Sex Matters holds meeting of Sex Equality and Equity Networks (SEENs)

[IwantToRetire]

Last week Sex Matters hosted a meeting of people involved in the Sex Equality and Equity Networks (SEENs) and other sector and staff networks.

The first SEEN was launched in October 2022 by a group of civil servants. It is a civil-service staff network that aims to challenge discrimination relating to sex, pregnancy and maternity, sexual orientation and gender-critical belief. It has been recognised as a legitimate staff network, held events, set up departmental SEENs, published articles, and provided support, advice and resources to colleagues. It has collected evidence of how the promotion of gender-identity beliefs in Whitehall is leading to discrimination and undermining civil service impartiality. This dossier was sent to the head of the civil service. Members have met with the civil service’s head of human resources to discuss their concerns.

The second to launch was SEEN in the City, which is for banking, insurance and finance employees. Since then SEENs have sprung up all over the place, including HR, the police, healthcare, universities and Parliament. There were 23 groups at our meeting. They included established SEENS and other sector networks, as well as nascent groups that have not yet launched publicly, such as those in the voluntary sector, universities and the legal profession. With Woman, the group for midwives and other maternity workers, has published a toolkit on their rights at work, and why clear language matters.

Sector networks are crucial, because the capture of organisations is not just a war on women but a war on competency. Unless people can speak freely about material reality, ask for clarity on policies and challenge irrational and harmful practices, they cannot do their jobs.

The protection of gender-critical beliefs in the Equality Act means that employers should treat people fairly when they speak up to say that sex matters. But many are still acting according to “Stonewall law”, viewing people who say that sex is real, immutable and important as bigots – to be, at best, barely tolerated. ... (follow link for more)

If there is a SEEN in your sector, get in touch with it. If you are starting a new SEEN, let us know. Sex Matters will be publishing more on how to set up a SEEN and the lessons emerging from the workshops. Make sure you are on our mailing list to hear more.

https://sex-matters.org/posts/updates/be-more-seen/

Bugger! Missed it. I'd have gone to that if I'd known about it.

It is great that these organisations are spinging up to represent those with GC views but I wonder why it is equality and equity? Equity (an equal outcome) tends to be a concept more pursued by left wing groups where equality of treatment/opportunity tends to have a much, much broader base of support as an idea. Surely a more a-political name would have been better - Or were they just trying to get a phrase that worked with SEEN?

Equity in this context is a odd one - a transwomen might say equity would be met by having the same outcome (access to a cervical smear, or a woman's football team) where equality of opportunity would instead be having your sex specific health needs met or having the chance to try out for a team of your own biological sex.

Does anyone know what the thinking is behind the name?

Great to see these much needed organisations springing up and being supported by Sex Matters as well. It really gives a boost to know that there are organisations backing smaller groups and individual women. It's been a long and lonely battle for so many women and men.

Now to get things moving in schools and education and get the sticky tentacles of transactivists / queer theorists away from influencing children and schools.

Although I'm aware of the many SEENS, I still dont know what SEEN specifically means, and wether they are traditional or have only sprung up because of this ideological capture of institutions

What is their history and aims and who started them?

Appreciate any inside info
thank you

They've been set up in response to the bullying and intimidation of (mainly ) women trying to exercise legitimate free speech. The woman lawyer in the Civil Service was being sued by an unnamed transactivist whining because she commented during a Women & Autism seminar that: “only women menstruate”, and a post she wrote about the Equality Act highlighting that “gender expression, gender identity and gender” were not protected characteristics. Howrever the case against her has now been dropped (what a surprise) but the claimant is now suing the government for allowingwomentospeakfreely allowing SEEN to exist!

https://freespeechunion.org/civil-servant-sued-over-gender-critical-beliefs-has-case-dropped/

What's the link for the voluntary sector SEEN please?

check the links in the OP.

I suspect there isn't one - so you may well have to start one.

Am sure Sex Matters would help publicise if too difficult for you to do.

I don't know why thay name exactly, but I'm under the impression that there was never an intention for SEEN to be such a widely used name, the first group (civil service) just decided to use it and then others followed suit!

I followed the links in the OP and it says this on the website for the original SEEN.

What do we mean by ‘sex equality and equity’?
Equality and equity are complementary concepts of fairness, appropriate to different circumstances. Sometimes treating everyone equally can lead to unfairness: for example, if all staff who win on sports day get a bonus, that would likely be unfair to staff with physical disabilities. Civil service leadership programmes only for minority ethnic staff aim to improve equity, by correcting under-representation. Ensuring equity at work sometimes requires treating women and men differently, according to our different rights and needs.