Womankind Worldwide - help please

[SchoolGuidanceQ]

Hi

I donate regularly to Womankind Worldwide and really like what they do, across countries where it's pretty shit to be a woman (Afghanistan, Sudan, Congo, Uganda). Or I thought I did.

I've just seen this tweet from them https://x.com/woman_kind/status/1919381973908217938 which then goes to this statement https://www.womankind.org.uk/no-one-of-us-can-be-free-until-everybody-is-free-womankinds-stance-on-trans-rights/

I'm pissed off, as a) they didn't need to make a statement. A lot of their work isn't in the UK. b) the statement is from 2022 so they've apparently been erasing women since then anyway.

Can anyone help me with an email to them to say how disappointing this is. Or do I just cancel my direct debit and tell them why? eg they've included the immortal words 'educate yourself' and 'How exactly are trans people oppressed?'

Or do I accept my money is still helping women in those countries and I just have to grit my teeth. Or can anyone recommend an alternative charity?

Thanks

I'd just cancel my dd and tell them why. They won't care about anything you or anyone gc has to say about their trans inclusion until they start to loose money

Agreed. It's the funding that makes a difference. The charity sector is a massive impediment to women's rights and child safeguarding and I won't give a single £ to any organisation that prioritises men's demands over women's rights.

I agree with Hoardasurass cancel dd and tell them why, it’s unlikely to make a difference tho. I donate monthly to Sex Matters but thats UK based, Im also looking for an org that supports women worldwide if someone can suggest, Ive had experience of working with charities and I found most are full of top management positions that are hugely overpaid and staff on the ground get paid very poorly in comparison. Also hate the street collectors! Little of that money goes to those they are generating it for supposedly! Im cynical I know.

Oh bloody hell. I donate to them too.

I’ll cancel my direct debit. What a disappointment.

When they rang me to ask me to join, they certainly didn’t mention their ‘intersectional feminism’, just the actual women they support. Ffs.

They’ve been like this for ages. They’re ‘intersectional’ feminists, and their feminism intersects with men

https://www.womankind.org.uk/celebrating-diversity-lbtq-rights-within-womens-movements/

Yeah, bollocks to that. (Sorry, I'm not good at measured and persuasive emails!)

I thought this was their stance, which is why I've donated to the Linda Norgrove Foundation instead, for Afghanistan.

"Why do you refer to ‘gender-based violence’ and not ‘sex-based violence’?
Gender-based violence refers to violence towards an individual because of their gender. It manifests in many forms – from sexual harassment to psychological violence – and is rooted in gender inequality. "

Bollocks to that too!

Thanks everyone. I'll cancel and tell them why - including that their feminism isn't inclusive, if it doesn't include women who believe in biological sex.

@BackToLurk missed that they'd been like that for ages. I think I should probably look up Plan International but not sure I dare...

@DuesToTheDirt I think I've once donated to Linda Norgrove F will look at again

I pay a small amount to Filia every month, maybe I'll increase that for the Kakuma campaign https://www.filia.org.uk/kakuma-campaign

But I'd really like to be able to donate to an org working in places like Sudan and Congo who are not captured!

@SchoolGuidanceQ

If you're interested in supporting something in the UK there is the wonderful

For some reason Medicins Sans Frontiers think I’m a regular donor as I get a paper newsletter every month. I’m not but are they someone who know what a woman is?

If you vote with your wallet you have to let them know why the wallet left.

That article is incoherent. Do people not use dictionaries anymore?

Remember that feminism is a journey; a lens through which to view the world. While it’s OK not to have all the answers, to Womankind, being a feminist means a commitment to learning (and unlearning), an openness to grow. It means recognising your privilege, then using it to advocate for those who have less of it than you.

No, it doesn't. Feminism literally means advocating for women's rights. It's not some kind of feminine "be kind" banner.

Not sure what to make of Plan International. Their information sounds a little bit muddled.

https://plan-international.org/srhr/lgbtiq-inclusion/

I'm sticking with Plan International, despite that rather confusing page, because you can directly sponsor a girl through their education and most of their work is in that area. I also support the Linda Norgrove Foundation as they are still doing good practical work on the ground in Afghanistan directly targetted at women and girls.

How to say you're transphobic without saying you're transphobic 🙄 You're happy to overlook all the good they do because of one policy? You'll be hard pressed to find an organisation that says they support everyone except trans people

How to say you haven’t got a clue what you are talking about without saying you haven’t got a clue what you are talking about. It’s men that is the issue. OP wants to support a charity for women. Not women and some men. I doubt there would be an issue if it catered for women only (including transmen).

Hamlin Fistula does important work, solely for women:
hamlinfistulauk.org

How to say you don’t understand targeted giving without saying you don’t understand targeted giving.

There are other organisations that help women only. So yes, I'm perfectly happy to overlook whatever good another charity does if it means my donations are going to men. I want my money to help women, not men. It's not transphobic for the simple reason that trans identified males are not women

No different to donating to a children's charity and it transpires the funds are also going to adults. Adults are not children.

Transphobic is such an over used phrase - it has lost all power and has turned into a bit of blah blah bleat, so off you trot with your little repent motherfuckers shakey stick.

I cancelled my DD and told them why by email when I realised a few years ago what their stance was.
I sometimes comment on their Facebook posts with the same message.

being a feminist means a commitment to learning (and unlearning), an openness to grow. It means recognising your privilege, then using it to advocate for those who have less of it than you.

I think they are confusing being a feminist and being a nun.

For comparison

www.sbvm.org.uk/vocations/

“It requires a person to let go of their own vision for life and like the Blessed Virgin Mary, to say yes to God, embracing what God offers in the beautiful and challenging following of Our Lord in the Religious Life.”

Don’t be so silly. Wanting to spend MY money supporting women isn’t transphobic, it’s feminist. It’s an important point. I want all my money going to the people Womankibd said they support.

Why don’t you support them instead?

Why does "intersectional feminism" mean supporting men - biological men - who think they're women?

I thought "intersectional feminism" just meant recognising all the different factors that affect women. To simplify - if you tackle sexism and homophobia separately then you might end up with a solution that works for straight women and gay men and doesn't help lesbians at all. So when two factors intersect (like sex and sexual orientation) you have to look at the intersection of both.

So why does anyone think this means that transwomen are women, or that they belong in women's spaces?

What have I failed to understand?

And ditto for race, or poverty, or disability, etc, all things that affect women differently from how they affect men. Even gender reassignment affects women very differently from how it affects men, socially as well as physically.

We don't say, starving men are worse off than middle-class women so intersectional feminism must prioritise poverty-stricken men? Or do intersectional feminists say that?

Many women here want to put their money into supporting other female people around the world as female people are often treated like shit, and are vulnerable to violence because of their sex. They are also vulnerable to lack of healthcare in pregnancy.

Transwomen’s problems are not the same, so what’s the point of the forced teaming? (Except as a virtue signalling gesture). They don’t need period products, contraception, pregnancy care, childbirth care. Girls are routinely excluded from education because of their sex.

The notion that we must be inclusive of transwomen over being practical and effective in working for safety of females is a first world luxury belief. This is about feminism (for female people) and not just a way to signal how “inclusive” we are.

That is not in any way transphobic. But transwomen have different needs and should campaign for those via a different route. Women’s charities need to be able to use clear language to label and discuss women’s needs to remain focussed and effective in their campaigns and work.

They are already supporting women and girls all over the world and that is their main focus. It seems ridiculous to withdraw support because a few trans people might be helped. I'm not withdrawing my support over it but we're all different.