WDI weekly newsletter

News from WDI

Complete WDI CSW66 webinar now available

Watch the complete WDI NGOCSW66 webinar on our Youtube channel. 

WDI Legal Committee submits evidence to ICC

The WDI Legal Committee has submitted evidence to the International Criminal Court policy initiative on gender and sexual-based crimes. Download the submission.

WDI UK - weekly Zoom meetings

Would you like to connect with UK women who have signed our Declaration?
If so, you are invited to join our regular zoom catch-ups. You can choose from Thursday mornings 9.30-11am and/or Monday evenings 8-9.30pm. Email our UK country contact for login details and dates. 

WDI USA - addressing an ordinance on CEDAW in San Diego county

WDI USA president Kara Dansky spoke at a meeting of the Board of Supervisors in San Diego county which was considering an ordinance to enshrine CEDAW at county level but had defined women and girls to include those who identified as such. 

WDI USA mentioned in Times article on Lia Thomas

A recent Times article mentions WDI USA's complaint about Lia Thomas's access to women's changing facilities on grounds of indecent exposure.

WDI Feminist Question Time (FQT) takes place on Saturdays at 15.00 UK time. This week, 26 March, we are discussing journalism and the challenges of reporting on gender ideology. Speakers include Jo Bartosch, UK, Marina Terragni, Italy, Anna Slatz, Canada and Andreia Nobre, Brazil. Maria Dmitriyeva will give us an update on the situation in Ukraine. Register here. 

WDI Radical Feminist Perspectives (RFP) takes place on Sundays at 10.00 UK time. This week, 27 March, we are discussing 'Women of Ideas and What Men Have Done to Them' by Dale Spender with Emma Dalton, Jo Brew and Dorothea Annison. Register here.

Campaigns

Peggy Luhrs maligned after her death - here's how to help

Following the recent death of feminist warrior Peggy Luhrs, a Vermont newspaper has chosen to publish an ill-intentioned article that maligns and smears her.WDI members, beginning with participants in the Lesbian Space Break Out Group, have begun submitting letters of protest to the editor. One of the owners has said she will print all letters that come in, in the interests of free speech and to further discussion around these issues so please do write in to support Peggy's memory celebrate her extraordinary achievements and brave fight for the rights of women and lesbians.

If your phone number has an international exchange and does not fit the boxes in the US based form please submit a number or email in a second form or include a contact within the space to enter the letter itself (250 words max). 

Sex-based rights around the world

Hospital denies rape took place on ward because there were 'no males' present

An NHS hospital in England denied that a woman was raped on a ward because it said that no males were present, despite CCTV and witness evidence. Only after a year did authorities admit that one in-patient was a man claiming to be a woman.

Karolinska Institute reports itself to health watchdog

Sweden's Karolinska Institute has reported itself to the Health and Social Care Inspectorate for causing harm to a child who has suffered from bone density problems after being prescribed puberty blockers. 

Court in Scotland confirms faulty definition of woman to be struck from record

For Women Scotland's recent remedy hearing has confirmed that the faulty definition of 'women' will be struck from the Gender Representation on Public Boards Act and that they have been awarded full costs. 

New York state legislature introduces bill to allow males to enter women's prisons

New York has followed other US states and introduced a bill that would allow male prisoners to identify into women's prisons. 

British-Iranian woman released from Iranian prison after 6 years

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian charity worker imprisoned for six years by Iranian authorities on spurious charges has been released and has returned to her husband and daughter in the UK. 

Swimmer who missed out on finals spot releases statement

Reka Gyorgy, a female swimmer who missed out on a place in the finals of the 500m freestyle because of the inclusion of male swimmer Lia Thomas, has released a statement about the unfair situation. 

Spanish academic boycotted for supporting women

Juana Gallego, a professor of journalism at the Autonomous University of Barcelona has been told that the students who signed up for her course on 'gender and communication' had pulled out because of her concerns about queer theory, 'gender identity' and the risks to women's rights. 

Access to abortion getting harder in the US

Idaho joins other states seeking to ban abortion after six weeks. 

Male prisoner's violent behaviour to incarcerated women revealed

A Canadian parole board decision has confirmed that a male prisoner who calls himself Angela Valentino was violent towards the incarcerated women he was locked up with. 

Resources

'Children are ill-served by adults who shut down debate'

The Observer's editorial on the interim Cass report covers the 'profound lack of evidence and medical consensus about the best approach to treating gender dysphoria in children.'

'How could anything possibly go wrong?"

Jan Rivers from LAVA and WDI New Zealand reports on the long term implications for society of gender ideology and the concept of special identities. 

Life of a trans-identified female

'R is just one of the many young women who have medically transitioned to ‘become a man’, and just like R, several women have fled womanhood due to similar experiences of sexual abuse and trauma.' Interview with a trans-identified woman in India. 

Events

Sisters4Sisters - Madison, USA, 22-24 April

This April, women will be gathering in Madison, WI in support of Thistle Pettersen and in solidarity with all cancelled women. Thistle has been relentlessly harassed, doxxed and cancelled for her radical feminist, woman-centered views. She is not alone. Women the world over are being fired, silenced, threatened and assaulted for saying NO to the men driving the misogynistic, lesbophobic, homophobic and regressive ideology that is 'gender identity.’ (If you have been considering joining us for a weekend of direct action, discussion, music and solidarity with like-minded women, NOW is the time to commit. Please come to Madison, WI April 22-24 and show the local community and the world that #TheFeministsAreHere and we are fighting back. Register today! Donations to the cause are welcome.