We did mention in our last issue that we expect 2024 to be a busy year and, if January is to be any guide, we weren’t wrong. In this bulging issue, we have alarming news from the women’s sector on a number of fronts, be it funding crises, allegations of bullying, evidence of misplaced priorities (to say the least) and the chilling effect resulting from organisational capture. There’s better news, too, with important tribunal wins for social worker Rachel Meade and – breaking as we prepared to publish – Professor Jo Phoenix, an influential appointment for Joanna Cherry and a (small) concession from the WHO.
Time and tickets are running out for “The Gaithering” which will take place in Falkirk at the end of February. Don’t miss out!
And for our Women’s Voices series, please don’t miss Kim’s story about the ongoing strike at Glasgow East Women’s Aid
For all this and much, much more, read on…
- STOP PRESS: Prof Jo Phoenix wins against The Open University
- The Gaithering
- Conversion “therapy” ban faltering?
- Scottish Prisons Service Evidence Session to the Criminal Justice Committee
- Gender critical social worker Rachel Meade in landmark tribunal win
- How “Inclusion” in sport is harming women and girls – Fair Play for Women
- Adams vs ERCC
- 84% of Britons support female-only services – Sex Matters report
- Update: WHO
- Round up
- Women’s Voices – Kim from Glasgow East Women’s Aid
- Witch’s Familiar
STOP PRESS: Prof Jo Phoenix wins against The Open University
Just as we were about to press “Publish” on this issue, the news broke that Professor Jo Phoenix had prevailed in her claim of harassment and constructive dismissal against her former employer, the Open University. Prof Phoenix had worked at the OU for a number of years and had intended to see out her career there. She resigned as a result of the events that led her to take the OU to an employment tribunal and now works at University of Reading.
Among many other points in the searing 155 page judgement, the tribunal noted that the use by colleagues of Prof Phoenix of the terms “TERF” and “transphobe” had been intended to insult and that this had contributed to a hostile working environment for her that the OU had failed to protect her from.
Professor Phoenix has spoken and written about the huge personal toll on her mental and physical health caused by her treatment by colleagues and the failings of her employer. Today, she paid particular tribute to Women’s Place UK for their support in enabling her to withstand the bruising experience of bringing the claim.
“But why should it be up to individuals to expose the shabby behaviour of institutions captured by gender extremism?” ask Joan Smith in Unherd. But, she notes, “One by one the dominoes are falling: the OU, Westminster City Council, Arts Council England, an NGO called the Center for Global Development. They’ve all lost at employment tribunals and more cases are pending,…” Not to mention the currently ongoing case against Edinburgh Rape Crisis (see below).
The Gaithering
The time for the third women’s festival organised by Forth Valley Feminists – a coalition of 3 Scottish Feminist Network local groups – is almost upon us. With an unbeatable slate of speakers, please don’t miss out.
Tickets available from this link but don’t delay as numbers are limited.
Conversion “therapy” ban faltering?
We wrote a brief history of the drive to introduce legislation to “ban Conversion Therapy” in Scotland in Issue 2 of the newsletter, where Conversion Therapy is an ill-defined term that appears to include explorative, talking therapy to children and adults who believe they have a “gender identity” which is different to their sex. An example might be a trained counsellor asking a client about their diagnosis of autism or history of abuse, to provide a context for the discomfort they may have with their female body.
“Ending conversion practices in Scotland: consultation”, 9th Jan 2024
We advised that a Scottish Government consultation on the proposal for new legislation to ban explorative therapy was due to open on 9th January and, as predicted, the consultation is now open. Please bookmark this page but hang fire on completing it yet – it closes on 2nd April 2024, and lot can happen before then to influence your responses :-
We understand that the Scottish Government was hoping for a low-key reception of this proposed new legislation, but it hasn’t gone to plan. We include some articles on the proposed Bill to provide some background information to you before completing the legislation :-
First a handy thread from Malcolm Clark (a science documentary producer and ally of LGB Alliance) on the evidence available in the UK for either Conversion therapy or conversion practices
If we learned anything from the GRR debacle, it’s that good law needs robust debate (holyrood.com) Mandy Rhodes in Holyrood Magazine
Then we have the wonderful Suzanne Moore asking how the Scottish Government is going to create yet more legislation relating to “gender identity” when it’s not defined in law and the vast majority of us know it’s a non-existent concept.
Then we have an interesting article on some of the interactions from the Minister for Equalities – Emma Roddick MSP – on X/Twitter involving discussions around the legislation.
A post of the Legal Feminist blog (always worth a read) discusses how legislation can be abused, loopholes explored, and why this behaviour needs to be considered during the preparatory stages when introducing legislation. We know from very recent experience that this level of scrutiny did not happen due the 3 stages of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill and, with the same Holyrood committee (Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee) handling this new legislation, we have every reason to be very worried by this new Bill.
Alex Massie, a little slow to the discussion but now absolutely nailing the problems inherent in the gender identity ideology that is embedded in the Scottish Government.
Conversion therapy ban raises justified fears Kevin McKenna in The Herald
Lastly, a Telegraph article on Scottish Government feedback on the reporting from the first week that the consultation was open.
Scottish Prisons Service Evidence Session to the Criminal Justice Committee
On 11th Jan 2024, the Scottish Parliament Criminal Justice Committee held a special evidence session to discuss the soon-to-be-released new policy on the management of Transgender People in Custody in the Scottish prison estate. Those giving evidence were :-
- Angela Constance, Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, Scottish Government
- David Doris, Prisons Policy Team Leader, Scottish Government
- Jamie MacQueen, Legal Directorate, Scottish Government
- Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive, Scottish Prison Service
In the lead up to the evidence session a range of organisations had been invited to make submissions to the Committee on the topic.
The submissions received can be found in notes produced by the Clerk in advance of the hearing, in Annex B. It’s of note that Engender, Rape Crisis Scotland and Scottish Women’s Aid did not make a submission, despite being three well-funded recipients of Scottish Government funding with remits to consider the impact of policies on women’s treatment within Scottish society. You’d think the treatment of female offenders might be of interest when male offenders are placed in their estate, but perhaps that’s just us.
Women filled the public seating of the meeting room to witness the evidence, and a great deal was covered in the (rushed) 90-minute session, chaired by Convenor, Audrey Nicholl MSP. A transcript of the session is available here, but the tone of the meeting can be expressed perfectly by the expressions of Lucy Hunter Blackburn (Murray Blackburn Mackenzie) who was visible behind Teresa Medhurst (CEO, Scottish Prison Service) as she spoke.
It’s worth watching the entire 90 minute proceeding, helpfully saved by Keep Prisons Single Sex, who, despite no government funding, managed to make a written submission to the committee. The loudest gasp (and not just in the room) resulted from this exchange.
Sharon Dowey: But some of the women in prison are probably the most vulnerable in society, so are you not discarding their—
Teresa Medhurst: When I was at committee last year, I said that women in custody are very kind to and understanding of transgender individuals in our care….
Gender critical social worker Rachel Meade in landmark tribunal win
In Rachel Meade v Westminster City Council and Social Work England, a social worker won multiple claims for harassment on account of beliefs protected under the Equality Act against her employer and regulator.
Rachel Meade: a qualified social worker in adult services began working at Westminster City Council in 2001 is a feminist who holds gender critical beliefs (the belief that sex is immutable). Rachel, who had a personal Facebook account set to private with around 40 friend, including some work colleagues was reported to Social Work England by a work colleague who alleged that content she posted on her Facebook account was “transphobic”.
On the basis of this sole complaint, Social Work England began an investigation in November 2020, focusing on 70 of Rachel’s private Facebook posts, including a linked petition supporting the rights of women and girls to female only spaces. SWE concluded that there was a realistic prospect that Rachel’s fitness to practice was impaired with the case examiner’s report stating she had engaged in a pattern of discriminatory behaviour over an extended period. The regulator sanctioned Rachel to a one year warning.
On being informed of the regulator’s decision, Rachel’s employer, Westminster City Council suspended her on charges of gross misconduct in July 2021 which was not lifted for almost a year, until a disciplinary hearing which places Rachel on a 24 month final written warning. In January 2024, an employment tribunal found that none of Rachel’s Facebook posts could reasonably be regarded as offensive or inciting hate, and all her private posts fell within her protected rights to freedom of thought and expression under Article 9 and 10.
The tribunal also concluded that the Facebook posts were not outside the bounds of the legitimate manifestation of the claimant’s beliefs. The tribunal concluded that the Westminster City Council disciplinary process constituted harassment and that the prolonged investigation by Social Work England was unwanted, related to Rachel’s protected beliefs and created an intimidating, hostile and offensive environment for her. As such, this constituted harassment.
We at Scottish Feminist Network send our warmest congratulations to Rachel and thank her for the courage it took to bring this case to tribunal, reinforcing the Forstater judgement that gender critical beliefs and worthy of respect in a democratic society.
For more, read this statement by Rachel’s solicitor and this analysis in The Critic by academic lawyer, Michael Foran, of University of Glasgow.
How “Inclusion” in sport is harming women and girls – Fair Play for Women
On January 14th, Fair Play for Women published their report into the devastating impact on women’s sport of policies that allow males to self-identify into women’s and girls’ sporting categories.
50 personal testimonies from 25 sports highlight six key areas of harm:-
- Unfair competition and demoralisation
- Losing out on records, rankings or on opportunities to participate
- No consent or being coerced into a mixed-sex environment
- The chilling climate of intimidation, fear and silencing
- Loss of privacy and dignity
- Risking women’s and girls’ physical safety
Fair Play for Women are calling for action to protect female sports before things get worse.
- Sport governing bodies: Protect the female category at every level, restricting it to those born female.
- Local authorities, gyms and others: Ensure that female changing rooms, toilets and women-only activities exclude all male people, however they identify.
- Schools and clubs: Maintain single-sex provision rather than switching to mixed-sex, so that girls can train and compete without boys.
- Local and national government and other funders: Make protected female-only provision a condition of funding.
Read more on Fair Play for Women’s website
Adams vs ERCC
“Gender Critical” Twitter/X has been glued this week to coverage by Tribunal Tweets of an employment tribunal in Edinburgh. Roz Adams was employed by Edinburgh Rape Crisis as a counsellor. Initially supportive of the service’s “trans-inclusive” approach, Roz began to have doubts when she realised what this meant in practice. Matters came to a head over the request by a service user for information about whether the “non-binary” counsellor with a “male sounding” name assigned to support her was a man or a woman. Roz wanted to tell her that the counsellor is female but, on the instructions of Mridul Wadhwa, the trans-identified male CEO of the organisation, the woman was instead told that “no men are employed at the service”. Roz was subjected to a 9 month disciplinary investigation, accusations of “transphobia” and the threat of dismissal. She eventually resigned and now works at Beira’s Place.
At the tribunal, Roz is represented by Naomi Cunningham, of Sex Matters and Legal Feminist fame.
Revelations to date include that ERCC refuses, as a matter of policy, to assure a service user who wants it that she can have a female counsellor (based on biology) though would happily arrange for a support worker who has a “woman” gender identity on request; that the way to verify that a job applicant for a “women only” post is a woman is by reading their passport or driving licence (the witness was not asked what they would do if the job applicant had neither of these documents) and that the male CEO of ERCC is “a biological woman”.
Catch up with the proceedings to date on Tribunal Tweets’ Substack. The hearing is due to reconvene on Tuesday 23rd at 10am and you can follow live on Tribunal Tweets’ X feed.
84% of Britons support female-only services – Sex Matters report
Two days later, Sex Matters launched their new report “Women’s services: a sector silenced“. Researcher Matilda Gosling interviewed 19 sector leaders. Among the few who did not feel the need to remain anonymous were Dr Karen Ingala Smith, Dr Shona Dillon and Jess Philips MP. The interviews reveal a sector in turmoil with leaders being silenced, a hostile public policy environment and organisations in turmoil.
An independent poll of a representative sample of the public found that
- 8 in 10 agree that women who have been victims of rape, sexual assulat or demostic violence should be able to access support in a female-only environment.
- 7 in 10 agree that services for women who are victims of rape, sexual assault or domestic violence should state whether they offer a female-only environment or include male people who identify as women.
- 6 in 10 agree that services for women who are victims of rape, sexual assault or domestic violence, when advertising for female support workers, should be allowed to exclude men who identify as women from applying.
Read the full report here and the summary version here
If, after reading what Roz Adams’ case is revealing about ERCC and what this report says about the sector more generally, you want to do something, you can write to your 8 MSPs to protest at what’s been done to rape support services. Rape Crisis Scotland and rape crisis centres generally in Scotland are funded by the Scottish Government, who set the criteria that services must meet to qualify for the funding they need to continue. You can find out who your 8 MSPs are at www.writetothem.com. Write to all 8, regardless of party and regardless of how you think they’ll respond. Postbags matter to MSPs.
Update: WHO
Readers of our last issue will be pleased to hear that the WHO has extended its deadline for feedback on their proposals to develop guidelines on the health of “trans and gender diverse people”. To recap, WHO opened an unusually abbreviated public consultation after announcing a guideline development group (GDG) appointed using an unusual process and with unusually similar publicly stated views on the preferability of the “affirmative” approach and the necessity of self-identification of legal sex.
Acknowledging that they have “received a wide-ranging set of feedback from communities and stakeholders” and the “need for more time for feedback”, WHO have extended the deadline for submissions until 2 February 2024.
Significantly, though, they have also confirmed that the guideline is only going to cover adults because “the evidence base [for medicalisation of] children and adolescents is limited and variable“.
Comments can be emailed to hiv-aids@who.int.
Round up
A few other stories of interest…
| The Scottish Government spent over £50,000 on an advert campaign promoting egg donation to young women. Helen Gibson the founder of Surrogacy Concern said she was “shocked the government would waste taxpayers’ money” at a time of “severe budget constraints”. Story in the Daily Express, 6 December 2023 |
| Calls for cervical screening should treat women like adults Margaret McCartney, Opinion in the British Medical Journal 24 November 2023 |
| Police chiefs consider ending practice of logging trivial non-crime ‘hate’ incidents after almost 4,000 recorded in a year. Daily Mail 27 December 2023 |
| UK bills Scottish Government for £150,000 gender battle legal fees. Taxpayers have already shelled out £230,000 for costs on the Scottish Government’s side of the argument. |
| Parents Watch Education Glasgow (@EduGlasgow on X), who describe themselves as “Challenging and questioning ‘woke’ education policies in Glasgow’s schools and nurseries” have developed a template letter which parents anywhere can download and personalise to challenge gender identity ideology in schools. At least one member of the group has used the letter in her children’s school with a positive result. |
| Joanna Cherry MP appointed to Chair of UK Parliament Joint Committee on Human Rights. The Committee consists of 12 members from both Houses of Parliament who are responsible for, among other things, scrutinising legislation for compatibility with human rights as well as for opportunities to enhance human rights in the UK. |
Women’s Voices – Kim from Glasgow East Women’s Aid
Our “Voices” series continues with a first hand account from Kim, one of 13 suspended workers of Glasgow East Women’s Aid.
“Much of what has happened in the past 6 months remains unresolved. Staff raised concerns about how money was being spent. Allegations of cronyism and bullying were made by various individuals and by the middle of August 2023, the whole staff team signed a letter saying they felt unsafe.
At first the board stated they were willing to take steps to ensure staff safety but by September with no action forthcoming, the staff reported these concerns to funders, including the Scottish Government and the City Council.
This was a step too far for the board who took the unprecedented decision of closing down the whole service and sending the entire workforce off the premises with less than an hours’ notice and to leave all keys, phones, lap tops etc and to take away all personal equipment.”
Witch’s Familiar
This adorable puss is (now) known as Macarena. She began life as Mac to her brother’s Cheese and, having been mistaken for a boy by owner, Lainy, was “misgendered” until she did what female felines do when they hit “puberty” <blush>.
Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size.
Virginia Woolf “A Room of One’s Own”
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