The Women's Declaration International (WDI), formerly the Women's Human Rights Campaign (WHRC), is an international advocacy organisation founded in the United Kingdom. WDI has published a Declaration on Women's Sex-Based Rights, [1] and has developed model legislation to restrict transgender rights that has been used in state legislatures in the United States. [2] The organisation has been described as gender-critical, [3] anti-trans, [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] anti-LGBTQ+, [4] [10] anti-gender, [11] [12] trans-exclusionary, [13] trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF), [14] [15] and as a hate group, [16] and in several countries the group has been linked to the far right. [17] [18] [19] It has been noted by Southern Poverty Law Center as being part of an "anti-LGBTQ+ pseudoscience network". [4] [10]
The Women's Human Rights Campaign (WHRC) was founded by Sheila Jeffreys and Heather Brunskell-Evans. [7] In February 2018, Brunskell-Evans had been removed from her role as Women's Equality Party spokesperson and resigned from the party after the party opened an investigation into comments she made to the BBC about the parents of transgender children. [20] In March 2018, Jeffreys attended a "Transgenderism and the War on Women" event at the Parliament of the United Kingdom sponsored by Conservative MP David Davies, and during her presentation, said: "when men claim to be women ... and parasitically occupy the bodies of the oppressed, they speak for the oppressed. They become to be recognised as the oppressed. There's no space for women's liberation". [21]
Mauro Cabral Grinspan, Ilana Eloit, David Paternotte and Mieke Verloo described WDI as "one of the key players of anti-trans feminism at a global scale". [5]
In March 2019, the WHRC launched the Declaration on Women's Sex-Based Rights in New York, [1] co-authored by Maureen O'Hara, Jeffreys and Brunskell-Evans. [22] In 2019, the group appeared to "primarily exist as the organisation behind the declaration", according to Pink News . [23]
In advance of a planned event at the Scottish Parliament hosted by MSP Jenny Marra and MSP Joan McAlpine in November 2019, the group described the declaration as intended to be "a statement on the importance of keeping the current sex based definition of woman". [1] The document refers to trans women as "men who claim a female gender identity". [1] [23] The Association for Women's Rights in Development has said the declaration co-opts the "Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) framework to claim that 'sex' is an immutable category and 'gender' is not a legitimate concept", [24] and the "'sex-based' rhetoric misuses concepts of sex and gender to push a deeply discriminatory agenda". [13] Legal scholar and human rights expert Sandra Duffy described the declaration's concept of "sex-based rights" as "a fiction with the pretense of legality". [25]
The advocacy groups LGB Alliance and Women's Liberation Front (WoLF) signed the declaration in 2019, [23] while the Equality Network and the Scottish Trans Alliance criticised it. [1] Emma Ritch, executive director of the feminist policy organisation Engender said that "this so-called ‘declaration on women’s sex-based rights’ [...] doesn’t include women’s rights to housing, pay equality, access to justice, social security, education, or political representation. When it talks about violence against women, freedom of expression, and children's rights it does so entirely through the warped lens of antipathy towards trans people" [23] and that "trans rights and women's rights are consistent with one another, and we call on Holyrood to continue to shape legislation and scrutinise policy in order to uphold the rights of all women, including trans women, in Scotland". [1] Scottish Women's Aid said "We are immensely saddened that the Scottish Parliament, an institution we value and care so much about, would be used by those seeking to stigmatise and discriminate against trans women". [26]
The group says it is "female-only" and the Declaration on Women's Sex-Based Rights was created to "lobby nations to maintain language protecting women and girls on the basis of sex rather than gender or gender identity". [22] In December 2021, the group changed its name to Women's Declaration International. [27]
In 2021, the group called for the repeal of the Gender Recognition Act in a submission to the Women and Equalities Select Committee for an inquiry chaired by Tory MP Caroline Nokes. [7]
For International Women's Day in 2021, WHRC Norway (now WDI Norway) proposed the slogans "No to heresy in primary schools, girls and women do not have a penis" and "Only women are women," that were accused of being hateful and transphobic by the established feminist organizations. [28] Christine Marie Jentoft, an advisor on gender diversity at the Norwegian Organisation for Sexual and Gender Diversity, described WHRC as a hate group that works to deprive transgender people of autonomy and rights. [16] Gender studies professor Elisabeth L. Engebretsen described the group's Norwegian branch as anti-gender and part of a "complex threat to democracy" that "represent[s] a reactionary populist backlash to basic human rights principles," and that seeks to "demonize the very basics of trans existence". [11]
Kathleen Stock, who resigned from her position at the University of Sussex in 2021 following accusations of transphobia, [29] had been criticised by student protesters for signing WHRC's declaration. [30] [31] WHRC subsequently released a joint statement together with the Women's Liberation Front (WoLF) in support of Stock. [32]
In June 2022 several groups opposing trans rights, including WDI USA, Alliance Defending Freedom, Family Research Council and Women's Liberation Front, organized a rally called "Our Bodies, Our Sports" in Washington D.C. The American Independent noted that some of the organizers, but not WDI, are designated as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and Lindsay Schubiner, an expert on extremism, said: "There has been a clear increase in organizing to promote anti-LGBTQ and specifically anti-trans bigotry and I think that we can see that trend line moving up. This event in particular looks like an attempt to legitimize and elevate and spread their transphobia and especially to build political power around specific anti-trans policy goals". The article also noted that WDI had tweeted in support of abortion rights. [33]
In September 2023, WDI USA organized their annual convention in San Francisco, drawing protests from local feminists and LGBT+ rights activists. [6] [34] [35] [36]
In its 2023 report titled Combating Anti-LGBTQ+ Pseudoscience, Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) described WDI as part of "the contemporary anti-LGBTQ+ pseudoscience network" and said WDI's "Declaration on Women's Sex-Based Rights" promotes "anti-trans ideology" and has "become a model for anti-trans legislation." [4] [10] SPLC further said WDI engages in narrative manipulation. [10] The largest U.S. feminist organization, the National Organization for Women (NOW), described WDI and WoLF as "anti-trans bigots disguised as feminists" and said WDI has a focus on "sex fundamentalism and hostility towards trans people." [37] [6] The Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) has described WHRC as a trojan horse in human rights spaces and argued that WHRC "engages in sensationalism and fear-mongering" to "undermine and water down the progressions of human rights standards that protect the rights of trans and gender non-conforming persons," [13] and that WDI promotes "extreme anti-trans misinformation". [24] AWID and the Trans Safety Network have both described WHRC/WDI as "an extreme anti-trans group". [24] [38] Equity Forward discussed WHRC in the context of the Trump administration's "anti-human rights multilateralism" and described it as anti-trans. [9] The Canadian Anti-Hate Network described WHRC as a "TERF project". [15] Fascism scholar Simon Strick writes that WDI’s "extremist" positions have "isolated the WDI from wider international feminism and brought them into strategic coalitions with conservative and extreme right organizations". [18] [19] According to Vice the group has promoted conspiracy theories and false information. [8] An article in the journal Forskningspolitikk (Research Policy) noted that "WDI portrays itself as a women's rights organization, but spends almost all of its time persecuting trans women," including by "trolling trans people in social media". [39] A 2023 report by Transgender Europe described WDI as one of the main anti-gender actors targeting trans people in Germany, and stated that WDI's tactics include fostering open hostility towards individual trans people, encouraging conspiracy thinking, building connections with the far right and promoting "shitstorms" against selected targets. [12] An article in Der Freitag argued that WDI openly promotes far-right views when it furthers the TERF cause. [17] In Norway, WDI's leader and deputy leader Christina Eline Ellingsen and Tonje Gjevjon have appeared on the Youtube channel of the far-right anti-immigrant website Document.no. [40] Cathrine Linn Kristiansen, the chair of the main Norwegian radical feminist group, the Women's Front (Kvinnefronten), described WDI, on behalf of herself and her group, as "transphobes, racists and sexists" and said that "we strongly condemn them". [41] WDI Norway's first deputy leader Anne Kalvig said both the country's government-appointed Extremism Commission and the Norwegian Humanist Association had portrayed WDI as far-right and extremist. [42]
In 2022, WDI USA president Kara Dansky, who has served as a WoLF board member [43] and co-chair, [44] issued a statement of support on behalf of WDI USA for the Women's Bill of Rights developed by the Republican Study Committee group of Republican Party members in the United States House of Representatives, stating it "would enshrine into law many of the principles outlined in the global Declaration on Women's Sex-Based Rights, which we work to advance throughout U.S. law". [45]
By 2023, model legislation to restrict rights for transgender people had been distributed by Women's Declaration International USA to state legislatures in the United States. [2] Proposed legislation with language similar to the WDI model legislation was introduced in some state legislatures that seek to develop laws to restrict access to gender-affirming care for youth under age 18. [2]
Transphobia consists of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger towards people who do not conform to social gender roles. Transphobia is a type of prejudice and discrimination, similar to racism, sexism, or ableism, and it is closely associated with homophobia. Transgender people of color can experience many different forms of discrimination simultaneously.
The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) is an international radical feminist non-governmental organization opposing human trafficking, prostitution, and other forms of commercial sex. It has been described as a "neo-abolitionist lobby group" that represents a "carceral feminist anti-trafficking practice," and has been criticized for essentializing women and promoting a controversial and "ideologically charged" definition of trafficking. It is strongly opposed to the perspectives of the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women and the sex workers rights movement. It has been linked to anti-trans groups and its Latin American regional branch is a signatory of the manifesto of Women's Declaration International.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Norway have the same legal rights as non-LGBT people. In 1981, Norway became one of the first countries in the world to enact an anti-discrimination law explicitly including sexual orientation. Same-sex marriage, adoption, and assisted insemination treatments for lesbian couples have been legal since 2009. In 2016, Norway became the fourth country in Europe to pass a law allowing the change of legal sex for transgender people based on self-determination. On 1 January 2024, conversion therapy became legally banned within Norway.
Feminist views on transgender topics vary widely.
The Women's Liberation Front (WoLF) is an American self-described radical feminist advocacy organization that opposes transgender rights and related legislation. It has engaged in litigation on transgender topics, working against the Obama administration's Title IX directives which defined sex discrimination to include gender identity. WoLF describes itself as radical feminist, and according to its mission statement, it wishes to "abolish regressive gender roles and the epidemic of male violence using legal arguments, policy advocacy, and public education". It has been described by news sources including The Washington Post, The Advocate and NBC as feminist, but progressive and feminist organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)and the National Organization for Women (NOW) challenge this characterization, with NOW describing WoLF alongside Women's Declaration International as "anti-trans bigots disguised as feminists."
The Swedish Women's Lobby is a Swedish gender-critical political advocacy organization, and an umbrella organization for various Swedish organizations. It was founded in 1997, originally named Samverkansforum för Kvinnor i Sverige (SAMS). It has 40 member organizations and is a member of the European Women's Lobby. Its president is Susannah Sjöberg.
TERF is an acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminist. First recorded in 2008, the term TERF was originally used to distinguish transgender-inclusive feminists from a group of radical feminists and social conservatives who reject the position that trans women are women, including trans women in women's spaces, and transgender rights legislation. Trans-inclusive feminists assert that these ideas and positions are transphobic and discriminatory towards transgender people. The use of the term TERF has since broadened to include reference to people with trans-exclusionary views who are not necessarily involved with radical feminism.
Kajsa Ekis Ekman is a Swedish gender-critical author, freelance journalist and debater. Her works have sparked debate in subjects regarding capitalism, prostitution and surrogacy, taking a left-wing and radical feminist perspective. Her writing and debate on gender, transgender issues and feminism have sparked controversy and accusations of being trans-exclusionary. She participated in the Swedish launch of Women's Declaration International. Until 2022 she wrote for Dagens ETC, but she was let go amid controversy in 2022. Later in 2022 she was hired as editor of Arbetaren, but let go shortly afterwards, which generated extensive debate. She received the Lenin Award in 2020.
The Equality Act was a bill in the United States Congress, that, if passed, would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, education, federally funded programs, credit, and jury service. The Supreme Court's June 2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County protects gay and transgender people in matters of employment, but not in other respects. The Bostock ruling also covered the Altitude Express and Harris Funeral Homes cases.
Transgender rights in the United Kingdom have varied significantly over time, with transgender Britons facing certain social challenges not experienced by non-trans individuals. These include various laws and public attitudes in regards to identity documents, as well as anti-discrimination measures used by or pertaining to transgender people, in the areas of employment, education, housing and social services, amongst others.
Magdalen Berns was a British YouTuber, boxer, and software developer. Berns, a lesbian radical feminist, produced a series of YouTube vlogs in the late 2010s focusing on topics such as women's rights and gender identity. Berns's vlogs attracted attention from transgender rights activists, some of whom characterized her as being transphobic and a TERF. Berns co-founded the non-profit organisation For Women Scotland, which campaigns against possible changes to the Gender Recognition Act 2004, among other things.
The anti-gender movement is an international movement that opposes what it refers to as "gender ideology", "gender theory" or "genderism", terms which cover a variety of issues and do not have a coherent definition. Members of the anti-gender movement primarily include those of the right-wing and far-right political spectrum, such as right-wing populists, social conservatives, and Christian fundamentalists. It has been linked to a shift away from liberal democracy and towards right-wing populism. Anti-gender rhetoric has seen increasing circulation in trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF) discourse since 2016. Different members of the anti-gender movement variously oppose some LGBT rights, some reproductive rights, government gender policies, gender equality, gender mainstreaming, and gender studies academic departments. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has linked the anti-gender movement to the risk of "extreme violence" against the LGBT+ community.
Gender self-identification is the concept that a person's legal sex or gender is determined by their gender identity without any medical requirements, such as via statutory declaration.
The LGB Alliance is a British nonprofit advocacy group founded in 2019, in opposition to the policies of LGBT rights charity Stonewall on transgender issues. Its founders are Bev Jackson, Kate Harris, Allison Bailey, Malcolm Clark and Ann Sinnott. The organisation has said that lesbians are facing "extinction" because of the "disproportionate" focus on transgender identities in schools.
Woman's Place UK (WPUK) is a British political advocacy group founded in 2017. The group is opposed to gender self-identification for transgender people in the UK, and has advocated restricting access to women-only spaces on the basis of "sex, not gender".
Gender-critical feminism, also known as trans-exclusionary radical feminism or TERFism, is an ideology or movement that opposes what it refers to as "gender ideology": the concept of gender identity and transgender rights, especially gender self-identification. Gender-critical feminists believe that sex is biological and immutable, while believing gender, including both gender identity and gender roles, to be inherently oppressive. They reject the concept of transgender identities. These views have been described as transphobic by feminist and scholarly critics, and are opposed by many feminist and LGBT rights organizations.
The Society For Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) is a non-profit organization that is known for its opposition to gender-affirming care for transgender youth and for engaging in political lobbying. The group routinely cites the unproven concept of rapid-onset gender dysphoria and has falsely claimed that conversion therapy techniques are only practiced on the basis of sexual orientation rather than gender identity. SEGM is often cited in anti-transgender legislation and court cases, sometimes filing court briefs. It is not recognized as a scientific organization by the international medical community.
FiLiA is a British gender-critical feminist charity founded in 2015 that describes itself as part of the women's liberation movement. FiLiA organizes a conference, held first in 2008 as Feminism in London, in different cities, which it now describes as the "largest annual grassroots feminist conference in Europe". FiLiA is gender-critical, and states that it supports "sex-based rights" and opposes what they refer to as "gender ideology." It has lobbied against gender recognition reform and considers gender self-identification a threat to "women's protected rights." Critics describe it as anti-transgender and transphobic. FiLiA is critical of the sex industry and as a result, it considers pornography harmful. It has campaigned on behalf of women internationally, and as a result, it has held its campaigns in countries such as Iran, Cyprus, and Kenya. It has been described as one of "the most important 'gender critical' groups" alongside Women's Declaration International. FiLiA has faced protests and attempted cancellations, notably in 2023 when the venue Platform attempted to cancel the conference due to alleged transphobia.
Kvinneaktivistene is a Norwegian gender-critical/trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF) group that opposes transgender rights, and that has been described as transphobic. Members have opined that they consider trans women to be "men" and "pervos" and have complained that they have faced backlash for expressing such views. The group is closely associated with the Norwegian chapter of Women's Declaration International (WDI). It has had a presentation cancelled by an Oslo events venue, Kulturhuset, due to its anti-trans views; Kulturhuset cited the group's bylaws that explicitly exclude transgender women and said the group is transphobic. It is considered part of the broader anti-gender movement in Norway.
The Women's Group Ottar is a Norwegian radical feminist women's organization founded in 1991. It has its historical roots in the Norwegian Marxist-Leninist movement of the 1970s and has been described as the most radical women's organization and "a final offshoot of 70s feminism." Ottar began as an offshoot of the Women's Front, and later, it splintered again, resulting in the creation of two new groups with explicitly trans-exclusionary profiles, Women's Declaration International (WDI) and Kvinneaktivistene. The Women's Front described WDI as "transphobes." While mainly focused on combating pornography and prostitution from a radical feminist perspective, Ottar has also faced criticism from the Red Party, the Red Youth, LGBT+ rights groups and others for promoting or tolerating anti-trans and anti-Jewish views within its ranks, and some prominent members such as Kari Jaquesson have expressed support for trans-exclusionary radical feminism (TERF) and declared themselves to be TERFs. Ottar members have also engaged in doxxing and harassment of trans women by publishing pre-transition photos of them. Ottar has promoted several anti-gender beliefs, including opposition to the word "cisgender" and opposition to trans people's access to public restrooms in accordance with their gender identity. Ottar has accused the Norwegian Organisation for Sexual and Gender Diversity of working for prostitution as "a nice way to recruit young men into the gay community and has claimed that the Norwegian Humanist Association and Amnesty International are linked to an alleged "prostitution industry." Ottar's claims have been criticized by LGBT+ rights advocates as conspiracy theories and by the Norwegian Humanist Association as unworthy of serious attention. In 2024 Ottar faced strong criticism when the chair of its largest chapter referred to a Jewish woman as a "Zionist pig."
Among the most important 'gender critical' groups [...] are [...] the Women's Declaration International (WDI), formerly known as the Women's Human Rights Campaign (WHRC), Fair Play for Women (FPFW), Women's Place UK, Filia, Re-sisters, Sex Matters
Concerningly, the anti-trans Women's Human Rights Campaign (WHRC) held a parallel event that was permitted to be posted to CSW65's civil society forum. This event featured numerous anti-trans "feminist" speakers and propagated WHRC's exclusionary "Declaration on Women's Sex-Based Rights."
Table 5.2: Networked Groups by Typology [...] Narrative Manipulation: [...] Women's Declaration International
Jentoft mener WHRC er en hatgruppe som jobber for å frata transpersoner autonomi og rettigheter.[Jentoft believes the WHRC is a hate group that works to deprive transgender people of autonomy and rights.]
