Any woman can be subjected to a man’s or men’s violence. We know that class, race, disability, sexuality, any of the differences between women, differences which are often turned in to inequalities do not provide an impenetrable barrier;
though they do present more exposure to or protection from some forms of violence.
Any woman should be able to access specialist support for women who have been subjected to sexual and domestic violence and abuse, including prostitution.
Any woman should be able to access specialist support for women who have been subjected to sexual and domestic violence and abuse, including prostitution.
We also know that women of means may have alternatives to those services, e.g. it’s rare you find a woman in refuge, who could afford to book herself into a hotel, or who have access to friends with space. She has choices. Many women in refuges do not. Women in prison do not.
Most women in prison have been subjected to far greater crimes than those they were incarcerated for, crimes against them for which the perpetrator never served time, was never held to account by the woefully patriarchal criminal justice system.
It strikes me that many of the women who are demanding access for trans identified males to women only specialist services, are not those who have no other choice.
I would love to do a class analysis of those who angrily ally themselves with trans activism rather than their sisters who have been abused by men and carry the psychological scars.
Who are those women who choose not to be amongst those who recognise the importance and value of women only space, whether or not this is primarily a result of their own experience of men’s violence and abuse, or their ability to empathise with women who need it?
Far from offering hope to your sisters, you offer the denial of help. As someone who has been immersed for over 3 decades in supporting women recovering from men’s violence, I tell you, you offer a door that is closed because they need that which you glibly give away.
Fine, you may not need women-only specialist services for women who have been subjected to men’s violence for yourself. But do not try to deny it of your sisters who do
Fight for services for males, including those who identify as women by all means, but do so without turning in pariahs those of us who recognise the needs of abused women. I choose to prioritise women, you do not have to, but I and many others will not let you disregard us.
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