for themselves who they are and who they want to be. It contributes, moreover, to the protection of privacy.
The assessment framework is presented in the form of a flow chart. The chart enables the user to assess whether information on sex is actually necessary for the purpose(s) that the organisation aims to achieve. If the conclusion is that it actually is necessary, the user of the flow chart is encouraged to consider whether the disadvantages of sex registration can be reduced, for example by explaining the purpose of the question, by a different phrasing or by anonymising the data.
On the basis of the framework, an online toolbox has been designed by Atria and TNN .
A brief exploration of the situation in Germany after the introduction of the sex marker ‘divers’, entitled ‘First experiences with non-binary gender options in Germany, by Susanne Gössl, Sophie Dannecker and Alix Schulz, was included as an appendix to the report.