Response from Amnesty about their view on women's/trans rights

[Wildlingyoumakemyheartsing]

I wrote to Amnesty because they responded to the Times article, saying that the UK was going downhill on LGBTQ+ rights. I am sure this is generic response, so I apologise if it has already been discussed previously, but I have attached it underneath.

'Thank you for your email.

You can read our response to the reports that the Government intends to scrap plans to bring gender recognition laws in line with human rights standards here; www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/uk-plans-drop-gender-recognition-reforms-would-see-uk-plummet-lgbt-equality-rankings. We find it extremely worrying.



Amnesty International is committed to campaigning for the rights of transgender people to live freely, authentically, and openly, and to have their gender legally recognised without having to go through a dehumanising, long and costly procedure. We live in a society that is more likely to discriminate and commit violence against transgender people, so we are proud to stand with them here in the UK and everywhere around the world. We dispute any assertion that self-identification will be used by men in order to access spaces where women are vulnerable to abuse or harassment. There is absolutely no evidence that this would happen. In countries where self-identification is already the process (Argentina, Ireland) the policy has had absolutely no impact on anyone other than trans people, making their lives easier. The reality is that men who abuse women already have plenty of existing opportunities to do so. Also, please note that access to single sex services is regulated by the Equality Act, not the Gender Recognition Act. The Equality Act is not up for reform.



We do not agree that our position will have a detrimental effect on women’s rights. This campaign and our response to the consultation are based on Amnesty’s research on legal gender recognition in multiple countries and on existing human rights standards. It also draws from our long-standing work on violence against women and its root causes. We have been discussing our stance with partners including women’s rights organisations in Scotland as well as England and Wales. We feel the current conversation, in particular on social media with regards to self-identification, is misguided and does a disservice to the great work of refuges and other spaces for survivors in terms of assessing risk and keeping people safe. Services and refuges for women have always served the small number of trans women who needed them; and used the same checks and safeguards to keep both trans women and cisgender women safe.



Restricting the rights of transgender people will not advance or protect women’s rights.



There were numerous responses to the Scottish consultation on the GRA recorded by rape crisis centres and other similar services. Responses from organisations to the Scottish consultation are available here: www.gov.scot/Topics/Justice/law/17867/gender-recognition-review/review-of-gender-recognition-act-2004-list-of-orga



Here are some examples:



Women's Rape & Sexual Abuse Centre Dundee & Angus - www.gov.scot/Resource/0053/00539505.pdf



“We are aware that there is discourse which suggests that a system of self-declaration would be a threat to women’s safe spaces. This is not our viewpoint. We want to emphasise that we already welcome self-identifying trans women into our safe spaces, that their inclusion does not in any way determine the safety of that space and that to suggest otherwise would be a disservice not only to our trans service users, but to the trans women working within our sector creating those safe spaces every day.”





Survivors Network - www.gov.scot/Resource/0053/00539458.pdf



“As an organisation that predominantly provides women-only services, we already work to a self-definition model. This works well for us and creates a space that is safe and welcoming for all women, cis and trans, which is very important to us. We welcome a move towards gender recognition laws that reflect our approach in recognising and validating trans people's identities.



Our organisation supports survivors of sexual violence and as a result safe and supportive spaces are vital. We don't consider that to be at odds with inclusion of trans women. Our understanding of gender-based oppression is not rooted in biology as such but in understanding womanhood as diverse and varied, with trans women's experiences holding an additional layer of bigotry and hatred in the form of transphobia as well as sexism. […] We hear a lot of fear-mongering about changes to the GRA making women-only spaces unsafe for cis women or that there will be men trying to get into these spaces. We want to make it clear that we, in our provision of women-only spaces and services, already work to the self-definition model proposed for the GRA.



We recognise trans women as women and also recognise the disproportionate levels of violence they experience due to their trans identities. This has in no way impacted negatively on our services or our service users.”





Forth Valley Rape Crisis - www.gov.scot/Resource/0053/00539308.pdf



“We currently support a model of self-declaration for those accessing our services and acknowledge that this will not change the way in which we work alongside survivors and those affected by sexual violence. If we do not allow space for survivors to self-declare their experience of their gender, we are not a survivor-led organisation and do not offer support which is relevant to those accessing it. We believe what survivors tell us about their experiences and know that they are best placed to tell us how this has affected them.



Forth Valley Rape Crisis already include and work with trans people on the basis of their self-declared gender identity and hope that the gender recognition law will be brought in line with our practice. We are hopeful the legislation will be reformed and believe that the rights and safety of trans people will be greatly improved and as a result.”



We invite you to read more about work on why we work on gender identity issues:

www.amnesty.org.uk/lgbt-gay-human-rights-sexual-orientation-gender-identity



www.amnesty.org.uk/we-support-reforming-gender-recognition-act



Kind Regards,

Charlie



Supporter Communications Team





Amnesty International UK,

The Human Rights Action Centre,

17-25 New Inn Yard,

London

EC2A 3EA'

[SunsetBeetch]

Has anyone been getting these banner ads today? How do they not see the issue???

[Wondersense]

@growinggreyer Awful isn't it? It's basically an admission that some men abuse their power, so let's just give up any attempts at safeguarding eh?!! Idiots.

Also I loved this -

''We dispute any assertion that self-identification will be used by men in order to access spaces where women are vulnerable to abuse or harassment''

[NotAGirl]

I was a long standing supporter of Amnesty, I stopped when I realised they started prioritising the men using sex workers instead of supporting sex workers. Clearly won't be restarting my standing order.