Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman is a victory for common sense - Daxa Patel

As a lawyer it is pleasing when the law is crystal clear and though this decision should be taken with caution, it does make it clear for women to feel safe in a world where attacks on women have not abated despite education and campaigns.

Reading out the ruling, Lord Hodge warned that the decision should not be taken as triumph for one group over another.

This decision came about due to a case heard against the Scottish government’s argument, that sex can be changed through the gender recognition process and that someone with a gender recognition certificate should be afforded the protections of that sex. This argument was totally dismissed. Those of us who appreciate this rule owe a debt of gratitude to For Women Scotland (FWS) who fought for this outcome.

Organisations, private and state, will be working behind the scenes to see how this affects them and what this all means.

From a practical stance these appear to be the obvious benefits of this ruling. The NHS will have to make changes and bring back single-sex spaces and wards, including rest rooms. If they fail to do so they will incur the wrath of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, according to their chairwoman.

The details will need to be studied and no doubt the Supreme Court will issue guidance to help public and private bodies on how they must go about implementing this decision.

In recent years we have veered to the extreme of ignoring safety, respect and dignity at the expense of appeasement. It is one thing to respect another for the way they chose to dress, how they wish to be called, and in their pronouns, and respect we must.

But it is quite another if the majority of the women feel uncomfortable competing in sports or sharing a private space such as hospital ward or bathroom at a point when they are most vulnerable with a woman born male. I am glad we will say goodbye to this silliness.

The British Transport Police have issued a statement on the immediate changes they will implement; I hope any changes that are made are implemented in a respectful way towards everyone concerned. As respect and safety must be at the heart of this change in the law.

The initial key takeaways from Supreme Court ruling include:

- Guidance will follow as early as possible to include an updated code of conduct for services, including the NHS and prisons.

- The ruling is likely to have implications for spaces such as hospital wards, changing rooms and refugee centres nationwide. If those in power in the NHS think they can drag their feet with necessary reforms, I hope this serves as a wake-up call for the general complacency in the health service.

- The judges ruled that when the term "woman" is used in the Equality Act it means a biological woman, and "sex" means biological sex.

- A Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) - a legal document that recognises an individual's gender identity - will now not change a person's legal sex for the purposes of the Equality Act. The Supreme Court justices made a point of saying that this was the only consistent, coherent interpretation of the law.

- Under the new ruling a person who was born male but identifies as a woman does not have a right to use a space or service designated as women only. This includes transgender women who hold a GRC and have changed their gender.

In practical terms, a single sex service such as changing rooms in the gym for example must be based on biological sex, for if a male person is allowed to use a female changing room this is no longer a single sex space.

This ruling amounts to a victory for common sense but this should not be taken as a policy to disregard the needs of trans people.

In recent years, there has been an impact on women’s sports when transgender people born male were permitted to compete in women's events.

Athletes work hard at mastering their sport and the last thing they need is to have to compete with others who have an unfair advantage.

Hopefully, this too can become a fair process with rules easy to understand.

The law is at its best when it does what it says. It needs to be unambiguous and clear to understand and implement. It needs to be fair so that it has an overall beneficial impact.

Daxa Manhar Patel, resilience coach, author and solicitor.