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THREAD: We are thrilled that we can now share our Female Only Provision Report (found at: wgscotland.org.uk) covering a survey we carried out of 2,000 UK women to ask them re the impact of changes to female-only provision that mean they are no longer single sex. We asked >
>these qns because no-one else has, & our report reveals that opening up female-only spaces, services, groups & initiatives to male people, is impacting the privacy, dignity, safety, welfare, participation & representation of women & girls, eroding our human rights & equality >
>As access to female only provision is not necessary to uphold the human rights & equality of trans people, i.e. trans people’s rights mean they should be afforded their own protections & provision where they need it, it is our view that any loss of female only provision where >
>women & girls need such provision, also functions to unfairly discriminate against women & girls. Our discussion paper & report together make it clear that self-identification as the basis on which people can access single sex provision is bad practice, & works against human >
>rights & equality. Our findings also make it clear that it is the very presence of a male bodied person in spaces alongside women & girls where women & girls are at all vulnerable, that is enough to cause discomfort & distress, & is enough to cause further re-traumatisation for>
>women & girls who have suffered abuse & assault. It is also enough to cause women to self-exclude from using female-only provisions they would usually use, including self-excluding in ways that could lead to serious personal harm, in addition to social exclusion & inequality >
>For many, even knowing there is a possibility of facing a male person is enough to ensure their self-exclusion, including self-excluding from women’s services & from accessing potentially life-saving healthcare. Many women raised with us that they have CPTSD/PTSD and how their >
>lives are already severely limited due to this trauma, & female-only provisions are one of the few ways they can feel safe while participating in public life. Our findings, as well as the previous polls & surveys summarised in our report, strongly suggest that it’s the most >
>vulnerable women, minority women & working class women who are most likely to be impacted by the loss of female-only provision.
