Anneliese Dodds - what do you make of this?

[Imnobody4]

Minister for Women and Equalities, @AnnelieseDodds, saw how one women’s refuge is making sure survivors get the support that they deserve 👇

https://x.com/ehgovuk/status/1835597000001118574?t=TslekuYNRZPHRZ6qfc8gCQ&s=19

Mention of LBGT then single sex spaces and Equality Act. Is this an attempt to square the circle.??

Not a GC comment but I hope it's ok to give my thoughts on this thread.

I hope she's genuine about ensuring all victims of DV get the support they need.

If she/the government is genuine, that means ensuring more availability of social housing and a more supportive benefits system as a priority.

Refuges do indeed provide a valuable service but as Annaliese says in the video it's emergency accomodation.

Many victims are not in a position to fund housing afterwards. They're traumatised, and have often been isolated and had access to money and ability to work taken away by their abuser. Obviously also many have young children to care for (although those with adult or no children also need financial support and safe housing).

I know several women who've experienced DV. One was in a refuge but returned to her violent husband afterwards because the alternative was substandard and unsafe temporary accomodation - one size fits all homeless accomodation with ex prisoners (possibly including other women's abusers) and people with substance issues.

Obviously ex prisoners and people with substance issues should also get help (although any still a danger to the public shouldn't be out of prison or a secure hospital) but they should not be housed in the same blocks as DV victims.

Another one of the women I know got social housing but nowhere near any of her friends or family. At a time of needing support, although very grateful for her home, she's been left isolated and struggling. She tried to get housed near me but my council was one of several which gatekept.

The mention of the Equality Act and single sex spaces was encouraging. It felt like LGBT was added without any context about what that meant. @Windchimesandsong you could write to your MP with your experiences. I think a lot of MPs aren't aware of the problems some people are facing in their constituencies.

@Lovelyview It's not my experiences. It's friends of mine.

I guess though it's still worth me writing to my MP?

That LGBT+ part seemed to be introduced out of the blue in an entirely meaningless way. I don’t understand. On the face of it she seems to be speaking nonsense there.

It's always worth raising issues you care about.

We no longer can trust that 'sex' means biological sex, unfortunately. Labour decided a while back that it can also mean 'legal sex'.

I hope they do all the things she's promised but it seems a little.pointless.to beef up the courts etc given they are releasing prisoners, and looking at some.if the woefully scant sentences handed out.

Definitely! Face to face meetings are also good to help get your point across.

Thanks to posters for motivating me to contact my MP.

Does anyone know if my friend could contact the MP too, even though she's not in this constituency? She applied for housing here due to DV and wanted to be near support.

I'm going to write about the general issues, and also mention what happened to my friend but I'd love for her to get help if it's possible. She's very grateful to the (different) council that housed her but she's struggling. Her ex husband had completely isolated her - she was only able to get back in touch with me after she'd fled, and she's now in an area nowhere near family or friends and very isolated.

Sorry for kind of derailing the thread btw.

I'm just wondering if they're going for separate LGBT provision (not that the L needs it). This was a recommendation at one time.

MPs usually only work for their constituents. I'm sorry about your friend and I hope she can find a way to move closer to you or maybe make some friends where she lives now. You're a good friend wanting to help her.

Thanks @Lovelyview I'll write on her behalf but even if the MP can't help her it will be good to raise the general issues.

Again apologies for taking this thread slightly off topic.

You’re right @Imnobody4, that reference to the equality act and single sex spaces is an interesting departure. Perhaps she and the govt are finally realising that there is an issue.

As many of you know, last week hundreds of women went to Parliament in an attempt to meet their MPs to talk about the equality act and single sex spaces, organised by Sex Matters.

Sex Matters is making redrafting the equality act one of its main aims in this parliament.

I doubt that v much; surely not? Lesbians would, quite rightly, be outraged (as would I). And gay men are increasingly rejecting the forced teaming with the T+.

I wish they wouldn't. It would then put legal sex into law.

They need to work on the repeal of the GRA.

Having thought about this, though, I suppose it would be one way for the govt to address the issue of trans identifying men in women’s refuges? And they couldn’t fund refuges for only ‘men’, or only ‘trans’, so LGBT would be the way to go. Fraught with difficulty, though.

I think that’s a bigger mountain to climb, while a small change to the equality act might be achievable in the short term.

IME there are lots of lesbians who are very supportive of the "LGBTQ" approach generally, as well as lots who aren't. In fact when I meet lesbians "in the wild", as opposed to in GC circles, they tend to be LGBTQ-aligned.

Having genuinely single-sex services for women, and separate LGBT services, with lesbians welcome at both, would be the best of both worlds here IMO.

Apologies if I'm missing any points, but....
Legal sex is already in law because of the GRA. It's not a concept that was introduced by the EA2010. I'm in favour of either 1) amending the EA to disapply the GRA from its provisions or 2) clarifying that sex in the EA always means bio sex unless legal sex is specifically referred to and that males/females with a GRC are protected as members of their bio sex and as people with the characteristic of GR.

I think lesbians ought to have the option of a lesbian-only space and not always have to accommodate straight women or straight males.