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A pregnancy charity has rejected pressure to stop using the word “women” on the basis that it would make services more trans-friendly.
The British Pregnancy Advice Service (BPAS) is believed to be the first major organisation to publicly state that it will not remove gendered language, arguing that it is harder to fight against restrictions based on sexism if they “cannot clearly articulate” that it is “predominantly” women impacted.
It was described as a “hugely significant” move by feminist campaigners after major organisations, government departments and NHS Trusts have all dropped terms including mother and women from their policies.
Those changes came after pressure from groups including controversial LGBT charity Stonewall, which has advised organisations that they should remove all gendered language in order to be more inclusive.
Setting out its “values, vision and ambitions” for the next two years, BPAS said that its services were “inclusive” and that it was building “specialist pathways to meet individual needs”.
However, it refused to remove the word women from “campaigning, advocacy and general client materials” in part because it was how the “majority of those using our services see themselves”.
“We will also continue to use the word “women” over “people” so we can continue to campaign effectively for reproductive rights,” the charity said.
“Women’s reproductive healthcare and choices remain regulated and restricted in the way they are precisely because they are women’s issues, sadly still bound up with heavily gendered and judgmental approaches to female sexuality, ideals of motherhood and expectations of maternal sacrifice, and the need to control women’s bodies and choices.
‘We cannot – and will not – shy away from this’
“If we cannot clearly articulate that it is predominantly women, rather than people at large, who are affected by this, we will find it much harder to dismantle a framework that today is still underpinned by sexism.”
The move was welcomed by women’s rights campaigners, including birthing expert Milli Hill, who was attacked for questioning the use of the term “birthing people”.
She said that the move by BPAS felt “hugely significant”, adding: “I hope this is the beginning of an overdue re-centering of women in maternity, infant feeding, menstruation and reproductive healthcare.
Dr Nicola Williams, director of Fair Play for Women, also welcomed the decision, telling The Telegraph: “In political communications, women’s rights are the correct words to use.
“It is about balancing the needs of everyone in society rather than focusing on one small group and I think BPAS have got that balance right because in this instance the benefits of using the word woman outweighs the negative effects of using it.”
Health organisations have faced criticism for deleting gendered language, including Cancer Research which removed the word "women" from its smear test screening campaign and an NHS Trust which advised midwives to consider using terms such as “chestfeeding”.
Clare Murphy, the chief executive of BPAS, said that it had received a “hugely positive response” that showed “that this is not a controversial position… offering inclusive services is in no way incompatible with retaining the term ‘woman’.
She added: “From choice in childbirth to access to emergency contraception, our reproductive rights are undermined precisely because these are issues that affect women. We cannot – and will not – shy away from this as we continue to fight for a future where everyone can exercise reproductive autonomy and women are empowered to make their own decisions around pregnancy.”