Defending Women's Spaces

Who counts as a woman? This question lies at the heart of many public debates about sex and gender today. While we increasingly recognise the desire of some to eliminate the sex binary in law, a particular boiling point emerges through conflicting demands over women’s spaces. Which should govern access to these – sex or gender identity? Karen Ingala Smith, a veteran campaigner for women’s and girls’ rights, opts for the former. In this trenchant critique of inclusivity politics, she argues that we cannot ignore the wealth of evidence which shows that people of the female sex have a unique set of needs which are often not met by mixed-sex spaces. Drawing on her 30 years of experience in researching and recording men’s violence against women and girls, she outlines how certain spaces, including refuges, benefit from remaining single sex – and what they stand to lose. Written with sensitivity and respect for all concerned, this book nevertheless dismantles the idea that we have reached a post-sex utopia.

Table of Contents:
Dedication Acknowledgements 1. What’s the Problem? Notes 2. Sex Inequality Notes 3. Standing on the Shoulders of Giants Notes 4. What Difference Does it Make? Risk assessment – women’s refuges Risk assessments – community-based services Trauma – and trauma-informed environments Gaslighting – re-learning to trust our own judgement Why is this important when we’re talking about women’s refuges? Asking women what they want Sarah’s story Notes 5. Looking Beyond Prisons Women’s safe accommodation Toilets Hospital wards and healthcare Women’s bodies – only women bleed Feminist conferences and meetings Women’s prizes Women’s sports Girl Guides Sexual objectification and the performance of femininity Lesbians and same-sex attraction What about the men? Notes 6. Sisters are Doing it for Themselves The Fawcett Society Edinburgh Rape Crisis nia – standing alone and standing up for women Grassroots support Women speaking out for women Notes 7. ‘Trans Rights Are Human Rights’ The Gender Recognition Act and reform Transgender lobby groups and the single-sex exceptions Influencing government: through the backdoor silently Research Suicide research Homicide statistics Crime data Notes 8. Despatches from ‘Terf Island’ Notes About nia End User License Agreement Read More

About the Author :
Karen Ingala Smith is Chief Executive of nia, co-creator of the Femicide Census and has run the campaign Counting Dead Women since 2012.

Review :
"This is it. This is the reminder, handbook and call that everyone on the frontline of defending women's rights, voices and single-sex services has been waiting for. Swerving from the personal to the professional, from the historical to the present, and tackling every area of life relevant to women and our lived realities, this book does what Karen has always done: it places women first. In a world so willing to drown out women's bodies, abuses and needs, this is a must-read for anyone wanting to know why attempts to dismiss, dismantle, and 'cancel' the reality of biological sex mean a decimation of the hard-won rights and spaces of women and girls everywhere." Onjali Raúf, author and CEO of Making Herstory "It says something about the alarming political times in which we live that a book like this has to be written. Who would have thought that, 40 years after the start of second wave feminism, we would have to go back to first principles by defending all over again the women only spaces that were created as a prerequisite to achieving women’s autonomy, equality, and freedom - a struggle that remains not only unfinished business but is now under huge multi-directional threat? Karen Ingala Smith makes a clear and powerful case for the right of women to have a room of our own, not as part of some crude competition for the status of ultimate victimhood or to prioritise the human rights of women over others, but as a key site of feminist resistance against patriarchal violence and sex-based oppression. Let’s read, discuss and even agree to disagree, but let’s do it with honesty, decency and compassion, and without descending into the blind alley of regressive identity politics." Pragna Patel, founder and ex-director of Southall Black Sisters "A lucid and insightful defence of women’s sex-based rights and the need for single-sex services for women who have been subjected to male violence and abuse written by someone who has worked in the sector for three decades." Joanna Cherry QC MP "Karen Ingala Smith is a giant in women’s safety: few have done more to fight for women’s lives and voices to count. She is unapologetically women-focused." Jess Phillips MP "Karen is a true feminist, gutsy and determined and forcing us to confront the terrible extent of violence against women and girls carried out every single day in the UK. Her book is accessible, sometimes brutal, but delivered in her own style as a very funny and incredibly likeable women. Direct, punchy and readable, these are things all women should know." Rosie Duffield MP "This authoritative book marshals all the evidence for providing single-sex spaces for women traumatised by male violence—and for excluding transwomen, that is males who identify as women, from such spaces. Ingala Smith is one of Britain’s foremost campaigners against male violence, and as chief executive of one of the few organisations supporting women victims of men’s violence to stand up publicly for female-only spaces, she has played a key role in the recent resurgence of feminist activism in opposition to trans ideology. Her deep knowledge and crisp, clean prose make this both an essential and enjoyable read." Helen Joyce, author of Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality " Defending Women’s Spaces is an important, factual, and therefore appropriately chilling account of how gender identity politics has destroyed women’s safe spaces and challenged our feminist understanding of women’s sex-based rights. Essential reading." Phyllis Chesler, author of Women and Madness and A Politically Incorrect Feminist "Karen Ingala Smith makes a compelling argument in favour of female-only spaces and services. Her practical insights, derived from three decades of experience working for women, provide an important and welcome intervention into the academic debates around gender. This book will also force policy-makers to recognize how sex matters." Michael Biggs, Associate Professor of Sociology and Fellow of St Cross College, University of Oxford “How one reads Defending Women’s Spaces depends on how much one allows oneself to engage with ideas that have suddenly become dangerous … It shouldn’t have had to be written, but it needs to be read.” Victoria Smith, The Critic “An angry, brilliant classic of feminist philosophy, Defending Women’s Spaces not only challenges the continuing marginalisation of women but reveals the masculine appropriation of feminine space that makes it possible.” Antonella Gambotto-Burke, The Australian