WDI weekly newsletter

News from WDI

Green Party conference motion asks to expel WDI signatories

A late motion submitted to the Green Party conference in England and Wales by 'non-binary' women's committee co-chair, Ani Stafford-Townsend, suggests that party members who have signed the Declaration should be expelled. WDI has asked the Green Party to uphold its members rights to freedom of opinion, expression and association. Andreia Nobre covered the story in 4W, as did Julie Burchill in the Daily Mail. We also wrote an article which you can read on Graham Linehan's Substack or our website. 

Raquel Rosario Sanchez

WDI signatory, Raquel Rosario Sanchez's case has finished. She was granted permission to publish her witness statement - a powerful and account of bullying and abuse at Bristol University. Judgment is expected ...

Upcoming WDI webinars:

WDI Portugal launches a new Radical Feminist Perspectives webinar series in Portuguese

Inspired by our volunteers, this series aims to provide a solid foundation on radical feminist theory for Portuguese-speaking women. Our goal is to reach more and more women from all Portuguese-speaking/lusophone countries. The first meeting is set for 20 February at 7pm (Portugal Time Zone, GMT) with Gi Del Fuoco, from Historiadora Radical, on DIALECTICAL AND HISTORICAL MATERIALISM. The next ones will always take place on Sundays, twice per month. Live meetings are for women-only WDI signatories, but with the recordings available on our Youtube channel after for everyone. We will contact signatories from Portuguese-speaking countries specifically about it this week. More info about the link to enjoy the webinar live will be on our website soon too. We are open to participation from all of you: please write to us to propose books/concepts, offer a debate and/or suggest that we contact radical feminists in your countries through Gmail. All our sisters are more than welcome!

WDI Germany webinar 27 February

The next German-speaking webinar takes place on 27 February at 6pm Berlin time on the topic of prostitution. Register here. 

WDI Feminist Question Time (FQT) takes place on Saturdays at 15.00 UK time. This week, 19 February, we have Maureen O Hara from the UK, on updated legal guidelines for lawyers in the UK, Carolina Agurto Flores and Constanza Riquelme Bórquez from Chile on an ecofeminist look at the rights based on the sex of peasant girls and women in Chile and Helen Pringle from Australia on the Women's Pool. Register here. 

WDI Radical Feminist Perspectives (RFP) takes place on Sundays at 10.00 UK time. This week, 20 February, we are discussing Man Made Language by Dale Spender discussed by Caroline Norma and Emma Dalton. Register here.

Sex-based rights around the world

FPA in China to 'intervene' in abortions for unmarried women and teenagers

China's Family Planning Agency has announced it will 'intervene' when unmarried women and teenage girls seek abortions and will 'promote traditional values' to encourage people to have more children. 

El Salvador woman freed after 10 years in prison for miscarrying

A woman in El Salvador, which has some of the most draconian anti-abortion laws in the world, was freed from prison after spending 10 years behind bars for miscarrying her baby. She is the fifth such woman to be freed from prison since December. 

Australian senator tables 'Save Women's Sports' bill

Australian senator Claire Chandler has tabled the Sex Discrimination and Other Legislation Amendment (Save Women’s Sport) Bill 2022 aimed at making it clear that 'single-sex sport for women is lawful, encouraged and supported by the Parliament of Australia'. 

South Dakota bans males from women and girls' sport

South Dakota Republican governor Kristi Noem has signed Bill SB46, which bans males from competing in female sports competitions in government-accredited schools and colleges, into law last week. 

Court in France allows man to be recorded as 'mother' of his child

A court in Toulouse has allowed a man to be recorded as the 'mother' of his child, who was conceived after he started claiming a female 'gender identity'. 

Trans activists try to disrupt women's event in Nottingham, UK

Male trans activists turned up to a Speakers' Corner event in Nottingham where they tried to shout over women's rights campaigner, Kellie-Jay Keen, and accused a rape survivor of 'playing the victim'. Watch more on Kellie-Jay's YouTube channel. 

TRA who succeeded in pushing lesbian out of Pridge organisation detransitions

A violent man who used to claim a female identity and who successfully pushed lesbian rights advocate Julia Beck thrown out of the Baltimore LGBTQ Commission in 2018 has detransitioned. 

Harvard scientists demand other scientists pretend sex is not real

Three scientists have written to the journal Science demanding that science as a discipline pretends that biological sex does not exist. 

Resources

'Adam Kay's dangerous misogyny'

Tanya Gold writes about the misogyny ingrained in the new BBC tv show, This is Going to Hurt, in which 'women are reduced to orifices with imbeciles attached'. 

'Transing kids: medical help or medical harm'

Comprehensive article on the transitioning of children published in Redline. 

;All the Rage' ebook - Lynne Harne and Elaine Miller

'Queer theory, sado-masochism, lesbian chic and lipstick lesbians were all the rage in the late 1980s popular culture. But these so-called glamorous trends were the superficial post-modern disguises of a patriarchal backlash against three decades of radical lesbian feminist advances.' This anthology of women's voices is available from Spinifex.

Women's Voice podcast - Roxie, former dominatrix

Listen to Genevieve Gluck's hard-hitting and vital interview with former dominatrix Roxie. Discussion of pornography and fetishes throughout. 

'No, your 6-year-old is not transphobic'

Jo Bartosch on a UK couple whose 6-year-old son's school told them that he would be considered transphobic if he failed to believe that a 'gender fluid' classmate was a 'real' girl or boy. 

Campaigns

UK signatories - please email your MP on the GRA

The Gender Recognition Act is due to be debated on Monday 21 February after a petition to allow self-ID of sex gained 137,000 signatures. Please email your MP in advance to share your views. 

#ShowYourLove campaign for the women of Kakuma

Please support FiLiA's campaign for the women of Block 13 in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. 

Sex Matters survey - UK

UK organisation Sex Matters is collecting experiences on single sex services to pass to the EHRC through a short survey.  

Events

Support Jenni Swayne in Newport, Wales, 24 February

Justice for Women Rally takes place on 24 Feb at Newport. Gather opposite Newport Central Police Station. Welcome and introductions due at 13.30. Follow Merched Cymru for more details. Speakers:
Sarah Phillimore, - family Law Barrister and co founder of the campaign Group Fair Cop
Ali Morris - Independent specialist VAWDASV, consultant and trainer
Abby - President of Swansea University Feminist group
Sonya Douglas - Cardiff based artist and activist
There will be a choir and book readings. Please bring your favourite feminist book, there will be a group photo opportunity (holding books aloft!) for those who wish to be included for use on social media.

Gender Identity in Law - Hobart, Australia, 26 February

The Coalition for Biological Reality is running this public forum, where experts will discuss the impact on women, children and people with gender dysphoria, in Hobart, Tasmania on 26/02/22. Speakers include Professor Bronwyn Winter of COAL, Senator Claire Chandler, Katherine Deves, Holly Lawford-Smith and Exulansic. 

Keep Prisons Single Sex UK protest - speeches available

Listen to the speeches from last weekend's Keep Prisons Single Sex protest outside the Ministry of Justice in London. 

Audacious Women online festival - Sunday 20 February

Day-long online festival featuring workshops on history, migration, identity and belonging. See the Facebook page for the full programme.