The Crown Prosecution Service has updated its guidance to permit prosecutors and barristers to refer to transgender women defendants as men when they are accused of sexual offences. The change follows a legal challenge brought by the gender-critical campaign group Sex Matters, which argued that previous CPS guidance incorrectly conflated sex and gender in relation to consent. This development reflects concern over high-profile cases in which biologically male defendants were referred to by female pronouns and names during court proceedings, including sentencing hearings for rape convictions.

The revised guidance now allows prosecutors to use male pronouns for transgender women defendants where doing so would prevent unfairness, broadening the previous approach which restricted such language to victims of sexual assault. Although Sex Matters' High Court challenge ultimately failed, it prompted the CPS to reconsider its stance on "deception as to sex" cases. The campaign group cited the case of Lexi Secker, who was living as a man named Alex when committing rape in 2023 but was referred to as "she" and "Ms Secker" throughout his sentencing in 2024, as an example of why the change was necessary.