Single sex services
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EHRC consults on statutory code of practice
Sex Matters is encouraging people to respond to the EHRC’s consultation on its revised Statutory Code of Practice for service providers (deadline Friday 3rd January). This covers the provision of single-sex services, sports and associations. Our action page explains how to respond. Confusion over these services is longstanding. Since...
20th December 2024
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Briefing on our intervention to the Supreme Court on the definition of sex
This six-page briefing looks at our key arguments why “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 should be construed as referring to biological sex. Sex Matters, represented by Ben Cooper KC and David Welsh, is intervening in the appeal in the case of For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers, which...
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The standards crisis in Rape Crisis
The board of Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (ERCC) has decided that “the time is right for a change of leadership”. Mridul Wadhwa, the charismatic, sari-wearing transgender male who convinced it to appoint him “as a woman” into the top job, is out, and ERCC says it is dealing with...
22nd September 2024
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Anneliese Dodds must listen to women
Anneliese Dodds, the Minister for Women and Equalities, has said in response to a written question asking whether the government plans to amend the legal definition of what a woman is: “We are proud of the Equality Act and the rights and protections it affords women. The Government does...
9th September 2024
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Amending the Equality Act 2010 to protect women’s rights – technical briefing for MPs
A one-page overview followed by detailed analysis of the underlying legal issues and a simple legislative solution. Large-print version of this briefing.
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Stand up for single-sex services – why it’s time to make the Equality Act clear
Women and girls depend on female-only services, spaces, sports and associations for privacy, dignity, fairness and safety. The Equality Act 2010 allows for single-sex provision and protects against sex discrimination and harassment. It is time for the government to step in and make the Equality Act 2010 clear so...
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Gaslighting Scottish Rape Victims in the Name of ‘Trans Inclusion’
For three years, Edinburgh’s rape-crisis centre was run by a male CEO who lectured sex-assault victims and staff about their ‘prejudice’ against the male body. How was this allowed to happen? asks Joan Smith.
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EHRC issues guidance on discriminatory adverts
As the EHRC says, an advert is a notice or announcement – written or oral – promoting a job opportunity, product, service or event. Adverts might appear in newspapers or magazines, on the television or radio, in shop windows or emails or on a website. They can also appear...
16th July 2024
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The new deal for working people and the definition of sex
We expect the government to take action in the first 100 days on its new deal for working people, and that we will see something about this in the King’s Speech on 17th July, when its immediate legislative programme is announced. Before the election the Labour Party said that,...
12th July 2024
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Sex matters and the new government
The UK has a new prime minister and we now know there will be a new Labour government, with a significant majority in the House of Commons. The Labour Party has pledged to provide greater support for victims of violence against women and greater protection for women’s rights at...
5th July 2024
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New poll finds voters want to make the Equality Act clear
As reported in the Telegraph, Daily Mail, Express and Sun today, voters across the political spectrum are more supportive of making the Equality Act clear than making it easier for people to change their birth certificates. Sex Matters commissioned a representative survey from an independent polling company to find...
1st July 2024
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Why do people think “transgender rights” have gone too far?
It’s not just about self-ID Support for the law that allows people to change the sex recorded on their birth certificate has fallen a long way over the past few years, most sharply when self-ID was being proposed, in 2018–19 in the UK and then again in 2021–22 in...
14th June 2024
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Despite the election, you should still respond to consultations
You can still make a difference by responding: here’s how.
7th June 2024
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Action guide – stand up for single-sex services
We want to make sure that every candidate seeking to be an MP hears that people want them to STAND UP FOR SINGLE-SEX SERVICES. Every voice counts – our campaign action guide has a poster to print out, ideas for what to say to canvassers who come to your...
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It’s time to make the Equality Act clear
For the past 18 months Sex Matters has been calling for the government to make a simple one-line amendment to clarify that “sex” in the Equality Act really does mean biology, and not self-identification or paperwork. The Conservatives’ announcement today that they would do this if elected is hugely...
3rd June 2024
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This damning judgment should be a wake-up call for the women’s sector
Adams v Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre This week, an employment tribunal ruled that caseworker Roz Adams was subjected to unlawful discrimination and constructive dismissal by Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (ERCC). The tribunal agreed with Adams’ description of what she had suffered as a “heresy hunt” at the hands of...
22nd May 2024
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The Charity Commission must step up to protect single-sex charities
Single-sex charities play an important role in meeting the needs of one sex or the other in many areas, including healthcare, mental health, social issues, sport and education. Although charities are a form of voluntary action, the state requires that charity trustees pursue the charity’s objects, including when those...
20th May 2024
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Roz Adams v Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre
An employment tribunal ruled that caseworker Roz Adams was subjected to unlawful discrimination and constructive dismissal by Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre.
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The government wants examples of bad guidance on single-sex services
Send in the evidence! The government has issued a call for the public to input evidence of bad policies and guidance on single-sex services. UPDATE: Read Sex Matters’ guidance on how to submit evidence The Equality Act allows for clear single-sex services – including everyday facilities like toilets, showers ...
2nd May 2024
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Digital verification services
– how the government can solve the problem about sex (or else sleepwalk into chaos)
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Single-sex toilets in schools
Are your daughter’s safety, dignity, health and privacy important at school? Single-sex toilets are being removed in schools despite the Equality Act’s legal protections. The WRN has a range of resources you can use to highlight this problem and talk to your child’s school.
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Is a GRC really a licence to search?
FairCop has published an advice from a KC on the lawfulness of the National Police Chiefs’ Council policy that tells forces that officers who transition can search (including strip-search) members of the opposite sex. The policy (currently withdrawn for review) states that: “once a transgender colleague has transitioned, they...
1st February 2024
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We call on politicians to support women’s services
Women’s sector leaders talk to parliamentarians about our research On Wednesday 18th January MPs and peers gathered with leaders from the women’s sector to discuss Sex Matters’ new report, Women’s services: a sector silenced, at a cross-party meeting in the House of Commons. The panel discussing the report’s findings...
19th January 2024
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Briefing on report Women’s services: a sector silenced
Large-print version of this briefing. For the Westminster meeting on 17th January 2024, a briefing on our report on the effects of gender-identity beliefs on the women’s sector.Read the report.Read the summary.
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Women’s services: a sector silenced – new report
A major new report launched today by Sex Matters reveals in shocking detail that leaders in the women’s sector who advocate for female-only services are routinely subjected to investigations, ostracisation, bullying and employment loss, and have been pressured into adopting policies that compromise women’s welfare and safety. Yet a...
16th January 2024
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Women’s services: a sector silenced
This report by Matilda Gosling and Sex Matters examines the effects of gender-identity beliefs on the women’s sector, based on interviews with leaders of organisations providing services to women who have experienced male violence.
Read the summary version -
Women’s services: a sector silenced – summary report
A summary of our report examining the effects of gender-identity beliefs on the women’s sector, including the results of an independent poll in January 2024, asking if the British public supports the provision of female-only services for women. (Read the full report.)
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Sex and the police: confusion over the law and state-sanctioned sexual assault
Update on the review into activism and impartiality in policing HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has today published a letter with interim findings from his review of the politicisation of the police, which was started in September 2023 at the request of the Home...
10th January 2024
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Gender-critical civil society submits report to GREVIO on sex and the law
Sex Matters, Fair Play For Women and Transgender Trend, together with LGB Alliance, the Women’s Rights Network, For Women Scotland and Merched Cymru, have submitted a report on the UK’s implementation of the Istanbul Convention. The Istanbul Convention is about violence against women The “Istanbul Convention” is the Council of...
31st December 2023
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Sex and the law at the end of 2023
This blogpost is based on a briefing sent to the Women and Equalities Committee in advance of its session with the Women and Equalities Minister, Kemi Badenoch.
15th December 2023
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Resisting violations of women-only spaces
The chair of Sex Matters’ board, barrister Naomi Cunningham, was asked to speak at a conference in Edinburgh on Tuesday 5th December to celebrate the first anniversary of the opening of Beira’s Place. Beira’s Place, based in Edinburgh but covering the whole Lothian region, is a trauma-informed service for...
7th December 2023
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Guidance for service providers on single-sex services
In the light of the For Women Scotland judgment.