Action Aid - no such thing as a biological female

Got a reply. Didn't say any thing. Yada yada trans yada yada inclusive.
I cancelled my standing order.

Donor with restrictions means it's been given for a specific purpose and the money has to be used for that purpose (generally not to be used for admin/fundraising expenses). Donor without restrictions means the charity can use it any way it wants.

The grants payable are under "liabilities" so I think that means those are grants the Fistula Foundation are giving out to projects they support.

XiaoXiong many thanks!

Am currently looking through the finances of the fistula charity. Its American so I'm guessing at some terms like grants. I don't know if this means grants given to the charity to then spend, or grants the charity has given out to people who need it. If anyone knows please tell. Because it makes a huge difference in the telling of the accounts. Less important but I'm nosy, donor funds with restrictions and donor without restrictions. What does this mean?

Shockingly illogical. I have also emailed them for clarification, including asking how they define who is at risk from FGM, forced marriage, infanticide, etc, and whether their mission also includes helping trans boys and men, or whether they are being intentionally excluded (and why).

@GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman Yep - we're mvumischooltrust.org.uk/ - our chair of the trustees is a former headmaster of the school and all of us (except me, I'm the newest trustee and not on the website yet - was supposed to go in August) have been out volunteering and we know exactly what the conditions are like on the ground, particularly the barriers to access to education for our female and visually-impaired students. For instance, we found is that for families to allow their daughters to attend on bursaries, a school representative has to visit their families a couple of times to convince the family. No such convincing needed for sons.

All donations and sponsorship very, very gratefully received!!

If you can physically change your appearance/'presentation' (in modern parlance) by the changing of clothes/haircut then your situation just cannot be placed alongside children being abused/mutilated/sold off on the basis of their sex. How can they not even register this?

A girl is at real risk living in some parts of the worlds (some more than others) from before birth up to puberty (and beyond). Little boy bodies have different risks - gender not being the most obvious. Sex and sexuality maybe.

Genderist beliefs are luxury beliefs, only the most privileged have time and resources to spend fretting about their identities and forcing other people to do the same when on a global level for so many it's their actual material reality that's the biggest concern.

Yes.

It's the crassness of the Deptford Women's Project all over again. It's quite offensive superimposing these very first world privileged issues over the top of people who lack the luxury of time, capacity or living long enough to worry about things like their authentic self and pronouns. And in places where any male or female trying to opt out of their fate by biology everyone is perfectly well aware of and hasn't the indulgence to linguistically and sociologically deconstruct away, is going to be laughed at if lucky, or risk being killed. Which is why these charities exist in the first place. It's madness.

Genderist beliefs are luxury beliefs, only the most privileged have time and resources to spend fretting about their identities and forcing other people to do the same when on a global level for so many it's their actual material reality that's the biggest concern. One would think that would be the focus for organisations such as Action Aid.

Completely agree, terryleather and I think your explanation of where it comes from is accurate. When critical thinking is discouraged, when a cultural theory is taught as absolute truth, this is the inevitable outcome.

If this is really the line they're taking, and or certainly seems to be, then no fucking way would I give them any money.

I can't believe they are throwing transboys to the wolves like this.

So if a female child says they feel like a boy, action aid consider them to be at no risk of FGM, not going to school because of periods etc

I mean that's logically what they are saying.

My conclusion is they don't mean that at all they're just very very very stupid.

This is nonsensical

Their stance seems to be

When looking to support women and girls they still include transwomen and girls.

They will not, obviously, support trans men and boys under initiatives to help females as TMAM and biology is irrelevant.

How will they know which are which given internal feelings tell you your gender?

They are in danger of not helping some girls who present as boys and have male biology.
They will put resources earmarked for girls to males who has happen to have female biology.

How will they guard against this???

Although it's infuriating and ridiculous in equal measure, it's not really surprising.

I'd imagine that charities are stuffed to the gunnels with activist arts graduates who will all have been marinated in PoMo/Critical Theory/Queer Theory as that's been the orthodoxy in the academy for at least 40 years. I'd be surprised if those actually delivering the services believe the pish that those running the show claim to believe.

What we've been seeing happening culturally for the past wee while is the result. I used to think the genderist stance was an isolated bit of madness but reading the work of James Lindsay, Helen Pluckrose and others (with whom I don't always agree) has really helped me to see that genderism is part of a much bigger picture. This way of seeing the world and acting in it has been happening for quite a while. And much of it is terrifying.

Genderist beliefs are luxury beliefs, only the most privileged have time and resources to spend fretting about their identities and forcing other people to do the same when on a global level for so many it's their actual material reality that's the biggest concern. One would think that would be the focus for organisations such as Action Aid.

I would think that maybe they do need to pay heed to trans boys/men. Surely this can be a phenomenon in the places they work - girls not having the luxury to ponder their 'gender expression' but needing to hide their sex in order to gain education, work or just plain old avoid getting married off and/or raped?

That letter, happydappy They’ve got it completely arse about face!

Trans inclusion in their line of work (if it were necessary, which I’m not sure it is) would focus on trans boys, FFS. No male child identifying as trans is being excluded from school because of period poverty, or because they’re at risk of forced marriage or FGM.

I’m horrified that they’ve got this quite so wrong.

When we focus on women & girls we also include men & boys

I agree. Someone is probably trotting out their diversity trained replies without really understanding what they are saying and the impact of the words.

I can imagine, if they have any sense, they will definitely be reviewing their position on this and how they want to proceed. I can completely understand the want to protect those with gender dysphoria, seems a very caring thing to do. But you can’t undermine your whole business model (abd let’s not forget charities are run as businesses nowadays) by throwing the baby out with the bath water.

If women and girls no longer have any discernible features that separate them from men or boys then their charity can’t possible know who to target their aid to. They need to decide if they know what women look like, or they don’t. They either understand the very specific problems women have, particularly in developing countries, or they don’t. You can’t have it both ways I’m afraid.

When we talk about women and girls, we include trans women and girls.

Trans women and trans girls? Are they confused?

It seems that in their rush to be seen as woke, they've failed to do a little research and are under the impression that a TW/G is a FtM, so a biological female. Or they're just incredibly fucking stupid.

It's worse if they know a TW is a MtF, as then they're deliberately excluding trans men.

And this is assuming the women and girls AA are helping have time to be worrying about all of this, in between being trafficked, raped, mutilated and so on

So they are saying a trans man isn’t marginalised (although, as I said above, I suspect they haven’t thought about it all).

They just type this shite without giving it a moment’s thought. They’re probably equating trans woman to eunuch.

So when they say the focus on 'women and girls', they either mean they focus on all humans, which obviously isn't a focus, it's just a distinction between them and a charity working for animal welfare, or they mean they focus on most women and girls, and also men who feel womanly, and they therefore actively exclude transmen, people who feel non binary and women who don't identify but just are female?

Yeah. Much inclusive. My arse.

Can they explain how exactly this 'inclusion' works in countries where they work? In countries where people are just trying to survive? And trans boys/men?

So they cant answer if they believe in sex or not then?

Have received a reply from Action Aid

Thank you for your valued feedback, we appreciate you taking the time to share your comments. We regularly review our position on diversity and inclusion and so will share your feedback as part of this discussion.

ActionAid UK supports the most marginalised women and girls in the world. When we talk about women and girls, we include trans women and girls. We are committed to trans inclusion and serious about our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
Thank you again for sharing your feedback.

With best wishes,
Cordelia
Supporter Contact Officer | ActionAid UK
Tel: +44 (0)1460 238000
Email: [email protected]

I sponsor a girl through Plan UK. I have emailed them today asking for reassurance on their understanding of biology. Fingers crossed...

That live aid report is shocking. Shows there is a need for NGOs to have people's who understand the politics on the ground.

Action Aid is depressing, I had a regular donation to them (and Shelter and NSPCC) for many years when I was struggling financially. Also donated regularly to Oxfam