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We are a group of women from across Scotland working to protect and strengthen women and children's rights. Donations welcome: https://t.co/cFP07PHhJT
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Mar 22 24 tweets 8 min read
Are we ready for part III!

These are the Lib Dem councillors. Some of them looked rather uncomfortable but there are rather loud bullying chaps who, sadly, seem to set the agenda. Image
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Up first for the LDs was Fiona Bennett who seemed a little confused about which side she might land on. "Everyone experiences trauma differently and responds differently, and no one has the right to dictate what should or shouldn’t make another person feel safe."Image
Mar 21 11 tweets 4 min read
Part II!

And let's start with a look at the 10 Green Councillors. Please hold them in your thoughts come election time! Image And now, a palate cleanser from Council leader Jane Meagher of @EdinburghLabour who clearly and concisely explained why women need single sex services and trauma-informed care. Cllr Meagher was one of the women who set up EWA and she is something of a legend! Image
Mar 21 27 tweets 6 min read
🧵about that @Edinburgh_CC motion yesterday.

As the motion was not heard until after 4pm, councillors were limited to one minute proposal & seconder speeches. Something as critical as a service for abused women in the city was given perfunctory treatment. An earlier motion on Palestine got a great deal more attention. While this is clearly an important topic, it is not really one that ECC can do anything about. Unlike the funding of women’s services.

Let’s start with looking at the gruesome Greens.
Mar 9 14 tweets 3 min read
Scott is "disappointed" & thinks we aren't "moderate" or "kind" (because that's what good girls are supposed to be). Actually, we're very moderate & most women in Scotland do agree with us.

Scott would "argue" we're "actively anti-women". Challenge accepted. When's the debate? Image I wonder if he checks his Twitter these days. Anyway, @DouneScott, if you can make this argument we are all ears! He clearly isn't THAT fussed about sexism or respect for women or he wouldn't be hanging out with Dom...
Mar 7 15 tweets 3 min read
Yesterday, @JohnSwinney was very angry after @AshReganALBA asked him about 'state sanctioned abuse' of women. He 'would not accept' the charge.

But it isn't just Ash who is saying this, but a commissioner at the Scottish Human Rights Commission. 🧵 Perhaps @ScotGovFM missed her letter. If so, he needs to ensure his staff find it as a matter of urgency. It's excellent, but if he's struggling we'll sum up some of it below.
Mar 2 10 tweets 3 min read
Patrick Harvie talks of a "toxic rhetoric...which is particularly misogynistic, homophobic and transphobic and also...racist and anti-migrant rhetoric. That transcends any one political party."

No doubt, Mr Harvie thinks SGP above all that, but...
heraldscotland.com/news/24973169.… As we know #HarvieHatesWomen

He has lied about the law and demonised women who want to protect their rights.
Jan 22 6 tweets 2 min read
Today, there was a debate in @ScotParl about safe schools. This was something we addressed in a meeting at Parl in Dec last year with harrowing testimony from a teacher. .@PamGosalMSP said violence in schools was an epidemic. She, rightly, focuses on the impact on young girls and talks about the testimony from the teacher at that meeting, incl the use of hidden cameras in unisex toilets. It's vital to have single sex facilities!
Jan 21 4 tweets 1 min read
"A lawyer acting for NHS Fife said an order should be imposed to prevent Sandie Peggie from using male pronouns or terminology to refer to Beth Upton, a biologically male doctor who identifies as female, in employment tribunal hearings"
telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/01/2… "Jane Russell, who is also acting for Dr Upton, claimed that “gratuitous misgendering” from Ms Peggie and her lawyers had already caused “pain” and “harm” to her client.

"She accused her opponents of “contributing to a climate of hostility and hatred towards trans people”."
Nov 29, 2024 14 tweets 4 min read
🧵 FWS at the SC

First of all a massive THANK YOU to all the brilliant women (& men!) who supported this case and to those who travelled from near & far to sit with us in court or popped by as we stood outside to say hello. It really buoyed our spirits!
#WeKnowWhatAWomanIs Image Thanks to all the other groups & individuals who helped us, esp the intervenors @SexMattersOrg @AllianceLGB @ScotLesbians & @project_lesbian. Also, the women’s associations in the political groups who are making the case in Parl & facilitated the meeting on Wednesday night. Image
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Nov 14, 2024 6 tweets 2 min read
We often think back to the "good old days" of 2018 when even Amnesty said that Twitter was a toxic hotbed of misogyny & racism & Jack Dorsey failed to take concerns seriously. Nicola Sturgeon, Ruth Davidson & Kezia Dugdale said they had received death & rape threats on the platform. Or how about 2019 when @joannaccherry challenged Twitter's Katy Minshall over abuse which Ms Minshall conceded was unacceptable? She held up images of the type of tweet targeted at women. The inevitable result? She got more abuse on Twitter.
Nov 3, 2024 14 tweets 4 min read
Yesterday we were at a brilliant event for @msjlindsay and her wonderful book Hounded (buy it!)

In the book, Jenny sets out 3 core beliefs which are the most basics tenets needed to be any kind of feminist.

They are: Core Belief 1: Women are materially definable as a class of human being.

CB2: Women are culturally, legislatively, & politically important with their own set of needs, rights, & concerns.

CB3: Women have a right to meet & discuss that which affects their lives.
Oct 17, 2024 13 tweets 3 min read
More outrageous uselessness from @kaukabStewart who has pushed responsibility for monitoring ERCC onto @InspiringSland. Image In dealings to date with ERCC & RCS, Inspiring Scotland have been rather clueless.

When Roz Adams brought her Tribunal case, Wadhwa wrote to them saying:
Oct 13, 2024 10 tweets 2 min read
Isabelle Kerr, chief executive of @beirasplace, said children as young as 16 had sought help after being choked during one-night stands but she stressed women in long-term relationships had also been affected.
thetimes.com/article/13daab… “It would appear that it’s something that is becoming very normalised, because not only are young men thinking that they should be doing it, but young women are expecting it to be done — even though they don’t necessarily want it or like it in any way. For many of them it’s frightening.”
Sep 23, 2024 26 tweets 9 min read
Some history on ERCC, RCS, Mridul Wadhwa, & Sandy Brindley.

We are aware that some people feel Ms Brindley is being subjected to a witch hunt, the like of which we would generally condemn. We feel it is therefore important to stress why we have these grave concerns. 🧵 This week, Ms Brindley has denied she had any part in the hiring of MW for ERCC. This is true, but it isn’t the whole picture.

Wadhwa got a start in the women's sector in Scotland by working for Shakti women's aid and Rape Crisis Scotland.
Jul 31, 2024 9 tweets 3 min read
There's been much chat (again) about DSDs because of the Olympic controversy, so time for (another) beginner guide thread.

We do not know whether the boxers at the centre of this story do have a condition or if they are self identifying into the category. So this thread is not necessarily about them. First of all, these conditions are VERY rare. Many figures are thrown out for DSDs per live birth. The main ones are:
1.7% - this huge overestimate comes courtesy of Anne "5 sexes" Fausto-Sterling who included late onset adrenal hyperplasia. Stripping this out, we get
0.2% - this includes many chromosomal disorders which are sex specific (for example Klinefelter's or Turner's). It also includes conditions like MRKH which affects the reproductive system of women.

Many of the chromosomal conditions come with health implications which are more likely to negatively affect sporting prowess than otherwise.
Jul 20, 2024 18 tweets 5 min read
We sometimes forget that many people will be unaware of events which shaped the opposition of many to self-id. Greta's story is one of the most shocking and the fall-out from the meeting arranged with Brindley continues to be upsetting.
🧵 The meeting was organised by @JoanMcAlpine who writes about it here.

Brindley brought Sharon Cowan, a professor of Feminist and Queer Legal Studies, who had no official standing at RCS, without asking the survivors or even introducing her.
holyrood.com/comment/view,h…
Jul 18, 2024 4 tweets 1 min read
This year, we learnt that ERCC conducted a "heresy hunt" against a support worker who wanted to offer reassurance to vulnerable women. They called those women "bigots" & kept their anguished emails in a "hate" file. 1/4 But they DID let serial sexual abuser Cameron Downing use the supposedly women-only service because he claimed to be non-binary.

The much vaunted claim that they were expert in detecting predators looking to exploit self-id seems to be hollow. 2/4
Jun 30, 2024 17 tweets 4 min read
As pointed out by Ms Hunter (& brilliantly ripped up by @WingsScotland), the number of people claiming to be trans-id males in Scotland is 3,088 (transmen = 3307 not specified = 3111).

This actually makes certain offending & prison stats so very much worse. Let's have a look! The general prison population averaged 7,426 in 22/23. Of that, 282 prisoners were women.

There are approx 2.2m adult women in Scotland & approx 2.06m adult men.

In Dec 23, the BBC reported there were 24 trans prisoners in Scotland - 19 TW & 5 TM.
May 21, 2024 22 tweets 6 min read
Some receipts about the past behaviour and comments from the CEO of ERCC, Mridul Wadhwa, who, despite the excoriating judgment remains in post. This was his behaviour during the forensic medical services debate. His reaction to the #sixwords amendment to ensure the rape victims could request the sex of an examiner was extraordinary, even attacking Shona Robison.
archive.ph/ldL4k
Apr 8, 2024 9 tweets 2 min read
Guilt by association - much like the #HateCrimeActScotland - is a very one way street. If you point out that predatory men abuse self ID or that others take spaces reserved for women, you are likely to be told that you are smearing all trans people by association. If men turn up with signs saying "decapitate terfs" and MPs or ministers are photographed with them, it was one bad egg in an otherwise "joyous" event.

Same with hundreds of men in masks screaming down megaphones in the faces of women. Don't judge all trans activists by violent men!
Feb 5, 2024 15 tweets 6 min read
🧵 The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) consultation on a revision to “deception as to gender” in its guidance on prosecuting rape and serious sexual offences was discussed by @Jebadoo2 on Free Speech Nation last night.

The guidance is written in the language of gender identity ideology and suggests people successfully “living as a man/woman” are less likely to face prosecution if they deceive a sexual partner about their actual sex.