Kent Law School Professor Davina Cooper, working with a team of colleagues, has secured a grant of £724,000 for a three-year study investigating and evaluating the regulation of gender status in the law of England and Wales.
Reforming Legal Gender Identity: A Socio-Legal Evaluation will use cutting edge social science research methods to investigate how gender status is defined and regulated for legal purposes. The project will also assess options for possible reform.
The grant was awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council; research will start in May 2018. Professor Cooper will lead a multi-disciplinary team of academics with 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).
Professor Cooper said: “We 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 peoples 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.”
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 articles will also be published.
