Sex Matters report on women's services

[ArabellaScott]

A report on the damage being wreaked by genderism.

'The lead author, social-science researcher Matilda Gosling, interviewed experienced sector leaders including Jess Phillips MP, Karen Ingala Smith and Shonagh Dillon.'

Link the full or abridged report and also email to your MP.

https://sex-matters.org/posts/updates/womens-services-a-sector-silenced-new-report/

Thanks for posting this @ArabellaScott - hopefully this will get some traction with stories and cases in the news.

I wrote a very personal, heartfelt letter to my Labour MP about this issue 5 or so years ago which was completely ignored.

Commiserations. You can imagine how my emails have gone down with a bunch of SNP bots!

I can!

It's awful to ignore. Awful on a human as well as professional level.

A few years ago I wrote to a fairly prominent lib dem who has gone on to make shocking proclamations. But to his credit he replied personally to my letter in such a way that wasn't dismissive, I did feel relatively seen, despite the fact he obviously can't make the intellectual links that he ought to given his role. I guess my point is that people can disagree but still find humanity in others and respond accordingly.

I'll be emailing my MP about this important matter, although she has never replied to me on previous occasions, when I've written about single sex facilities and sex meaning biological sex. I won't give up, she'll be hearing from me again and again.

Sex Matters are doing such a great job! (Clearly the 2/6 and a pickled egg I've been bunging them every third Tuesday.)

A pickled egg is better than a slap in the belly with a wet fish. As they say.

Emailing - we need this to be shared far and wide.
What papers are covering it?

I meant to post the findings:

• Key findings from the interviews
• Services for women and their children are being undermined. Women are made to feel unsafe and trust in the service is destroyed. Some women self-exclude if services are not female-only, and women’s and children’s safety and security are compromised.
• Sector leaders are being silenced. Sector leaders who stand up for clarity about sex face vitriolic personal accusations, investigations, disciplinary procedures and potential loss of employment. Leaders need great courage to defend single-sex services but risk loss of funding if they do. They are forced to make compromises that do not protect their services or the women who use them, and are unable to engage in vital discussion of how to meet different needs.
• Organisations are in turmoil. Decision-makers are hamstrung and internal cultures become toxic. Scarce time and financial resources are drained as boards and leaders spend significant time dealing with tension, complaints and conflicts around this issue.
• Services are compromised. Organisations cannot communicate about their services clearly or signpost referrals safely. Meaningful data and therefore knowledge about what is needed are lost. The only option may be to fudge the issue, and some organisations have resorted to providing single-sex services but telling funders and others that they are “inclusive”.
• The sector is losing clarity of purpose. There has been a loss of shared vision and mutual support across the women’s sector. Leaders of organisations that state clearly that they offer single-sex services feel undermined by those making ambiguous statements, and the sector as a whole is less able to state the value of women-only services.
• The public-policy environment is hostile. There is strong pressure from commissioners and funders to be “trans-inclusive”, and organisations that are clear about providing female-only services face competition from those that are ambiguous. Policies in the criminal justice system shape women’s services, and the public-sector equality duty and standards that should protect services that prioritise women’s needs are being used to undermine them.
• None of this helps trans and gender-questioning service users. There is pressure not to recognise the difference between women and men who identify as women. The needs of female detransitioners and vulnerable female survivors and prisoners self-identifying as transmen are being ignored.

Also a useful poll:

'The People Polling survey found that 72% of the British population believe that women’s support services should state clearly whether they include male people who identify as women, and that 64% believe services should be allowed to exclude males who identify as women from female-only staff.'

Link to page where you can email your MP:

https://sex-matters.org/posts/updates/we-call-on-politicians-to-support-womens-services/

I am one of those women who have and will continue to self-exclude.

Reading this report gives me hope. I will also be emailing my MP (who has also ignored my previous emails).

Thanks for sharing - I have emailed my MP for what it’s worth. He was quite forthcoming about DH’s letter about sewage and water pollution, so let’s see how this compares.