statements

Submission to the Report on Gender, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Gender is a harmful social construct, which is called in CEDAW, ‘stereotyped
roles’. Indeed, Article 5 of CEDAW says that ‘States Parties shall take all appropriate
measures’, ‘To modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with
a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices
which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or
on stereotyped roles for men and women.’ Sex stereotypes are not something to be
celebrated but to be abolished in order to create women’s equality.

Submission to Women and Equalities Committee on Reform of the Gender Recognition Act

The WHRC submission focusses on the way in which any legislation which
enables men with female gender identities to enter the category of women
threatens women’s human rights. It argues that the introduction of the concept
of ‘gender identity’ to legislation in any way is in violation of the UK’s
obligations as a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Violence Against Women (CEDAW)

Open letter: Stop the harassment of women in academia

University of Melbourne must oppose all forms of targeted harassment against staff members engaged in the protection of women's sex-based rights!

To: Prof Duncan Maskell (Vice Chancellor) and Prof Russell Goulborne (Dean of Arts)  

We are writing in response to the witchhunt of Associate Professor Holly Lawford-Smith by some staff members and students. The scale of this campaign against an academic is unprecedented and a matter of international concern. We urge the University of Melbourne and the Faculty of Arts to make clear their opposition to all forms of targeted harassment against staff members who are engaged in the protection of women’s sex-based rights.  

Women’s Human Rights Campaign is an international women’s organisation that has emerged in reaction to increasing efforts to remove women’s sex-based rights through the inclusion of men with female ‘gender identities’ in the category of women. Our Declaration on Women’s Sex-Based rights has been signed by more than 15,000 individuals and 313 organisations from 127 countries. It has been translated to in18 languages and our organisation is present in more than 30 countries. 

The Women’s Human Rights Campaign works to ensure that women’s sex-based rights and the rights of the child are considered when new legislation is introduced, in particular in relation to legislation that replaces sex-based rights with rights pertaining to ‘gender identity. The WHRC is part of a resurgent international women’s liberation movement which has been spurred into action on this issue. 

Women and organisations that speak in defence of women’s sex-based rights have been subject to high levels of threats, including threats of death and of rape, intimidation and harassment in many countries and situations. On 19 February an effigy of the Deputy Prime Minister of Spain, Carmen Calvo, was hung from a tree in Spain in response to her criticism of gender identity legislation.

Freedom of expression is one of the most fundamental of human rights. When it is suppressed, women are excluded from the democratic process.  Dr Lawford-Smith needs full support to ensure that her workplace is safe from bullying and to support her speech rights.  

Dr Lawford-Smith initiated a powerful project that invites women to join together to share their stories about experiences in which their rights to safety and dignity were violated. The aim of this project was to provide women and girls with a safe arena to speak about sensitive issues, and to illuminate female experiences that are otherwise ignored or suppressed. In response, many University of Melbourne staff members, who do not recognize the legitimacy of women’s concern about conflicts between sex-based rights and ‘gender-identity’ rights, signed a statement saying that her freedom of expression should be curtailed.  

The academy is a most important place to support women’s freedom of expression. We urge you to show your strong support for women’s right to participate in public discourse without harassment. 

Christina Ellingsen
Jo Brew
Sheila Jeffreys

on behalf of the Women’s Human Rights Campaign.  

Om WHRC Norge

WHRC er en internasjonal interesseorganisasjon som ble etablert i UK i 2019 i reaksjon på uforsvarlig kjønnsidentitetspolitikk. 

Kjønnsidentitetspolitikk fører til at en biologisk definisjon av kjønn erstattes med en performativ oppfattelse av kjønn i lovverk.  Siden kvinners rettigheter er utformet for å motvirke diskriminering og utnyttelse av kvinner og jenter i kraft av at kvinner og jenter er hunkjønn (en biologisk egenskap), fører kjønnsidentitetspolitikk til at kvinners rettigheter slettes. 

WHRC er etablert for å forsvare FNs kvinnekonvensjon og kvinners kjønnsbaserte menneskerettigheter på nasjonale og internasjonalt nivå.

Aktivismen for å erstatte en biologisk oppfattelse av kjønn med en performativ oppfattelse av kjønn er internasjonal og svært godt finansiert. Aktivismen innebærer en rekke lovendringsforslag, blant annet å fjerne begrepet “mor” og “far” fra fødselsattester (som er tilfellet i Malta), innføre kjønnsnøytralt språk, spesielt i medisinske og reproduktive sammenhenger (aktuelt i Norge), innføre kjønnsnøytral seksualundervisning i grunnskolen, og å lovfeste barn som selvstendig samtykkekompetente i forbindelse med medisinske inngrep. 

I reaksjon på denne aktivismen har det oppstått en ny feministisk bølge, kalt kjønnskritisk feminisme. Denne bølgen ble startet av kvinner, spesielt lesbiske og mødre, på venstresiden. Men angrepet på kvinners og barns rettigheter via transaktivisme har ført til en renaissanse for radikalfeministiske teorier for langt flere enn dette utgangspunktet. 

WHRC har på kort tid blitt etablert i over 30 land. 

WHRC Norge er etablert av Christina Ellingsen og Anne Kalvig.

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