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Okay, now that I've calmed down, I think a bit clearer about this comment. It's important to dissect the argument here, too, aside from it just being insulting.
Here's the argument: allowing trans women into women only spaces like bathrooms/locker rooms = assault on cis women. https://twitter.com/diannaeanderson/status/1278034868362833921
Here's the argument: allowing trans women into women only spaces like bathrooms/locker rooms = assault on cis women. https://twitter.com/diannaeanderson/status/1278034868362833921
This has obviously been debunked multiple times - see here: https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-nation/debunking-big-myth-about-transgender-inclusive-bathrooms
Trans women in women only spaces being a threat to cis women is bogus. It literally never happens. We know this.
But Elle's argument here is a bit trickier.
Trans women in women only spaces being a threat to cis women is bogus. It literally never happens. We know this.
But Elle's argument here is a bit trickier.
See, Elle is twisting and selecting data to insist that, no, women DO get attacked! She and many other TERFs are citing this article from the Independent in the UK to argue that allowing trans women into these spaces increases risk of assault: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/women/sexual-assault-unisex-changing-rooms-sunday-times-women-risk-a8519086.html
This article is a more sensationalist write up of an article from the Sunday Times: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/unisex-changing-rooms-put-women-in-danger-8lwbp8kgk which is behind a paywall but thanks to my anxiety about phone calls, I'm still pay $5/mo for, so I took a read!
The Sunday Times conducted their own study here (which is not always a red flag but is in this case). Their "study" looked at 134 complaints about assaults that happened at council sports centres or local pools.
Of those complaints, 120 happened in unisex changing rooms.
Of those complaints, 120 happened in unisex changing rooms.
The Times then makes inflammatory statements about what trans inclusive feminists want, which is apparently for all spaces to be unisex:
But they then quote actual trans activists who point out that, no, this isn't actually the case. Allowing trans women into women's bathrooms does not change the nature of the space into a unisex one:
So they're fundamentally confusing trans accessibility with established unisex spaces, which are fundamentally different. Unisex changing rooms at a local pool are fundamentally distinct spaces from the bathroom at your local pub.
So that, itself, is a problem.
This is their summary of the data, which includes the specious claim that "some where the location wasn't given were probably in those changing rooms." So that's a faulty assumption.
This is their summary of the data, which includes the specious claim that "some where the location wasn't given were probably in those changing rooms." So that's a faulty assumption.
But here's the other thing:
They never once, in either the Independent or the Sunday Times, reveal information about the demographics of those assaults - which include reports of everything from voyeurism to rape.
They never say it's cis men, cis women, or whoever doing this.
They never once, in either the Independent or the Sunday Times, reveal information about the demographics of those assaults - which include reports of everything from voyeurism to rape.
They never say it's cis men, cis women, or whoever doing this.
They DO cite a specific case in which a cisgender man was spying on underage girls in unisex changing area. But ... that's a cisgender man. That is not a trans woman.
So TERFs are using this to claim that women are endangered by trans women ... when there's no evidence of that.
So TERFs are using this to claim that women are endangered by trans women ... when there's no evidence of that.
So, to be totally clear:
Have people been attacked in changing rooms? Yes.
Do trans women pose a threat to cis women in changing rooms? No. Any response in the affirmative is based upon conjecture and not data.
Have people been attacked in changing rooms? Yes.
Do trans women pose a threat to cis women in changing rooms? No. Any response in the affirmative is based upon conjecture and not data.
(addendum: two tweets above this I said "women endangered by trans women," which was a typo - it's "cis women endangered by trans women.")
A better study of this would be an examination of ALL attacks that happen in restrooms, public toilets, locker rooms, and changing rooms across the country, along with the gender identity of every person involved. I doubt we'll ever see that happen.
And I bet you money that if we did see that, it'd show that trans women are much more often victims than perpetrators.
