GPA0004
Written evidence submitted by Fair Play for Women
Fair Play For Women Ltd is a campaigning and consultancy organisation which raises awareness, provides evidence and analysis and works to protect the sex-based rights of women and girls in the UK.
Founded in 2017, our work is focused on those areas where gender-and sex-based rights conflict in law and policy making. Our aim is to ensure everyone’s needs are fairly balanced and women and girls are not overlooked in good policy-making.
We believe in compassion and fairness for all. We support the rights of trans people to live in safety and to be treated fairly. We also support the rights of women and girls, and this is our focus. Protecting these rights in law requires that sex is not conflated with gender identity.
We are experienced policy stakeholder representatives acting on behalf of women and girls. To date we have been invited to engage in transgender sport policy meetings held by, inter alia, the IOC, World Athletics, World Rugby, Sport England, UK Sport, and on non-sport policy issues by MOJ, IPSO, EHRC, GEO, ONS and numerous private organisations.
This submission illustrates the threat to female participation in sport and physical activity in our communities being caused by transgender inclusion policies which have been widely adopted at many levels in almost all sports without any Equality Impact Assessment and which are having a negative impact.
This is leading to two specific problems:
a. Self-exclusion by women and girls.
b. confusion and difficulty for volunteers in community sports clubs, including coaches, referees/ umpires and safeguarding officers.
When faced with this problem, some females self-exclude, often without comment. This means that their loss often goes unnoticed. Therefore it is difficult to quantify the impact. But this is already a significant problem. Just one trans-identifying male has an impact on many females, who may be deterred for reasons of privacy or fairness, or fearful for reasons of safety.
Unless this is addressed, all the good work being done to increase female participation, and to ensure there are volunteers to enable female and junior participation, will be countered to some extent by rules created to support a small number of males but which impact a large number of females.
The committee should call on NGBs in the UK to follow the SCEG guidance and reinstate female-only sport and recreational opportunities. These can be alongside mixed-sex sport and physical activity, so as to ensure there is a place for everyone.
Inclusion in sport and physical activity is important, and solutions should be found for all groups. But solutions for one group must not be to the detriment of others. The Sports Council Equality Group guidance issued in September 2021 has made it clear that the wish of transgender people to play sport in their target gender is not compatible with fairness - and, in some cases safety - for females. The SCEG guidance proposes a range of options to ensure there is a place for trans people in sport without compromising the fair and safe participation of females.
While some national governing bodies for some sports including England Rugby, British Triathlon and England Volleyball have now issued amended policies which reinstate a female category based on birth sex, and others including athletics and swimming are reviewing their policies, most have not yet done so.
Some sports including cycling have already confirmed that they will continue to allow people who have been through male puberty into events intended for females. This is continuing right now in cycling events across the UK. Despite the publicity around one elite male being denied a female racing licence, there are adult males who identify as women winning other cycling competitions in the UK. Their identity is something only they know, but their male performance advantage gained from male puberty remains and confers an unfair advantage in female competition. It is lawful to organise sport by sex not identity, as set out in section 195 of the Equality Act. Growing female participation depends on this being enacted.
Self-exclusion is hard to track but it is happening all over the UK. Fair Play For Women has been contacted by many women affected, though few feel able to speak openly. Some examples are reported in these two recent UK media articles:
https://thecritic.co.uk/let-women-swim/
This may seem like a matter of just a few trans-identifying people, but just one trans-identifying male has an impact on many females, who may be deterred for reasons of privacy or fairness, or fearful for reasons of safety.
Women and girls are half the population but are under-represented in physical activity and sport. Many NGBs are working to change this. Their own approach to trans inclusion rule, cascaded down to local clubs, is undermining this.
Asian women are particularly affected by these policies, as they can no longer rely on single-sex facilities or provision. We have heard of Muslim women who left their sport or non-competitive physical activity (swimming) for this reason. There is no suggestion of any mal-intent by trans people, but if single-sex cannot be assured then it becomes out of bounds for some women.
Disabled women are also disproportionately affected. Those with physical disabilities typically feel more vulnerable especially when using toilets or changing rooms. The arrival or presence of a male person causes anxiety. Women with physical defects, such as the post-mastectomy scars of the woman mentioned in the Critic article, also want guaranteed female spaces and provision. Those who have had trauma involving men will of course feel this too. We have heard from women who wanted to join British Cycling’s women-only recreational Breeze rides for this reason, and being frightened by a male voice where they did not expect it. We’ve heard from others who wanted to join those rides so they could be confident of keeping up, only to find a transgender person leading the ride at a pace they could not manage. All of these factors are deterring women from participating in sport and physical activity.
5. Volunteers are being put in an impossible position
Most grass roots sport clubs rely heavily on volunteers, to run the club, to coach juniors and beginners, to supervise juniors in training and play, and to fulfil specific roles such as match referees/ umpires/ safeguarding officers etc.
The specific concerns reported by volunteer match/ event officials include:
a. safety fears for women playing contact sport against trans-identifying men
b. personal liability concerns, since in most cases it is not permissible to challenge a trans-identifying player who presents themselves to play
c. ethical concerns, in being expected to pretend all is safe and fair, when it is clearly not
Some of the coaches and match officials who have contacted Fair Play For Women have also mentioned wider safety fears for both female and trans players. Especially in junior matches, they are concerned that in the event of a trans-identified player injuring, or being perceived to injure, a female player, angry parents could harm the trans player, emotionally and perhaps even physically.
Grass roots sport depends on volunteers operating within a framework that provides safety and fairness. Volunteers need to be given clear guidance which they know they may act upon, and rules which can be implemented without fear of negative consequences for themselves, for players or for their club.
Unless this is addressed, all the good work done to increase female participation, and to ensure there are volunteers to enable female and junior participation, will be countered to some extent by rules created to support a small number of males but which impact a large number of females.
Conclusion
The committee should call on NGBs in the UK to follow the SCEG guidance and reinstate female-only sport and recreational opportunities.
September 2022