Men Transform into Women to Escape Harsh Penalties for Domestic Violence

“The Basque regional police intervened about ten days ago to arrest an individual in San Sebastián accused of stabbing his wife and their two daughters,” reports the website of the French daily Le Figaro.

It added, “The prosecutor wanted to apply the aggravating circumstance for domestic violence, which is imposed when the perpetrator is a man and the victim a woman—a provision introduced by the 2004 comprehensive law on gender-based violence. But he learned that the accused is legally… a woman.

Without changing his physical appearance, altering his name, or informing any of his relatives, the suspect had requested the civil registry to rectify his legal gender. And it was granted. Under the 2024 trans law, merely expressing ‘disagreement with the gender listed on the birth certificate,’ the principle of gender self-determination, is enough to obtain this official identity modification. Consequently, the prosecutor had to reduce his charge to that of ‘simple’ domestic violence. Let’s imagine, for a moment, the application of such a law in the Maghreb countries.”