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Letter to Peter Hope-Jones, Head of Gender Recognition Unit

February 2022

On 14 January 2022, WSS requested a meeting with Shona Robison, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government, to discuss women’s and girl’s rights in Scotland due to the SNP’s proposed reform of the Gender Recognition Act.

On 24 January 2022, we were disappointed to receive a response explaining that due to the volume of meeting requests the Cabinet Secretary could not commit to meeting with everyone. Instead, we were offered a meeting with the Gender Recognition Unit.

We arranged a meeting with the GRU for 15 February 2022. We were given a 30-minute slot with Peter Hope-Jones, the Head of the GRU. This was a frustratingly short period of time in which to air our concerns and raise questions. Predictably, there was much that was left unanswered. However, we were encouraged to send in a follow-up letter as our questions might be addressed via this format.

You can read our letter to the Head of the GRU that describes the questions that were raised on the day of the meeting as well as a number of further questions that have yet to be answered by the Scottish Government on this issue.

VIEW LETTER TO GENDER RECOGNITION UNIT
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WSS seeking meeting with Scottish Government minister on GRA reform

January 2022

According to an article by the Scottish Daily Express, a Scottish Government spokesperson has said: “No group that has requested a meeting about the Gender Recognition Bill has been refused. Further ministerial meetings with a range of organisations, including those who have recently been in touch with a request, will take place ahead of the bill being introduced to Parliament.”

We note that the SNP promised in their manifesto to work with all interest groups, including women, on proposed changes to the GRA. Ministers have since met with five government-funded LGBT groups but no grassroots women’s groups.

Women Speak Scotland agree with policy analysis collective MurrayBlackburnMackenzie that “it is unreasonable to place responsibility for fulfilling a manifesto commitment on what are almost all exclusively volunteer-run groups working on shoestring with no public funding, no inside knowledge of the planned timetable and no established access to government”. Unlike the pro-self-ID lobbyists who have paid employees, we are a group of women from all walks of life, most of us juggling work and caring responsibilities, doing this on a voluntary basis.

Nonetheless, we welcome the Scottish Government’s professed willingness to meet with a wider range of organisations. We have written to Shona Robison MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government, to request a meeting to discuss women’s and girls’ rights in Scotland, in relation to the upcoming proposals to reform the Gender Recognition Act.

We will update on whatever response we receive.

View Letter to Cabinet secretary

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International Women’s Day Statement of Solidarity with Joanna Cherry (by Men Supporting Women’s Rights)

Men Supporting women’s rights

International Women’s Day Statement of Solidarity
with Joanna Cherry (and other women abused for speaking out).

Men Supporting Women’s Rights was set up in 2019 to challenge the new expressions of misogyny that have emerged in recent years. We are men from a wide range of backgrounds, sexualities and political opinions drawn together by a shared concern at the very negative implications that extremist ‘gender identity’ ideology has for women and girls. This ideology has, under the guise of ‘progressiveness’ captured powerful institutions across society with alarming speed and with almost no public discussion. The lack of public discussion is a product of fear. Anyone who openly challenges the new orthodoxy is likely to be subjected to a campaign of lies, vilification and threats of violence. As men we see it as important that we stand up and be counted by standing shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with the many courageous women who have defied the bullies and continued to speak the truth.

The most high-profile example in recent times has been the continual harassment, abuse and threats of sexual violence, including death threats, aimed at Joanna Cherry MP. These threats have come from numerous gender ideologues, shockingly some of them fellow members of the SNP. One recent threat from a party member has lead to a criminal investigation and an arrest. This campaign of misogynist bullying targeted at a Lesbian feminist politician has now been going on for years. It is calculated to send a clear message to all women: “Shut up and accept our dictatorial worldview or we will destroy you”.

One of the most appalling aspects of this has been the utter absence of any condemnation of these sickening threats from the leadership of the SNP. Ms. Cherry has received no support, solidarity or offers of protection from her party bosses. Indeed Nicola Sturgeon, who appears willing to stake her reputation on allowing any man to legally self-identify as a woman simply by making a declaration, has made her own thinly-veiled attack on Ms Cherry in a video in which she accused her own party of “transphobia”. And last month’s proposed amendments to the controversial Hate Crime Bill that might have afforded some protection to gender-critical women like Ms Cherry from prosecution for “stirring up hatred” were suddenly abandoned by the Justice Secretary, Humza Yousaf, after more threats from gender fanatics.

We conclude from all this that in effect the most powerful people in Scotland are, through their silence and through their actions, giving support to misogynist thugs who have no respect for women, no respect for free speech and no respect for laws against threatening, violent and abusive behaviour. Men Supporting Women’s Rights believe that this will go down in history as one of the most shameful episodes in the history of the SNP and of Scottish political life.

To mark International Women’s Day the members of Men Supporting Women’s Rights want to make it clear that we are standing in solidarity with Joanna Cherry over this issue. We condemn the behaviour of many so called ‘trans-activists’ in abusing and threatening women. We condemn the cowardice and complicity of her party bosses in failing to stand up for truth and decency. We stand in solidarity with all the women who have suffered abuse for bravely speaking out against the new misogyny that is expressed through an ideology that redefines women’s very existence whilst attempting to deny them even a right of reply. We call on all men to do what they can to stand up for women’s right to maintain long established sex-based legal protections, and to offer their support to women in defining their own existence without being vilified and threatened.

MSWR

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Manifesto for Women’s Rights in Scotland to be launched

Women Speak Scotland is publishing a ‘Manifesto for Women’s Rights in Scotland’ on International Women’s Day (8 March) ahead of the Holyrood election on 6 May. The Manifesto demands the protection and implementation of women’s human and legal rights. WSS will invite all parliamentary candidates to support it.

The Manifesto affirms women’s sex-based human rights, which are enshrined in international treaties and national legislation. It includes rights related to:

  • Safety and Privacy
  • Health and Bodily Autonomy
  • Freedom of Speech and Association
  • Fairness in Sport
  • Accurate Data
  • Freedom from Male Violence and Exploitation
  • Young Women and Girls

WSS says the Scottish Government must make a commitment to uphold women’s rights, regardless of which party/parties form the next administration. WSS believes the Manifesto is necessary because recent years have seen the gradual erosion of women’s rights. A spokeswoman for the group said “Women have been fighting for our rights for over 100 years but now we are facing a serious backlash. We are seeing the advances we’ve made being watered down or removed one by one. Public bodies and organisations too often dismiss women’s concerns. Many organisations now routinely confuse ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ which has the effect of reducing or removing women’s rights.

“The Scottish Government appears to be mounting an attack on women’s rights. For example, it has recently redefined the term ‘women’ to include men in relation to the Gender Representation on Public Boards Act. The Act was intended to address the historical under-representation of women on these boards, but is seriously undermined by allowing males to take places designated for women.

“The Hate Crime Bill proposed by the Scottish Government is in its final stage and will be debated at Holyrood on Wednesday. WSS is very concerned that the Government is refusing to offer protection to female victims who are attacked because of their sex despite widespread support for this measure. As it stands, the Bill will criminalise women advocating for our sex-based rights, including the maintenance of existing legal rights. So the WSS Manifesto demand for the protection of the right to freedom of speech is essential.

“We seem to be on a slippery slope which risks making women invisible both to the law and in national statistics. For example, there is a suggestion that the next Census in Scotland will not record the population according to our sex, even though this is crucial for planning many services, or identifying inequalities such as the sex pay gap. WSS is determined to reverse this trend and make sure the voices of the majority of women in Scotland are heard.

“Scottish Parliamentary candidates should be aware that women’s votes count – we are nearly 52% of the electorate – and we intend to make sure that women’s rights and concerns are not ignored during this election, nor by the incoming government.

“We also hope the Manifesto will empower those women who aren’t yet confident being involved in politics or activism, to feel able to engage in conversation with candidates in their constituencies, by providing information about some of the most important issues facing us at present.”

Copies of the Manifesto can be downloaded from the WSS website from 8 March onwards.

In the Media

Women’s manifesto aims to put pressure on Scottish parties to ‘reaffirm sex-based rights’
Scotsman (Gina Davidson) – Sunday, 7 March 2021

Nicola Sturgeon says she was first told of allegations about Alex Salmond in 2017. I heard the rumours in 2010
Scotsman (Susan Dalgety) – Saturday, 6 March 2021

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New evidence that trans women have male pattern of criminality – Fair Play For Women (FPFW)

The Women and Equalities Select Committee heard from female academics on 9 December 2020 that trans women present no less a risk to women than men do, based on their pattern of criminality. Professor Rosa Freedman cited a large-scale study of crime data in Sweden, but Nicola Richards MP questioned whether this was true.

Now Fair Play For Women has uncovered new data for the prison population in England and Wales showing that trans-identifying males have a pattern of criminality similar to men, and not like that of women. The findings come from Ministry of Justice data obtained through a Freedom of Information request. They show that at least 66, and perhaps as many as 76, of 129 trans-identifying males in prison in England and Wales have one or more convictions for a sexual offence.

Fair Play For Women Ltd is a campaigning and consultancy organisation which raises awareness, provides evidence and analysis and works to protect the sex-based rights of women and girls in the UK. Founded in 2017, their work is focused on understanding when and how gender-and sex-based rights conflict in law and policy making. Their aim is to ensure everyone’s needs are fairly balanced and women and girls are not overlooked in good policy-making.

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Women and Equalities Committee: Inquiry on GRA Reform

The UK Parliament Women and Equalities Committee is carrying out an inquiry into reforming the Gender Recognition Act. The deadline for their call for evidence was 27 November 2020. You can view all the published evidence here.

Guidance provided by women’s groups for written submissions:

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