Complaint
Two viewers complained about a reference to the rapist now known as Isla Bryson.聽 They took issue with fact the rapist was referred to as a woman, and female pronouns used, when Bryson did not have a Gender Recognition Certificate and would not therefore legally be considered a woman in Scotland. The ECU considered whether the programme met 大象传媒 standards of accuracy.
Outcome
The programme described what happened as follows:
A woman has been found guilty of raping two women prior to changing her gender.聽 31 year-old Isla Bryson carried out the attacks in Clydebank and Glasgow in 2016 and 2019 while known as a man called Adam Graham. 聽Bryson now identifies as a woman and is in the process of starting gender reassignment.
The ECU agreed the opening line was not ideal (subsequent bulletins referred to 鈥渁 trans woman鈥).聽 However it did not agree audiences had been misled on a material point. Anyone watching the programme would have been in no doubt as to the gender identity of Bryson at the point at which the crimes were committed.聽 The report made clear that the purported gender change post-dated the crimes 鈥 and that treatment for gender reassignment only started after Bryson had been charged with rape.聽
Notwithstanding the tension between the requirement to report accurately while using appropriately inclusive language, it was a matter of fact that Bryson was convicted as a woman. The language used reflected this appropriately while making clear that the crimes were committed by a man called Adam Graham before that person sought to change gender and assumed a new name.
Not Upheld