Keep Prison Single Sex closing

[TinselAngel]

Just announced on Twitter.

x.com/noxyinxxprisons/status/1798973161276412028?s=46&t=PSGltfjrMyZmBtYq2-AVIQ

"After considerable thought we have decided to close KPSS down. Our last day of operation will be 30th June 2024.

We have agreed that Kate will continue to support and work with the individual prisoners, former offenders, and CJS whistleblowers with whom we have relationships. Kate is contacting everyone individually to advise them of this.

We have some materials still available and can post these out to whomever wants them: our email address will remain live, so please use this to contact us. All reports and leaflets are also available on our website which, together with our Vimeo, we will maintain as a resource, although content will not be updated.

It is no longer possible to make a donation to KPSS and all regular donations have been cancelled - however, please do check your own accounts. Our PayPal account is now closed. Both KPSS shops have been closed.

KPSS USA is unaffected by this decision. Their work will continue. Please give them a follow @NoXY_USA Any funds remaining after closing down KPSS will be transferred to them.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us. Between us we achieved some truly great things, including two Ministry of Justice policy changes that centre the safety and rights of women in prison. Be proud of what you have done, because none of what KPSS achieved would have been possible without you."

🥺 why?

This is very sad news indeed, especially as the general direction from the bigger names appears to be:

• away from safeguarding
• towards repetition that GI is a belief when it's not been Grainger tested
• while in parallel, pushing protection arising from GC belief

As I said on another thread, this moves us away from Sex and therefore away from reality.

(Yes on the other thread there was chat about setting up a new one which I didn't do yet!)

Sorry, I didn't see another thread. I did check.

No no, it was at the end of a genuinely other thread! About Genspect. It's just a discussion that happened the end was all I meant. I should have been clearer

It’s terrible news. They’ve done so much good work and have been in the trenches far longer than many. A massively under appreciated organisation.

Yes I agree.

Seconded.

Best wishes to Kate & all at KPSS. They have achieved so much while existing organisations have sleepwalked us into this nightmare. What have The Howard League got to say? How can HMPPS justify this awful policy? As for Women in Prison- they include males in their definition of women so are totally useless. I am also so angry at the Magistrates Association for not raising awareness of what is happening in womens prisons, when so many women volunteer as magistrates. I am so sad that at a time we had a female Queen & prime minister, some of the most vulnerable women who end up in prison, often through poverty, poor mental health or abusive partners, were so desperately failed by those who had the power to at least incarcerate them in a single sex prison.

100% agree great post.

I hope Kate can go on to bigger and better and more influential things, she's such a brilliant speaker who doesn't get enough media airtime and a fantastic advocate for the most vulnerable of women. It's a damning indictment of the many groups that excluded them that KPSS is closing.

Sad news

This is really sad news. I don't think there's any other women's org or group that focuses exclusively on prisons.

It would be great if Sex Matters brought her on board to continue her work in partnership with them because it seems like an ideal fit: sex matters for women in prison.

I don't think that's likely given exclusion by Sex Matters was a large part of Kate's beef and she disagrees with their approach to many things.

Sad to hear this , but KPSS have done to much to bring attention to the huge problem. A big thank you for all the brilliant work done.

I had hoped that since JKR’s correct pronouns protest against the Scottish Hate Crime Act that groups like Sex Matters would be more in tune with Kate’s KPSS lobbying stance. I base this hope solely on the fact that lately Helen and Maya are making public statements about compelled speech regarding pronouns recently and I’d hoped that signalled a shift in their thinking.

I was a monthly donor to KPSS because I feel that it’s important to try and advocate for women in prison, who are so vulnerable because of their restricted situation. And I feel so angry & frustrated that KPSS didn’t get much support from other organisations despite spokeswomen from those other groups frequently mentioning the dangerous impact of gender identity ideology on incarcerated women.

I saw some posts on X a few days back, lamenting their lack of success in making their voices heard. I think there has been a group who claim to occupy the middle ground who have made what appears to be some headway (I would include Cass in that) but which many feel leave them/us looking as if things have been achieved, but which also leave us very compromised position if that then comes to be seen as the end point.

Personally, I try to see these shifts as being good overall, but there are significant risks in too much compromise when there is so much still at stake. I’m sad to see KPSS close though, as I feel they are an important voice with an equally important message, even if they don’t feel that message is getting through right now. I do respect their decision though, if they feel they can’t usefully carry on.

This is such a shame.

That is such a shame, they've been an incredibly important organisation.

Would someone mind giving the brief points of how and why KPSS has been ignored or rejected by some of the other groups? Is it policy disagreement, or personality clashes? Why would Sex Matters not support Kate when prisons are absolutely one of those obviously vulnerable spaces for women?

Tragic. I'm so sorry.

Awful news. 🧡

Huge thanks to Kate and the KPSS team. You’ve done so much with so little help or support. You must be exhausted, and I hope you’re leaving before overwork destroys your health.

The disgraceful practice of allowing men into women’s prisons is an insult to all women.

I hope someone else will take up this campaign. I can’t afford a lot, but I’d gladly set up a monthly direct debit.

I suspect a bit of both.

From my observation Kate Coleman's position is no pronouns, no GRCs, no ideological language, no to a legal sex category, no to amending the EA to clarify sex means bio sex. She was against the FPFW census case because it argued the sex category should be based on bio or legal sex and this will inevitably cause problems later on. She's focussed on the long term rather than smaller shifts in policy.

Some of the other orgs (SM, WRN etc.) are a bit more compromising. They are campaigning to amend the EA to clarify that sex means biological sex but also appear to be content that the GRA remains (with gatekeeping intact).

These are quite big differences of opinion which unfortunately seem to spill out into criticising each other in public. I suspect this makes it quite tricky for orgs to work together.

I think there is a real need for organisations with expertise on a specific topic - eg KPSS- but we are at a point where more broad based organisations (with ever expanding scopes) are risking squeezing out the experts (I won’t say knowingly or unwittingly as I only have my personal observations on what has been public). I think it’s a terrible shame and unfortunately the wider public don’t know how much on the ground work many do in the background.

Thanks for posting this, as I have seen it circulated on FB but not referenced to anything, and quite a lot of speculation on personalities, rather than politics.

I hope the notice gets posted elsewhere than twitter, as many aren't on twitter so cant see this.

But yes sad.

I am happy that there are a range of campaigns about the need for single sex provision, and recognise that there are difference is approaches.

Just a shame that some then think they need to but time into criticising other campaigns instead of getting on with their own and relying on what they are actually saying to get supporters.

So it would be sad if she has been "frozen" out.

That is a real loss.

With thanks to Kate Coleman and all at KPSS.