Kent Law School Professor Davina Cooper, working with a team of colleagues, has secured a grant of \u00a3724,000 for a three-year study investigating and evaluating the regulation of gender status in the law of England and Wales.<\/p>\n
Reforming Legal Gender Identity: A Socio-Legal\u00a0Evaluation\u00a0<\/em>\u200bwill use cutting edge social science research\u00a0methods to\u00a0investigate\u00a0how gender status is\u00a0defined\u00a0and regulated for legal purposes. The project will also assess options for possible reform.<\/p>\n The grant was awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council; research\u00a0will start in May 2018. Professor Cooper will lead a multi-disciplinary team of academics\u00a0with expertise in law, social psychology, gender and political theory, including Flora Renz (City, University of London), Dr Emily Grabham (Kent Law School) and Professor Elizabeth Peel (Loughborough University).<\/p>\n Professor Cooper said:\u00a0\u2018We are particularly interested in the implications that follow from assigning gender as a legal status at birth. Should this be reformed? What are the benefits and challenges in doing so; and what kinds of reforms might best address different people\u2019s needs and concerns? It is very exciting to have the opportunity to conduct this innovative research which has the potential to change how gender is understood and regulated.\u2019<\/p>\n The research will take place over three years and will include legal analysis, surveys, and interviews with policy-makers, NGOs, lawyers, activists and a wider public. The project will benefit from an expert advisory board comprising key academics in the field, as well as other stakeholders. Findings from the ongoing research will be shared through an interactive website and presented at public events as the project unfolds. One project aim is to develop a draft bill to provide a focal point for discussion of legal reform. An academic book and several\u00a0articles will also be published.<\/p>\n Professor Cooper<\/a> is internationally\u00a0acknowledged as a leading\u00a0scholar\u00a0of law and political theory. Her\u00a0award-winning\u00a0research has\u00a0explored\u00a0the law and politics of equality and governance and is recognised worldwide for its visionary approach. Professor Cooper\u00a0was previously director of the Kent\u00a0Centre for Law, Gender and Sexuality<\/a> (funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council), a multi-institutional research centre focusing on law’s relationship with questions of gender and sexuality.<\/p>\n For more information on the project, please email Davina Cooper at d.s.cooper@kent.ac.uk<\/a><\/p>\n