New Conservative
It is not enough that our Prime Minister cannot stand up for Adult Human Females: now, amid the growing concern for New Zealand women and girls after the violence displayed at Albert Park earlier this year, we must also be vigilant about how our local governments manage our resources and rights.
Last year several other women and I were involved in a meeting with the Christchurch City Council (CCC) where its representatives Nigel Cox (Recreation, Sports & Events Unit Manager), Elizabeth Neazor (lawyer for CCC), and Jenny Jordan (team activities leader) discussed the Council’s recent admission of men into private spaces for women.
Just last week, community members in Invercargill also had concerns about their local council’s swimming pool complex changing room policies. Concerned members met with a council manager and a pool manager and are planning further meetings.
New Conservative thinks it is timely to remind the government about the rights of all people, not just a loud lobby group that has gained incredible influence over governmental decisions in the past. New Conservative will strongly oppose one group being given more rights over others.
At the time of an announcement by CCC claiming to support women being able to participate more in safety and privacy, the women were not informed that any biological man who identifies as female, including men with full male anatomy, would also be participating in the women’s sessions.
While we give credit to the Recreation, Sports & Events Unit Manager Nigel Cox, for their initial good intention of ‘Removing Barriers for Women’ , good intentions don’t always make for good outcomes for all, and we must, when addressing rights, ensure a fair balance to all.
Including biological men as women is a misrepresentation of women and their rights. New Conservative, while supporting all people, will continue to be clear that “women” do not include trans-identified people.
While some activists shoulder their way into policymaking by driving campaigns for norms to be changed, we cannot change biology.
These may be based on cultural or religious requirements, women who may be body conscious or have low self-esteem or who simply want a place to spend time and connect with female friends, family or sports teams.
newsline.ccc.govt.nz/news/story/swim-sessions-removing-barriers-for-women
During our meeting and a presentation from both sides, at no time did CCC voluntarily promote women’s rights even with a lawyer present. It was Helen Houghton, New Conservative’s Co-leader who had to quote the Human rights Act, BORA, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights articles. She stated:
Privacy is an important right in New Zealand. It is protected by domestic legislation, common law, and international law. New Zealand is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which uphold an individual’s right to privacy.
The only response Jenny could give when asked how they would ensure no women would be harmed was, “There is a high level of trust involved”, and that they had input and training from Qtopia, an organisation promoting rainbow rights, about what to do if a man got out of hand. The appalling fact is that no mention was made of any women’s rights organisation but Qtopia was mentioned several times.
“I was under the impression that the swimming day was about women,” said Helen. “They have turned it into a day about rainbow inclusion regardless of how women feel their rights have been disregarded.”
Over 500 women sought help through Women’s Refuge last year and many of these women are those who prefer women-only swim days and women’s gyms. How dare CCC put children and vulnerable women in this position, risking them reliving past trauma?
New Conservative opposes any redefinition of women and draws attention to the victory of the recent court ruling in Scotland where the judge stated, “that the protected characteristic of sex refers to either a male or a female and that provisions in favour of women must, by definition, exclude those who are biologically male.” See full 2022csih4.pdf (scotcourts.gov.uk).
The policies of CCC, while promoting inclusion, fail to show equity, which is also listed on their website. How is this equity for women when CCC shows bias in favour of a minority group who self-identify as female, and go against the wider population of women accessing this swimming day who oppose this extreme and strange view of what a woman is?
Their website also displays one of their principles as ‘being open, transparent and openly democratically accountable’. To date, democratic debate and input have not been offered to the wider population of women using the pool.
Nowhere in the rights for women does it – or should it – say women must accommodate men in women’s spaces. Simply stating that you are a woman does not make it true.
Katrina Biggs, one of the women challenging CCC, requested that “The women-only session needs to be clearly labelled upfront on the pool’s website, and on any other public information, with ‘includes transwomen and people who identify as being women’. This shouldn’t be buried on the website, or not made clear when promoting the so-called women-only sessions. It would also be good to include the information there about the two privately run truly women-only sessions elsewhere as another option for women.” This is one of the requests the women agreed upon in discussion with the above-mentioned CCC representatives.
“We consider this to be an important amendment to how the women-only sessions are advertised and promoted, irrespective of any other measures taken”, said Biggs.
“New Conservative, in agreement with the Scottish courts, believes that sex is significant in law and that women’s concerns about the undermining of the protected characteristic are valid”, said Helen Houghton, Co-leader of New Conservative.
