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Spouses who refuse to fund their partner's gender surgery may be domestic abusers, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) says in new guidance.

The CPS has listed nine types of behaviour which could amount to abuse of trans or non-binary people by their partners or members of their family.

These include "withholding money for transitioning," which would include either spouse refusing to pay for gender surgery, counselling or other treatment in a way that amounted to coercive control or abuse.

Other behaviours could be "criticising the victim for not being 'a real man/woman' if they have not undergone reassignment surgery," or "threatening or sharing pre-transition images," or refusing to use their preferred name or pronoun.

The guidance has, however, been criticised by the Women's Rights Network (WRN), which campaigns for the sex-based rights of women.

The group has written to Max Hill, the head of the CPS, citing the guidance as "detrimental to women's trust and confidence" in the service.

'Unnecessary surgery'

Heather Binning, founder of WRN, said: "How on earth can reluctance to pay for elective, unnecessary surgery from family finances be cited as an example of domestic abuse by anyone, let alone the CPS?

"The same document states that correctly referring to a family member's sex is also abuse. This completely ignores the difficulties and emotions many people experience when a family member identifies as something they clearly are not."

The CPS, however, said the guidance was designed for prosecutors to handle trans and non-binary people who could "experience domestic abuse regardless of the gender identity of either person."

"Trans and non-binary people can be subjected to unique forms of domestic abuse linked to their trans or non-binary identity, including some that mirror those of LGB communities," said the CPS.

Other behaviours include using the process of transitioning or "coming out" as a form of control, body shaming, minimising or disregarding the abuse by blaming the victim's "perception" on their hormones and physically assaulting surgically or medically altered body parts.

In the guidance to prosecutors, they are also advised that gender identity is not the same as anatomical sex.

"Gender identity is what you know your gender to be and can only be decided by the individual for themselves," said the guidance. Gender identity might be the same as assigned sex (cisgender) or different to assigned sex (trans).

"Gender identity is not the same as sexuality; trans and non-binary people identify as heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, and aromatic, amongst other identities."

'Reluctant to report offending'

It is part of a guidance update in the wake of new domestic abuse legislation and also warns of significant under-reporting of domestic abuse against victims who are men.

"Many victims will be reluctant to report offending in the fear that it may damage their reputation or pride; others may be hesitant as they fear the consequences that may ensue with their family," it said.

"Prosecutors will need to deal with these issues with great care to ensure that the credibility of male victims is not undermined by myths and stereotypes."

Police recorded 1.5 million domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes in England and Wales in the year ending March 2022, up seven per cent on the previous year. It is estimated one in six or seven men and one in four women will be a victim of domestic abuse in their lifetime.