Category: Healthcare

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Healthcare

This matters to me personally, as a gay man, and professionally as a social worker

This matters to me personally, as a gay man, and professionally as a social worker. I see the erosion of women’s rights and LGB people’s rights happening before our very eyes, and do not want the country to be taking such a regressive step.

I have raised my voice at work with certain colleagues, though they have largely been in agreement and supportive.

I have been called a TERF on social media and blocked by various people online. My main fear is a complaint to Social Work England, the regulator. While I find it ludicrous that someone would complain when a social worker raises legitimate concerns about women’s rights, LGB rights and child safeguarding, I have seen it happen already to a social work academic.

BF, Social Worker

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Healthcare

As a woman our rights and language are being erased and we are being dehumanised

I care because I read about the children being medicalised at an astonishing rate,  the cotton ceiling, Maria Maclachlan and Helen the Guides leader.

As a woman our rights and language are being erased and we are being dehumanised. Also the implications for safeguarding children either through being medicalised, manipulatiin or women and children only spaces. The creeping “emancipation” of children’s bodies and educational indoctrination of children’s minds is terrifying. There is only one logical outcome to this – distancing children from parental control in order to lower the age of consent.

I don’t have a large social group of friends and I wouldn’t dare say anything at work. You’d get sacked. I specifically joined Twitter to find further info and people with similar views to myself.

AC, Middle age public sector worker

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Healthcare Parent survivor

It took me a long time to find my voice and now that I’m supporting my daughter to find hers, we will not be silenced.

This matters to me because I’m not about to have a lifetime of sex based oppression, violence and sexual assaults brushed aside to appease anyone. It took me a long time to find my voice and now that I’m supporting my daughter to find hers, we will not be silenced.

I have spoken out online and within friendship groups, joined activist groups, written to MSPs and spoken to social services and my children’s schools.

I have been threatened with sexual and physical violence online as have my family members, one of which is a child, due to speaking up. I’ve had milk thrown at me by a man when delivering leaflets. I’ve been kicked from online and real life LGBT groups. I have also been kicked from many other ‘support’ groups like ones for autistic people and ones for women to uplift other women and a group for women fighting female cancers.

I permanently lost my twitter account for ‘hateful conduct’ because I differentiated between sex and gender. I’ve been marked red on an chrome extension called shinigami eyes which causes people to attack me online for being ‘transphobic’ even when I’m commenting on things not related to gender like my pet rat group.

Ealasaid

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Healthcare

As a doctor I fear that predatory men will take advantage of “gender identity” rules to assault vulnerable women in hospitals

I’m a senior doctor, who qualified into a very male dominated profession. Sexism (even when inadvertent) was & is the norm, and difficult to get addressed. As it is, female patients’ problems can be dismissed readily if the diagnosis isn’t obvious.

My biggest fear is that predatory men will take advantage of “gender identity” rules to assault vulnerable women in hospitals, as they have in prisons already.

I have started to engage on Twitter: the pile-on to JK Rowling’s tweets have been galvanising for me on this issue. It took a while for me to understand that “transwomen” had extended beyond the realm of people who had actually transitioned (or were in the process of it) to people who are male-bodied and not committed to transition.

I have also contacted my medical indemnity association: the NHS guidance is very woolly on what happens if female patients object to the presence of an obvious man in a hospital ward.

Essentially, the staff are told to try to justify it to the other patients and if all else fails, find a single room for one or other of the parties.

I have been told that I should be ashamed to be a doctor, that they feel “sorry for patients” having to deal with me. I have been placed on a “TERF” blocklist. I have been called racist, homophobic, and inevitably “transphobic” (and that was after bringing up examples of women prisoners being raped).

I have had to lock my account, particularly as I am worried that I will be reported to the regulator for being critical of gender-identity, and could face sanctions on my career.

N, Doctor

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Healthcare

In my youth I went on gay rights marches every year. I marched with trans people

I  first became aware of the misogyny in trans ideology in 2015. I was doing an MA in Social Work and the subject was ‘the value of feminist theory for social work practice in domestic violence. I was 50 at the time and although I have always been a feminist I joined the NorthWest feminist and anti capitalist group to get some up to date theory.

A colleague of mine was doing her dissertation on the reform of the Gender Recognition Act. I hadn’t thought much about this until then. Her dissertation was pro reforming it to allow people to instantly self ID. I then read an article by Miranda Yardley in the Morning Star questioning the effects of any proposed reforms of the GRA on womens rights.This was the first time I had heard of Miranda Yardly.

It was a brilliant thought provoking article and I posted it on website of said feminist group and asked that we discuss it. The very next day I was piled on by three transwomen who called me a TERF, said I was transphobic, mocked me and kicked me out of the group.

I was in shock! I was so upset. In my youth I went on gay rights marches every year. I marched with trans people.

I have raised awareness on Twitter, Facebook and supported others in doing so. I have spoken to friends and family.

Apart from getting kicked out of feminist group (described above)  I am treading a fine line in friendship with a friend of mine who is a lesbian but is totally pro trans and wont hear a word against them. She unfriended me for a while on FB. She said she knows I am not transphobic but is worried other people will think that I am. I am not.

CB, The truth matters

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Healthcare

As a survivor of sexual assault I cannot stand by and allow men to invade the spaces where women should feel safe.

This matters to me because female rights are slowly being diluted by a small majority of misogynistic men. As a survivor of sexual assault I cannot stand by and allow men to invade the spaces where women should feel safe.

I feel angry that these groups of men feel that they can appropriate female language and can call people who are standing up for their rights as Terfs, transphobic, or other derogatory terminology. Mansplaining at its finest, a very dangerous path we are heading down.

I have drawn the attention of friends who were not even aware of what has been happening. I have provided evidence to family and friends about the proposed changes to women’s rights and the dangers that come with allowing men to identify as female. I would like to raise my voice more and am considering an anonymous blog or twitter page so that I can contribute to this safely.

In terms of my friends and family I have found that they have been open to the information that I have provided. However, I am currently employed in a profession that certainly promotes inclusivity and an understanding of the feelings of others so I would be worried about the consequences if I was to speak of these things on a higher platform.

A, Feminist

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Healthcare

I’m angry that our centuries of shared experience of constant male subjugation and harassment is, apparently, forgotten.

I am a woman. I am a mother to a daughter, and I don’t want her to feel she must accept male bodies near her in toilets, changing rooms in school and elsewhere and I don’t want her to be forced to compete in unfair situations in sport.

I have an elderly mother and I fear for her dignity in healthcare provision. I fear for women for whom written language is a problem who don’t access healthcare because they don’t realise they’re people-who-menstruate, etc. I feel bad for women who will be excluded for public life due to religion or disability who can’t access gyms, loos, shop changing rooms, etc. I feel bad for women who miss out from all-women shortlists, etc, because of men taking their place.

I worry about young people being subjected to experimental treatment. I worry for the mental health of those who aren’t resilient enough to cope with words like ‘woman’ without self-harming or committing suicide. I worry about crime stats, and male crimes being recorded as female. And I’m angry that our centuries of shared experience of constant male subjugation and harassment is, apparently, forgotten.

I have only discussed this with a few close women friends or anonymously online. All I have spoken to in real life have expressed the same concerns, including an experienced clinical psychologist.

I haven’t spoken up in my own name. I frequently opt out of the conversation online because I find it distressing and frustrating. Thank you for this opportunity.

WildRedWord, Woman

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Healthcare

We have to be able to ask very difficult questions

This matters to me because if we change the definition of “woman” or “man” to mean anybody who identifies as a woman or man there will be unintended consequences. We need to think through those consequences really carefully.

It matters to me because I’m a child protection social worker. I see an increase in children who’ve experience significant harm now claiming to be trans. Sometimes they’re encouraged by their schools. Those children may develop to live as trans men or women and that is their choice, as adults. However…

we need to ensure a trans identity is not a maladaptive response to trauma, one that may leave the unmet underlying need while the young person seeks increasingly drastic physical changes to their body.

I worry about the fact that we cannot openly discuss this topic. In thinking about harm to the people with the least power and voice (young children) there can be nothing left unsaid. We have to be able to ask very difficult questions.

I worry about trans-inclusive guidance which tells girls that if they feel uncomfortable with someone in their personal space they should ignore that feeling. Children who’ve experienced trauma need encouragement to listen to their feelings, to their intuitive responses. We work with children to help them recognise the danger signals in their body and then act on those (children who’ve experienced harm may have learnt to “turn off” those survival mechanisms, to have a “flop” response to danger.) Yet trans inclusive guidance tells children the opposite. That’s not deliberate on the part of trans groups, but is the result of an atmosphere in which criticism is not allowed and lack of open consultation. 

It matters to me because -I was a girl who didn’t conform to gender stereotypes. As an adult I still don’t conform to traditional ideas about femininity. Trans identities/ non binary/ gnc etc pushes the idea that i may not be a woman, that I am Other.

I have spoken in my local Labour Party CLP meeting, spoken in my local Quaker meeting. I have campaigned through facebook and twitter, handed out FPFW (Fair Play For Women) and WPUK (Women’s Place UK) leaflets at Labour and LibDem Party conferences as well as at a Trade Union event. I have met with my MP.

I have been to meetings aggressively protested by trans supporters who see the campaign for womens rights as fascism.

I’ve been ostracised by some members of my local Labour Party.

I’ve been insulted in the street.

BV

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Healthcare

It’s a small life, I can’t trust all that easily and the wounds I carry bleed from time to time, but it’s a life and I owe that to the women that looked after me as soon as I left the airport.

I care about this issue because at the age of 14 I was raped to try and correct my homosexuality. I came to the UK as soon as I could at the age of 18 to seek asylum due to the harassment I received in my home country following the very public trial.

The people that raped me knew what a woman was, if I’d have been a gay man they would have hit and physically assaulted me and not raped me. It is important that we acknowledge and deal with the issues at the heart of violence against women in the UK as well as internationally.

If women coming to this country to seek asylum for MVAW (male violence against women) cannot tell their stories and get meaningful help because their language is now hate speech or exclusionary then how much of a safe refuge is this country?

I was broken when I came here in 2001, I’d experienced an unwanted pregnancy due to the rape and tried to abort at home due to abortion being illegal in my home country. It didn’t work and I was forced to carry my trauma with me for 9 months only to give birth to a child that only survived for 76hrs due to damage caused to his brain by my attempts to terminate. I have to live with this. A lot of women have to live with these kinds of wounds.

We need a place and a language to talk about our issues and to heal. To find support that demands nothing from us, not validation, not that we change our language, nothing.

I managed to get the help I needed and have managed to carve out a life here. It’s a small life, I can’t trust all that easily and the wounds I carry bleed from time to time, but it’s a life and I owe that to the women that looked after me as soon as I left the airport. The female doctors and nurses I was able to ask for, the female therapist who was with me for 15 years and delayed her retirement to help me stand on my own. The lecturers at my university who guided me and helped me gain a degree and become financially independent of the state. The lesbian community that helped me accept myself. They became my tribe, I am thankful.

I have written to my MP, I have been to his surgery to speak to him. He seems sympathetic, he’s from a Religious minority group himself and seems sympathetic but I’m not sure he has really done much about this as his party is firmly pro trans.

I have joined online forums and signed petitions and donated where I could. All the people I speak to seem to be very sympathetic and understand the insanity of where women find ourselves but many fear speaking publicly as do I.

I’ve lost friends. I work in an NHS mental heath setting and most of the people I work with understand the insanity of the current trans movement but this is whispered in dark corners and can never be said openly.

Everyone is scared, I had a colleague say to me a while back that we, as mental heath services, are going to pay dearly for this in a few years time but we daren’t go against the Stonewall lobby that is everywhere in our Trust.

As a mother, grandmother, feminist, educationalist, woman, this matters to me for a number of reasons. As a survivor of domestic abuse, I know how vital to me were women only spaces. I would not have been able to get the support I needed if I had not been confident that specific spaces were open only to women. The fear of such spaces being available to male-bodied people, however they identify, is very real and, I believe, would prevent women from accessing safety, support and much needed resources.

Sex is real. Women are women. Women’s oppression is based on sex. Women’s hard-won rights are in real danger of being eroded. Trans people have rights and, obviously, shoukd do. These are safeguarded in law. As are sex-based rights. The two are separate. One set of rights should not, and need not, trump another. Women are women, transwomen are transwomen and both should be safeguarded.

I am deeply concerned at what is being promulgated in schools and what children and young people are being told online. Feminism has fought for years to break down gender stereotypes. Our nonconforming children should be allowed/encouraged to be just that. Dress wearing boys and tomboy girls should not be told they are in the wrong body.

It’s clear that many young people, disproportionately girls, disproportionately those with conditions like autism, are being put on a path to medicalised transition too early, too quickly and often inappropriately. There is insufficient research into the impact of puberty blockers and what evidence there is suggests not the ‘pause’ as is often cited but the first step in an increasingly inevitable pathway.

Women are being silenced. We are afraid to speak for fear of casually being labelled and abused as transphobic. We are not. Generally, we are progressive women with histories of fighting for human rights and many causes. We haven’t suddenly become bigots. We are not transphobic. We ARE supporters of women’s rights.

I’ve made social media posts, attended consultation at House of Lords and submitted evidence to the Gender Recognition Act consultation.

P, Women matter

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Healthcare Others

Sex based stereotypes have massively increased with social media where the most lauded women look like Kardashians.

I have never understood why just because I have a female body I should have lesser opportunities than my brother, why I should be listened to less than my male bodied colleagues. After a lifetime of this I understand that women are oppressed on account of their biology.

At about age 6 I told my mum I was a boy and she should refer to me by a boys name and she should also inform my teacher. I remember the fury I felt when the teacher referred to me by my female name! I don’t really remember why I wanted to be seen as a boy. I think I had told someone i wanted to be a pilot and their response was girls can’t be pilots ( this was 1970s). I fear that if that happened now I would be on a trans pathway whereas in reality at that age I had absolutely no conception of gender but was learning about sexism.

I  fight on behalf of my 6 yr old self and all other “gender non-conforming” children. 

In my opinion sex based stereotypes have massively increased with social media where the most lauded women look like Kardashians.

I have spoken to friends,  colleagues (although warily), have pointed out the mistake  in an online training package where gender was listed as a protected characteristic but not sex. I’ve posted on social media about this.

I’ve been put on terf blocker or block terfs or whatever list. I left the Scottish Green Party. I’ve become politically homeless.

M