Women are more likely to suffer ‘fear and distress’ if made to undress in front of the opposite sex, an academic has told a landmark tribunal centred on a transgender NHS nurse.
Eight nurses are bringing a claim against an NHS trust alleging sexual discrimination and sexual harassment because Rose Henderson – who was born male but identifies as a woman – was able to share female changing rooms at Darlington Memorial Hospital.
One nurse, Karen Danson, previously told the tribunal in Newcastle-upon-Tyne how she was left ‘sobbing and shaking in a panic attack’ when she found herself in the changing room with Henderson, an operating department practitioner, who was stood behind her in boxer shorts.
She said of their August 2023 encounter that Henderson ‘looked masculine, had facial hair, and there was nothing… to suggest [Henderson] was anything other than a man.’
Professor Jo Phoenix, a criminologist at the University of Reading, produced a report for the nurses which was submitted to the tribunal today.
In the report she said she holds gender critical views and believes ‘sex is immutable’ but claimed that ‘whilst these beliefs have informed the direction that my academic and research career has taken, they do not cloud my academic judgment.’
Last year Prof Phoenix won a claim for unfair dismissal against the Open University after one colleague compared her to a racist uncle at a family gathering for her views on gender.
Judge Jennifer Young ruled that the abuse she had endured for what her university colleagues described as ‘transphobic’ views amounted to harassment and victimisation.
(Left to right) Nurses Annice Grundy, Lisa Lockey, Karen Danson, Bethany Hutchinson and Tracey Hooper outside the Civil and Family Courts and Tribunals Centre in Newcastle
Rose Henderson has been accused of staring at colleagues in the female changing rooms and walking around in boxer shorts. Henderson has denied the allegations
In her 28-page expert report to the Newcastle tribunal, Prof Phoenix concluded that ‘it can be inferred that women are likely to be more sensitive than men to undressing (partially) in a changing room in front of a member of the opposite sex.’
She added: ‘There is an extremely robust criminological evidence base from which it can be inferred that women are far more likely than men to suffer fear and distress at being compelled to undress in front of a member of the opposite sex.’
She said this was down to the ‘rational’ fear of ‘male sexual predation’ which is ‘grounded in the realities of the pervasive risk of male violence in women’s lives and these fears are likely to be considerably heightened in the intimate setting of a changing room where women partially undress.’
Prof Phoenix was the last witness to give evidence in the case and it will resume with closing submissions next week.
The nurses claim that Henderson stared at colleagues in the female changing rooms, repeatedly asked one of them why she was not getting changed and walked round the room in boxer shorts.
But giving evidence earlier this week, Henderson said: ‘I am not the individual [the claimants] have painted me to be.’
She said she had been out as a trans woman since she started working at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust as a student in 2019 and for several years before that.
Professor Jo Phoenix won her own employment tribunal against the Open University after colleagues criticised her allegedly ‘transphobic’ views
‘All of my colleagues at this time were aware I am a trans woman, and they were very accepting of me,’ she said in a statement.
‘The issue of where I would get changed, and my status among this group of women, was never queried.’
In response to claims of alleged behaviour from the nurses, Henderson added: ‘I deny that I stare at colleagues, whether at their breast area or otherwise.
‘I don’t tend to look at anyone when I’m getting changed, or when they are getting changed.’
Giving evidence on behalf of the NHS trust, Andrew Thacker, director of workforce and organisational development, said Henderson had not been ‘threatening’, adding: ‘I think the image that you’re trying to portray is there was a largely built man using the female changing rooms. Rose identifies as a woman.’
The nurses are bringing a claim for sexual harassment, discrimination, victimisation and breaches of the right to a private life, under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The tribunal continues.
