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The government has said it will report on the GRA consultation before recess. In advance of any announcement we are posting some extracts from our submission to the consultation so you can see what WPUK was asking for. https://womansplaceuk.org/wpuk-submission-uk-government-gra-consultation/ 1/n
Examples of how changes in the GRA might affect those with other protected characteristics include:
Age
Children and the elderly have particular needs around intimate care, due to dependency
Age
Children and the elderly have particular needs around intimate care, due to dependency
Disability
Disabled people may require same-sex intimate care again due to dependence; People with learning disabilities may struggle to cope with rapidly changing social conventions such as ‘misgendering’...
Disabled people may require same-sex intimate care again due to dependence; People with learning disabilities may struggle to cope with rapidly changing social conventions such as ‘misgendering’...
Disability cont'd
People with PTSD inc women survivors in relation to male violence and their right to a single sex recovery space or counsellor.
People with PTSD inc women survivors in relation to male violence and their right to a single sex recovery space or counsellor.
Race
How will the rights of cultural groups, for whom single-sex spaces are particularly important, be upheld?
How will the rights of cultural groups, for whom single-sex spaces are particularly important, be upheld?
Religion and belief
The implementation of a process of self-declaration of legal sex will disproportionately affect people from religious backgrounds for whom single-sex spaces are particularly important...
The implementation of a process of self-declaration of legal sex will disproportionately affect people from religious backgrounds for whom single-sex spaces are particularly important...
Religion and belief cont'd/There are people who believe that gender is a social construct and that gender identity is not innate or real. How will their rights to assert this be upheld? Eg, feminist academics such as Kathleen Stock have come under attack for making this argument.
Sex
Sexism and sexist discrimination is a huge problem in the UK. A recent report into the status of women’s equality in the UK by the EHRC found:
A significant pay gap of over 18%;
Underrepresentation in political and economic positions;
High levels of violence and sexual abuse
Sexism and sexist discrimination is a huge problem in the UK. A recent report into the status of women’s equality in the UK by the EHRC found:
A significant pay gap of over 18%;
Underrepresentation in political and economic positions;
High levels of violence and sexual abuse
Sex based rights exist to address some of these problems. Any change to the law that effectively changes the definition of who pertains to which sex group, has the potential to undermine efforts to advance women’s equality.
Another concern is the failure to seek the views of women survivors of sexual violence or assault.
We are astonished that there is no place in the consultation document to ask natal women who are survivors of domestic or sexual violence whether single sex spaces were/are important to them; whether they were/are able to access such spaces...
...whether the present of biological males in such spaces would have an impact on the likelihood that they would/did access support.
This consultation cannot expect to get a full picture of how a change in the law will impact on wider society and the rights of individuals without considering a full range of perspectives and experiences.
A failure to do this risks the creation of a bad law that will either fail or work against the rights of other citizens in society.
Sexual Orientation
We believe that there will be an impact on one’s right to express one’s sexuality as same sex. In particular we are concerned by:
The attacks on lesbians who are asserting their rights as protected group to be same-sex attracted...
We believe that there will be an impact on one’s right to express one’s sexuality as same sex. In particular we are concerned by:
The attacks on lesbians who are asserting their rights as protected group to be same-sex attracted...
The ostracization of lesbians from the LGBT community and their demonisation;
The erasure of their sexual identity and nomenclature;
The demand on lesbians to consider male-bodied people as sexual partners (‘the cotton ceiling’)...
The erasure of their sexual identity and nomenclature;
The demand on lesbians to consider male-bodied people as sexual partners (‘the cotton ceiling’)...
The substitution of ‘gender’ for ‘sex’ which we think directly impacts on the protected characteristic of lesbian and gay men and their right to same sex relationships.
We will share some more extracts later in the day. If you can't wait till then you can read the whole of our submission here https://womansplaceuk.org/wpuk-submission-uk-government-gra-consultation/
