Women's Human Rights Campaign

Women's Human Rights Campaign (WHRC) is an advocacy group founded in the United Kingdom. It has been described as anti-trans,[1][2][3] trans-exclusionary,[4][5] and trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF).[6]


History and views

The group was founded by Sheila Jeffreys and Heather Brunskell-Evans in 2019.[1] Brunskell-Evans had been sacked from the Women's Equality Party the previous year as a result of her views on transgender people,[7] while Jeffreys has said trans women are "parasitic."[8][9][10]

According to Vice the group has promoted conspiracy theories and false information.[2] 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."[4] The Scottish Women's Aid described WHRC as a group "seeking to stigmatise and discriminate against trans women."[11] The Trans Safety Network described WHRC as "an extreme anti-trans group" and "a key point of convergence" between transphobic feminism and the far right.[10]

Declaration on "sex-based rights"

The group is known for publishing a declaration on "sex-based rights" co-authored by Jeffreys and Brunskell-Evans and has called for the "elimination" of "transgenderism" and for the UK to scrap the Gender Recognition Act.[1][12] Emma Ritch, executive director of the feminist policy organisation Engender, said that "when [the declaration] 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."[8] She further said that WHRC appears to see "rights as a rhetorical device with which to stigmatise minority groups."[13] The declaration was described by the Equality Network as anti-trans, by the Scottish Trans Alliance as focused "almost entirely on denying the reality of trans people's lives" and as transphobic.[13] The Association for Women's Rights in Development said that the "'sex-based' rhetoric misuses concepts of sex and gender to push a deeply discriminatory agenda."[4] 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."[14] Kathleen Stock, who resigned from her position at the University of Sussex following accusations of transphobia, had been criticised by student protesters for signing WHRC's declaration.[15] WHRC subsequently released a joint statement together with the Women's Liberation Front in support of Stock.[16]

See also

References
  1. "MPs urged by anti-trans 'women's rights' group to eliminate 'transgenderism' and scrap Gender Recognition Act". Pink News. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  2. "The Anti-Trans 'Gender-Critical' Movement Is Overflowing with Bullshit". Vice. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  3. "Atheist Richard Dawkins swings to anti-trans right in grasp at broader intellectual relevance". Religion Dispatches. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  4. "Trojan horses in human rights spaces: anti-rights discourses, tactics and their convergences with trans-exclusionary feminists". Association for Women's Rights in Development. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  5. "The Unholy Alliance of Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists and the Right Wing". Jezebel. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  6. "'Rights aren't a competition': Anti-trans hate is on the rise in Canada, activists and advocates say". CTV News. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  7. "Women's Equality Party sacks official who called parents of transgender kids 'abusive'". Pink News. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  8. "MSPs invite academic who brands trans women 'parasites' to speak on Transgender Day of Remembrance". Pink News. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  9. "Anti-trans activists hit out at 'parasitic' trans people at event in Parliament". Pink News. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  10. Moore, Mallory. "Transphobic Feminism and Far Right Activism Rapidly Converging". Trans Safety Network. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  11. "Feminists warn of blurred lines 'between free speech and hate speech' on trans people ahead of parliament event". Source. Common Weal. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  12. "Labour shadow equalities minister Taiwo Owatemi systematically condemns LGB Alliance". Pink News. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  13. "Women's rights declaration sparks accusations of discrimination". The Scotsman. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  14. Duffy, Sandra. "An International Human Rights Law Analysis of the WHRC Declaration". Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  15. "Kathleen Stock resigns: Trans students accuse Sussex Uni of depicting them as 'powerful political operators'". iNews. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  16. "Universities union backs trans rights in row over anti-trans professor Kathleen Stock". Pink News. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
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