Exploring fairness, safety, and policy in women’s sports, with a focus on sex-based categories and female athletes. Women in Sports Women Space Vancouver stands in support of the sex-based rights of women and girls in sports. Women's sports have been sex-based for decades and must remain so to be fair and just to women and girl athletes. Below is an article by Linda Blade, co-author of UNSPORTING: How Trans Activism and Science Denial are Destroying Sport , offering insight into the monumental struggle for women's sex-based rights in sport and athletics that is currently playing out on the world stage and in Canada. Linda Blade: International body upholds fairness for women in sport. Will Canada follow suit? National Post World Athletics now understands that there is no way to mitigate the enormous advantage that male-born transgender athletes have in women's sports by Linda Blade, Mar 30, 2023 At its spring council meeting in Monaco on March 23, World Athletics (WA), the global governing body of athletics, announced that it would “exclude male-to-female transgender athletes who have been through male puberty from female World Rankings competition.” With this one announcement, WA sent ripples across the sports world. As many federations look to WA for guidance on eligibility policy in sports requiring speed, power and endurance, the ruling is bound to have an influence on other sports. American swimmer Riley Gaines, who was forced to compete against male-born Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA Championships, stated that, “As a woman of sport, I sincerely thank World Athletics and Seb Coe for prioritizing fairness and integrity in sports over so-called ‘inclusion’ … this decision is monumental and gives me hope for other (sports) organizations.” It is significant that Gaines contrasted “fairness and integrity” with “inclusion,” because at the heart of this debate is a question over what principle takes precedence: inclusion or safety? After an extensive review in 2021, the Sports Councils in the United Kingdom concluded that when it comes to males seeking to self-identify as women in gender-segregated sports, it is not possible to balance fairness and safety with inclusion. Including male-born competitors in a women’s event is unfair — and potentially unsafe, in the case of contact sports — to the female athletes involved. The physical manifestations of male physiology, especially post-puberty, offer extraordinary competitive advantages over female characteristics when it comes to performance in sports. After its review, World Athletics now understands that there is currently no known way to mitigate the enormous male advantage. Hormonal suppression doesn’t do it. Nor does reassignment surgery. So a decision had to be made and WA chose to prioritize fairness at the expense of including transgender athletes. The impact on Canadian sports will be significant, particularly for Athletics Canada. Eligibility rules for WA- and World Para Athletics-sanctioned competitions will have to be revised immediately to comply with the new framework. Otherwise, athletes from Canada will not qualify for elite international events. Neither would Canada be cleared to host international competitions without complying with WA rules. In domestic “grassroots” competitions, however, Athletics Canada is leaning towards inclusion. Its current policy states: “In registering for a domestic competition, an athlete may select the category that best reflects their gender identity and sense of self. “Coaches, officials, staff and volunteers must support an athlete’s right to select a competitive category that best matches their gender identity.” There are three problems, however, that arise from the misalignment of domestic and international policies: philosophical, legal and jurisdictional. If we are to accept the WA dichotomy of a choice between fairness and inclusion, Athletics Canada’s prioritization of “inclusion” means that it is choosing to be unfair to women and girls. Due to sex-based advantages, including male-bodied athletes in the female category is not only unfair but is bound to exclude women and girls from their rightful places on the podium, on national rankings and in domestic record books. Presumably, greater inclusivity on the domestic front is an attempt to avoid discrimination on the basis of “gender identity” and “gender expression,” as mandated by Bill C-16. On the other hand, doing so in sport is a form of sex discrimination against women and girls. Both the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Canadian Human Rights Act forbid discrimination against girls and women on the basis of their sex. Confusion and conflict at the provincial level is bound to ensue. What is to become of the Athletics Alberta policy, for example, that enforces sex-based boundaries that align more with international standards set by the WA and less with the Canadian recommendations? Why should a provincial sports organization be forced to choose unfairness for the sake of a certain kind of “inclusion” that, in fact, excludes women and girls from their rightful placings and results? These questions illustrate that even as the majority of people involved in track and field rejoice at the establishment of clarity and fairness for elite female athletes by World Athletics, we recognize that it opens an entirely new debate here at home. Linda Blade is president of Athletics Alberta and co-author (with Barbara Kay) of the book, UNSPORTING: How Trans Activism and Science Denial are Destroying Sport (2021). World governing body bans transgender women athletes, By Lori Ewing, March 23, 2023

Coverage of 2022 British Columbia's municipal elections and issues affecting women’s rights in local governance. Questions for MPs Regarding Sex-based Rights in 2022 These are the questions our group has put together for you to ask your municipal candidates before voting in the 2022 elections. We will be sending them out to all candidates in Vancouver. Please use and distribute as you like. If you are a candidate and would like to answer these questions and /or meet and discuss with us, please email womenspacevyr@gmail.com . Preamble: The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an international bill of rights for women. Article 1 of CEDAW, explains discrimination is understood as "any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex.” The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms sets out equality rights. “Section 15 of the Charter makes it clear that every individual in Canada – regardless of race, religion, national or ethnic origin, colour, sex, age or physical or mental disability – is to be treated with the same respect, dignity and consideration. This means that governments must not discriminate on any of these grounds in its laws or programs.” Questions for Municipal Election Candidates – Council 1. Do you support women’s sex-based rights as outlined in CEDAW and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms? 2. In order to accurately include and represent all citizens in decision-making, it is critical to gather data that reflects material reality such as biological sex and sexual orientation. 3. Women’s (adult human female’s) sex-based representations in the civic processes must be preserved. 4. Political organizations should strive to have equal representation of women (adult human females) in leadership positions and as candidates. Questions for Municipal Election Candidates – Parks 1. In order to protect the dignity and safety of women and girls, washrooms and changerooms in all public venues must offer sex-segregated facilities. 2. Public venues should offer women-only programs such as women-only time in the gyms, girls-only sports, or teen girls-only activities. 3. Further, women have the right to request that some activities remain sex-segregated, when renting Park Board facilities for cultural, social, or sporting events. Questions for Municipal Election Candidates – School Board 1. Girls (female children and youth) have sex-based rights to safety and privacy, guaranteed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom must be supported. 2. What would you do to protect students from being lured into online sexual extortion and online luring for the purposes of prostitution, sex trafficking and pornography? 3. Some parents are concerned about whether materials and beliefs presented in the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity curriculum (SOGI) for students are age and developmentally appropriate. What would you do to protect the rights of parents and educators to bring concerns to the School Board, regarding curriculum, policy and/or practice? 4. Female students are reporting rape culture in BC’s elementary and secondary schools and a lack of protections or safety mechanisms in place at the municipal and school board levels. This is an urgent issue to address. The 2020 Convention of BCCPAC overwhelmingly passed the following resolutions to address peer to peer sexual harassment and sexual assaults in schools. See pages 45 to 49 . 2022.09 Action Against Peer-to-Peer Sexual Misconduct 2022.10 Action to Address Peer-to-Peer Sexual Harassment 2022.11 Action to Address Peer-to-Peer Sexual Assault/Exploitation - Data Collection & Analysis 2022.12 Action to Address Peer-to-Peer Sexual Assault - Response Protocol What will you do to support and implement these recommendations? Printable PDFs Council School Board Park Board

Information and commentary on UN Special Rapporteur Reem Alsalem and her work on violence against women. Reem Alsalem on the definition of woman The definition of woman is common sense and been used for hundreds of years without a concern or question as to its meaning, legally or otherwise. However, in the era of gender ideology and its effort to insert new definitions to our language, adding confusion and uncertainty to the rights of women and children, sadly, such an assertion had to be made by the UN Rapporteur, Reem Alsalem. In fact, she went back into the history of the development of women’s rights at the UN level to find multiple sources to support the biological definition of women. Women worldwide are grateful for her vigilant work. Here’s her statement: April 4, 2024, Position paper on the definition of “woman” in international human rights treaties, in particular the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Overview of the Cass Review and its findings on gender identity services for children and youth. The Cass Report Kamran Abbasi, Editor of the British Medical Journal provides an overview of the Report’s key findings. A key finding after a four year study is “the evidence base for interventions in gender medicine is threadbare, whichever research question you wish to consider — from social transition to hormone treatment.” In her report, Hilary Cass, sums up the major problem with affirmative care; "a too narrow focus on gender dysphoria, neglected other presenting features and failed to provide a holistic model of care." BMJ Review of the Cass Report The Full Cass Report Talk TV UK, April 10 2024 Bombshell Gender Report with NHS GP and CEO of LGB Alliance (UK) Talk TV UK, April 12 2024 with KJK (Kelly Jay Keen) on the Cass Report UK: Implementation of ‘Cass report’ key to protecting girls from serious harm, says UN expert

Local advocacy work in Vancouver supporting women’s rights, public engagement, and policy awareness. Our Letter to the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation Please use any part of this letter for your own use. February 28, 2021 Donnie Rosa, General Manager Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation and the Vancouver Park Board Dear Parks Board: Re: Vancouver Park Board decision to open all washroom and change facilities to “Gender Diverse” people We are writing on behalf of Women’s Space Vancouver. We are an organization whose mission is to protect and enhance the sex-based rights of women, including their right to safe female-only public spaces. We note that such spaces are increasingly threatened and/or altered by governing boards seeking to include those who self identify as the opposite sex, be they transgender, gender fluid, or “gender diverse”. Many attempts at being inclusive have denied women’s participation, autonomy and safety in public life. Threatened spaces include bathrooms and change rooms, transition houses and women’s organizing centres. We are writing you to express our concerns about Vancouver Park Board’s plans to change single-sex (women and men) change rooms and bathrooms into mixed-sex spaces. We are concerned about the following: The process of “creating inclusive toilets and change rooms” in community centres was and is anti-democratic and anti-woman in violation of human rights and your goals for the parks board. (1) According to the Vancouver Parks Board 2014 TGVI report,(2) you conducted a community survey comprising 3 (of 33) community centres and fewer than 150 individual participants. This is hardly an adequate sample of community centre participants to take such a big decision to remove single-sex spaces for women. The Park Board has a legislated responsibility to provide adequate sex-segregated toilets and change rooms. A document produced in June of 2018, https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/goal-8-foster-safety-and-welcome.pdf ,declaring that Park Board facilities would become safer and more inclusive, did not mention women, females or sex as categories requiring extra protections. The designation of washrooms as mixed sex spaces (“gender diverse” or “gender neutral”) contravenes the BC Human Rights code prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex, ignoring women’s distinct needs, including privacy from men. Mixed sex toilets violate the principles of United Nations guidance. Sex segregation is presented as a priority in achieving equality for women, especially in developing countries: Paragraph 2.1.2 of the UNICEF document on applying the UN Sustainable Development Goals (especially SDG 6) to sanitation specifies that separate school toilets should always be provided for girls (UNICEF, 2016). The United Nations Report on The Human Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation states that sex-specific toilets should be provided, especially in schools, where privacy to deal with menstruation is a major factor in determining whether girls continue their education (Albuquerque and Roaf, 2012, pp 35, 153-4). Some Islamic, Hindu, and Orthodox Jewish women are forbidden to share intimate areas with male strangers, especially when menstruating. In the interests of the inclusion of ‘diverse genders’ the City of Vancouver has excluded the needs and human rights of women including those women whose religious beliefs and practices won’t be respected. Women have distinctly different needs than men. Women have well established distinctly different needs than men. Female needs include dealing with menstruation, menopause, pregnancy, breastfeeding and caring for babies, children and elderly female relatives, all of which require the need for privacy from male observation. Separate cubicles do not resolve the need to have private space to deal with these matters. The breadth of need for the above examples do not require just a toilet, or just a change space. They are often dealt with in safe open space in front of other women. Women require more time and space (booths take up more room than urinals) in washrooms and change facilities. We do not have access to toilets in the numbers proportionate to that need. The inevitable line up outside women’s washrooms, when there is little or no line up for the men’s, is evidence of the difference in needs. There are already about one third fewer facilities for women than for men. The answer to this deficit is to provide more room for women in sex-segregated facilities and provide separate facilities for those who do not want to use the facilities designated for their sex, be they “gender diverse” or uncomfortable for other reasons. The answer is not to sacrifice women’s needs and protected spaces to address the needs of other groups. Welcoming “gender diverse” people into women’s bathrooms and change facilities leaves women vulnerable to all males, whether they self-id as women or not. Women in distress can find privacy and safety in the women’s washroom. Women sometimes use the washroom to get away from predatory men or men pursuing a woman they wish to control. If a woman fleeing a man is able to go into the women’s washroom and be guaranteed to be away from men, she can have a moment’s reprieve, access a phone unmonitored, and ask for assistance from other women. If anyone can declare they identify as a woman to qualify as “gender diverse”, then any man can do so and enter women’s washrooms without being questioned. This safe space will no longer be available if men can access all facilities for women. According to many accounts on social media, the safe space of a women-only washroom is already no longer an option for women, as a result of this “gender diverse” inclusion. This not only puts women at risk, but keeps women on high alert. They can no longer feel at ease in the women’s facilities. They will not know the motivation of a male-bodied person entering the washroom or change room. Regardless of motive, many women have had experiences that justify their caution around men, especially in intimate spaces. This is the antithesis of protecting the dignity and safety of women. It puts them at risk of harassment and violence. In order to adhere to the goals of the 2014 Park Board report, significantly retrofitted public washrooms will cost millions. Such retrofitting will still leave women vulnerable and without privacy. It has already been shown in other jurisdictions that when males are invited into female facilities, the traditional knee-to-shoulder barriers are not sufficient for privacy, safety and dignity. They are an invitation to voyeurism, illicit filming and sexual harassment. Whether these stalls have floor to ceiling walls and doors with secure locks, the reality that they open to a shared, mixed-sex washing up area continues to violate women’s needs, as noted above. Women’s bodies and bodily functions, and those of children and aging female parents, are exposed in this area. Women and girls will not have dignified space for privacy or safety. Again, the answer is not to compromise safe, private space for women and girls in order to meet the needs of other populations. As noted above, separate facilities for those who are not comfortable using the facilities designated for their sex, or even for further privacy of any special need, is a far better answer and where Park Board money should be channeled. In conclusion, we urge the Vancouver Park Board to respectfully consider the safety and privacy of all those who use the parks and recreation facilities in Vancouver. Special attention must be paid to including women, who have historically been disadvantaged and under-served by our recreation and parks facilities. In 2014, the Park Board promised discrete space for men, women and transgender or ‘gender diverse’ people, and have yet to adequately provide anything more than signage which results in compromising, or at worst, dismissing and eliminating, the needs and rights of women and girls. Though this may have been an unintended consequence, we must demand that this sexist and dangerous situation be corrected. We ask that you carry out a more democratic and inclusive consultation by consulting with women’s organizations about any changes to washroom and change facilities. Thank you for your attention. A core value of the Park Board is the desire to create welcoming parks and recreation services for all. That’s why we are committed to improving the safety and inclusiveness of our spaces through programming, education, activities, events, and enhanced park design. April 17, 2014 Vancouver Parks Board, “trans and Gender Variant Working Group”

Analysis of prostitution and pornography and their impact on women, exploitation, and society. Prostitution and Pornography The issue: Prostitution and Pornography exploits women and children Prostitution is a part of the extremely profitable commercial sex trade that exploits primarily vulnerable women and girls. Prostitution is inseparable from sex trafficking, which involves coercion and control of the trafficked victims. Under Canada’s current prostitution legislation, the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA), purchasing sexual services and pimping are illegal. However, the Act is unevenly enforced and in Vancouver and British Columbia, almost completely ignored by law enforcement. Pornography is another form of sexual exploitation that is steeped in racism, dehumanization and the commodification of, and violence against, women. The porn industry is one of the largest and most profitable in the world. It includes selling images of rape and abuse of women and children for men to watch for their own sexual pleasure. Why does the exploitation of women and children matter? Most feminists echo PCEPA in understanding the sale and purchase of women’s bodies for sexual purposes to be inherently violent acts. Prostitution is maintained by the existence of class and racial inequalities as well as male sense of entitlement to women’s bodies. The promotion and normalization of prostitution and pornography undermine women’s equality and fail to protect the human rights of women and girls by subjecting them to emotional, physical, and spiritual violence from the men who purchase sex and those who traffic them. The women and girls exploited in prostitution in Canada are disproportionately Indigenous, racialized, poor and/or survivors of childhood sexual abuse or other trauma. These factors, plus the sexualization of young women and girls within a culture of pornography, increase the risks of women and girls being lured and trapped within the exploitative sex trade. What can we do about the exploitation of women and children? Advocate for the retention and enforcement of Canada’s prostitution law, PCEPA, by charging sex buyers, pimps and traffickers. This will help reduce the demand that drives the industry. Advocate for significant investments in support and recovery services to help women exit prostitution, not just for harm reduction, which frequently ends up perpetuating prostitution. Significantly increase education for young people about the harms of prostitution and pornography. Teach them how to recognize the signs of luring and grooming tactics used by traffickers and pimps and how to protect themselves from being ensnared into the trap. Increase efforts to help children recognize when they are being sexually abused and how to reach out for help. Resources Our letter to the BC Federation of Labour Vancouver Collective Against Sexual Exploitation Prostitution Research & Education End Demand, End Exploitation Domestic sex trafficking - a survivor's perspective | Karly Church | TEDxOshawaED Culture Reframed: resources for parents on porn The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls report on Prostitution

Response to positions from the BC Federation of Labour on gender identity and women’s rights. Our letter to the BC Federation of Labour Please use any part of this letter for your own use. February 11, 2021 Dear Member of the Women & Gender Rights Standing Committee, BC Federation of Labour Feminist organizations in BC are concerned to learn that the BC Federation of Labour has adopted a resolution calling for the recognition of prostitution as work, for the decriminalization of prostitution, and for protections for this work under the law. This resolution is contrary to the 2014 law called for by feminist organizations across Canada. Bill C-36, the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, decriminalizes the sale of sex in most instances. It is the first law in Canada to govern prostitution in a manner consistent with Equality Rights, particularly those of women, as guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As noted in the Preamble to the law it is “important to protect human dignity and the equality of all Canadians by discouraging prostitution, which has disproportionate impact on women and children”(1) and “it is important to denounce and prohibit the purchase of sexual services because it creates a demand for prostitution”. Versions of this law, often referred as the Nordic Model, have been called for by feminists around the world and have been adopted by progressive pro-women’s equality and pro-labour governments in Sweden, Norway, France, and Ireland. It is notable to us that these facts are absent in your Policy on Sex Work. As a result, we wonder whose criminalization you truly intend to repeal. While feminists are glad that women are no longer being criminalized for men’s pimping and purchasing of sexual access to women, we do not agree that these men should be equally decriminalized through repeal of our current law. Such a move would amount to de facto legalization of prostitution in Canada, a situation that in other countries has led to the proliferation of the prostitution industry, of the number of women who are prostituted, and of violence against women in prostitution. Many progressives are quick to claim that “sex work is work”. However, feminists, particularly those who have exited prostitution and who have worked on the frontlines in women’s anti-violence and legal advocacy organizations, know that prostitution is not a job. Most of the people in prostitution worldwide (approximately 40 million according to SPACE International) are women and girls. Women enter prostitution at young ages with approximately 50% entering prostitution before the age of majority in their countries, including in Canada. Most women who enter prostitution do so under conditions of poverty, incest, other forms of sexual assault, and racism. Women of colour and Indigenous women are vastly over-represented in prostitution. One third of the victims of serial killer Robert Pickton were Indigenous women. Vancouver Rape Relief found that among their callers in prostitution Indigenous women made up 27% and Black women made 14%. This is 9 times and 12 times more than their representation in the female population of Greater Vancouver respectively.(2) Once in prostitution, it is extremely difficult to leave, given few exiting services or financial supports available. Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter report that the most common requests from the women in prostitution who call them are for safe shelter and exiting support.(3) Canada’s depleted social safety net and increasingly precarious employment options, contexts that are now compounded by the global COVID-19 pandemic, are only making this problem worse for women, particularly for working class, poor, racialized, and Indigenous women. Women want to leave prostitution because it is an industry in which sexual harassment and assault are what pimps sell and johns purchase. A 2003 9-country study of violence in prostitution found that violence is the norm in prostitution globally, including in countries where it has been legalized.(4) A 2013 UN Study found that men who buy sex are also likely to commit rape. The study found that the correlation between prostitution and other forms of violence against women is that both entail men enacting their dominance over women.(5) Women do not make a living wage or experience the benefits of skill development and seniority in prostitution. Women in regimes where prostitution has been legalized, including in brothels, experience degraded work conditions and diminished autonomy over their own bodies as pimps and brothel owners compete for the business of johns, who seek to pay lower rates for more invasive and violent acts. Neither has indoor prostitution led to greater safety for women, as was noted by The Women’s Equality and Liberty Coalition in their intervention in the appeal of the acquittal of Bradley Barton for the murder of Cindy Gladue at the Supreme Court of Canada.(6) Finally, as women in prostitution age, become ill, or suffer addiction, they are pushed to the margins where they are subjected to yet more violence, more degraded conditions, and even deeper poverty. Unionization cannot fix these problems, because they are inherent in prostitution itself: when men buy and sell sexual access to women, they do so to enact their power over women. Our current law recognizes and responds to this inequality in the prostitution transaction. The more we tolerate such inequality, such as by promoting prostitution legalization, the more likely we are to see it manifest in our society. This has already been made apparent through news stories of Pornhub and its Canadian parent company, MindGeek. These companies post non-consensual and violent imagery of women for purchase. In these situations, women have little to no recourse to stop such exploitation. Legalizing prostitution will only deepen this problem. We therefore find it inappropriate that prostitution be defended as work by a union organization whose purpose is to defend the rights of workers. Protective and positive labour conditions, especially for women, include freedom from sexual harassment and assault, strong health and safety protections, above poverty wages, recognition of seniority and skill, possibility for advancement, and freedom to refuse dangerous, unequal, and unfair work. Prostitution does not and cannot meet any of these conditions. We would like to meet with you to discuss a truly progressive position on prostitution among labour unions. The law that we have in Canada currently is protective of the wellbeing of women in prostitution because it prevents prostituted women (and men and trans-identified people) from being arrested and charged for crimes committed against them. The primary problem with this law is that it not enforced. Labour unions have an important role in bringing forward internal and public discussions on the failures of enforcement, of labour conditions generally, and of our social safety net. These failures embolden men and entrap women contrary to the wellbeing and equality of all women in Canada. Unions should never stand up for the idea that sexual harassment and sexual assault are normal work conditions for women. To do so is to abrogate your role in securing worker’s rights and, especially, in protecting the rights of women. For further information and discussion on this topic, we hope you will contact us to arrange a meeting between now and March 15, 2021. Additional information can be found through the following resources: The Sex Trade – NFB film by Eve Lamont (2015) Prostitution is not a job and never will be. Here’s why. - Dana Levy Nordic Model Now Consent, Coercion, and Culpability: Is Prostitution Stigmatized Work or an Exploitive and Violent Practice Rooted in Sex, Race, and Class Inequality? Rachel Moran and Melissa Farley PhD. SPACE International (Organization of women with lived experience of the sex trade ) Regardless of whether we hear from you, we intend to pursue this matter, using public channels if necessary. Sincerely, Aboriginal Women’s Action Network Asian Women for Equality EVE (Formerly Exploited Voices now Educating) Vancouver Lesbian Collective Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter Women’s Space Vancouver https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/41-2/bill/C-36/royal-assent https://www.rapereliefshelter.bc.ca/photos/vancouver-rape-relief-and- women%E2%80%99s-shelter-data-prostitution https://www.rapereliefshelter.bc.ca/photos/vancouver-rape-relief-and-women%E2%80%99s-shelter-data-prostitution Farley, M., et al. (2003). “Prostitution and Trafficking in Nine Countries: An Update on Violence and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder”. Journal of Trauma Practice Vol. 2(3/4), pp. 33-74 Fulu, E., Warner, X., Miedema, S., Jewkes, R., Roselli, T. and Lang, J. (2013). Why Do SomeMen Use Violence Against Women and How Can We Prevent It? Quantitative Findings from the United Nations Multi-Country Study on Men and Violence in Asia and the Pacific. Bangkok: UNDP, UNFPA, Un Women and UNV . https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/17800/index.do

Defending freedom of expression in discussions about sex-based rights, policy, and public debate. Freedom of Expression The Issue: Enforced Language The women’s movement for equal rights has had its share of pushback over the decades. But perhaps in no recent time has the need to express ourselves and maintain our rights, in our own words, been under more threat than in this early part of the 21st century. There is a clash of rights between women’s sex-based rights and gender identity rights (both ‘protected classes’ under the Canadian Charter of Rights). Gender identity activists—backed by some Canadian academics and politicians—have created a narrative that states that any expressed concerns about our female sex-based rights and needs for things like single sex spaces for women and girls (change rooms, prisons, and spaces on sports teams), constitutes a form of ‘hate’ speech. This constant ‘shape shifting’ around the word ‘woman’, and now, the questioning of even the material reality between female and sex classes, is moving women’s hard-won rights backwards. Why does enforced language matter? Language is power, and powerful. People who wish to undo the rights women have fought for over a century, understand this and are trying to re-define—or trying to have no objective, scientific recognized definition at all--around the meaning of the word ‘woman.’ Section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms establishes our right to freedom of expression, on issues like gender and sex. The Supreme Court of Canada has interpreted this right in a very broad fashion. What false narratives do: Go against our Freedom of Expression rights; Attempt to shut down our ability to debate openly and express counter arguments to new ideologies, which we would base on critical thought, material reality, reason and science; At its base, attempts to strip us of our agency as Canadian women and citizens What can we do about enforced language? Women’s Space Vancouver has written a letter to the BCCDC and multiple politicians in response to the BCCDC Language Guide . We can all refuse to use the new language. We can refuse to accept it, and let people know why. We can boycott products sold by companies that use the new language and let them know why. Resources Women are human Pronouns are Rohypnol

Analysis of Canada’s 2021 Census and issues related to sex, gender, and data accuracy. Census 2021 The issue: Changes to the 2021 Census Those who fill in the 2021 Canadian Census, and by law, we must do so, will notice some troubling changes. The changes to the 2021 Census are, according to the Government website, to be in keeping with Bill C 16. ”In 2017, Bill C16 was passed in Parliament, adding gender expression and identity as protected grounds under the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code”. The Government website goes on to explain, that when “funds were allocated to create the Centre for Gender Diversity and inclusion Statistics, “this was direction to Stats Canada to begin to gather statistics regarding gender identity. However, in the Stats Can Technical Report that gives background to the 2021 changes, Stats Canada was, from 2016 on, engaged in a proactive strategy to serve gender identity activists to fill “publicly identified” gaps. An online consultation was conducted to gather input from Canadians on the Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Statistics Hub . Also, invitations were sent out to specific LGBTQ groups soliciting suggestions for changes to the next Census. In 2018, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat released a Summary Report, Modernizing the Government of Canada’s Sex and Gender Information Practices . There are some troubling descriptions and expectations as to how the Canadian Government will define and treat the categories of sex and gender that lead to conflating the two categories and/or privileging gender. Self-identification of gender leads to the erasure on Government documents of the category of biological sex . Why do the changes to the 2021 Census matter? The resulting changes in the next Census provide for an identification of female or male sex and an additional question on gender identity. A Citizen can identify with a gender different than the ’Sex Assigned at Birth”. Adding “gender identity” to the Census has not been publicly examined or debated in Canada. We could find no specific concerns raised by the Canadian academic community such as those raised by UK academics (the UK and Scottish 2021 Censuses will add a third option for gender identity). In an open letter published in the Sunday Times in December the UK academics said, “As social statisticians, quantitative social scientists and epidemiologists, we are concerned about the proposed online guidance to accompany the sex question which advises respondents that they may respond in terms of their self-identified gender. The guidelines “will effectively transform the sex question into one about gender identity.” The fear was that these changes would “undermine data reliability on a key demographic variable and affect the ability to measure sex-based discrimination and inequality. “The signators to the letter emphasized that “Sex and gender identity are distinct and should not be conflated.” The fears of the UK academics hold true for the upcoming Canadian Census. Feminists must become aware of the intentions of the Government to fulfill the goals of the gender identity activists to privilege gender over biological sex. Women, as a category, are being eliminated from political platforms, policy development, government action, and the justice system. The Census 2021 questions on gender identity deepen this dilemma.

Analysis and response to positions from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives on women’s issues. Our Letter to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) Please use any part of this letter for your own use. October 17, 2021 Dear Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, We are writing this open letter on behalf of Women’s Space Vancouver to CCPA Board Directors, Steering Committee Members and senior staff members regarding a political position recently taken by the CCPA. In June of this year, 2021, the CCPA signed onto a document called, “ An Affirmation of Feminist Principles .” Individuals and groups, by signing, indicate support for a list of “key feminist principles and their alignment with issues pertaining to sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics.” As several members of our group are decades long sex-based rights advocates and are also contributors to the CCPA, we are very concerned about the position the CCPA has taken to “align with issues” that leave out the issues of discrimination against women based on their sex. By signing the document, you have taken a position in support of changing Canadian laws to legalize prostitution, that drastic experimental and physical interventions on the bodies of children and teens seeking help with gender dysphoria is not to be questioned and, even more disturbing, that the CCPA agrees that “sex, gender and sexuality are social constructs like race, class and caste.” Does the CCPA actually agree that biological sex is a social construct? Does the CCPA believe that race is a social construct? Does the CCPA believe that homosexuality is a social construct? Is the CCPA not convinced by massive global UN data that women are an oppressed class, based on their immutable sex? Has the CCPA forgotten that patriarchy around the world oppresses, terrorizes and murders women and girls based on their biological sex, a reality they cannot identify out of or deconstruct? The CCPA is a highly respected organization that has gained the trust of many Canadians for the high quality of research done, for the depth of coverage you provide on issues of social and economic importance to Canadians. The Institute describes itself as “an independent, non-partisan research institute concerned with issues of social, economic and environmental justice.” However, by signing this document, which is clearly a statement of gender credibility. For this reason, we ask that the CCPA withdraw its endorsement of the Affirmation of Feminist Principles. We suggest that the CCPA do some research into the money supporting the gender ideology movement worldwide and the money several of these “philanthropists” stand to make through their pharmaceutical interests. Ask who benefits when children are convinced they need to become medical patients for life in order to be their “true selves.” Homophobia runs rampant when children are told they “must be affirmed as the opposite sex” because they do not “identify” with the stereotypes ascribed to their birth sex. In order for the CCPA to live up to its reputation for independence, we challenge you to provide space in the Monitor for the expression of alternate points of view on the issues of trans rights in relation to sex-based rights, laws regarding prostitution, and the consequences of irreversible medical interventions promoted for children who may identify with the opposite sex or with stereotypes associated with the opposite sex. Finally, the CCPA has signed a statement that includes this: “We recognize that there is no common human experience, including in the experience of gender.” Women’s Space Vancouver regards this as a dystopian, neoliberal fallacy that undermines the solidarity of shared experience in the workplace, home and communities, among women and men, across national boundaries and among the oppressed. We look forward to your response so that we may share it with our members. Sincerely, Women’s Space Vancouver These letters have been written by allies in support of our actions. They have allowed us to share them here. Please feel free to use the content of these letters for your own submissions. CCPA re: An Affirmation of Feminist Principles To Whom it may concern, I am cancelling my monthly donation to the CCPA. As a radical feminist, I no longer believe that the CCPA is committed to working toward equality for all women. When the CCPA signed the document called, “An Affirmation of Feminist Principles,” you signed on to a statement that seeks to change Canadian laws to legalize prostitution, that supports experimental interventions to sterilize children and teens and you agree that sex, gender and sexuality are social constructs. You have become advocates for and proponents of Gender Identity Ideology, that conflates sex and gender, privileges gender over sex, ignores human biology, says we are born with an internal gender, and that makes the sex based category, women, meaningless, thereby undermining women’s protected sex based rights as stated in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The CCPA would have shown an intent to address the category women, an oppressed class, if you had instead signed onto the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 18 December 1979. In the recent BCSOLUTIONS Shanon Daub writes to celebrate 25 years of research for hope and change. What is missing from the list of struggles she says the CCPA is committed to addressing, is any mention of sexism, misogyny or the Patriarchy. I am sorry to withdraw financial support from the CCPA. As a long time supporter, and, who has made a portion of my estate willed to the CCPA, I will instead donate to organizations that I know support women’s sex based rights. I find untenable that the CCPA has signed on to an Ideology that undermines these rights. CCPA re: An Affirmation of Feminist Principles Dear Shannon Daub and the BC office, I was a dedicated supporter of the CCPA. I worked with teachers in Burnaby (as union President) in 1996-98 to become members of the CCPA just as the BC office was getting off the ground. I am a monthly supporter and attended many fundraisers over the years. I have included a substantial donation to you in my will. But my disappointment with your endorsation of the document, “Affirmation of Feminist Principles” has brought me to a new understanding of how far you have strayed from being a research organization. Your silence regarding the letter from Women's Space Vancouver was truly disappointing. Surely I thought, if they are going to sign a letter that denies the existence of sex based rights, they will have a rationale or some research that seeks to justify this action. Nothing. I understand it is a strategic response in a world that now punishes anyone who questions gender ideology. Powerful forces have aligned to make it impossible for organizations like the CCPA to raise questions or examine actual research that might identify problems with gender identity ideology or prostitution as a normalized form of work. You must conform or be attacked as transphobic or uncaring of women’s safety. Sometimes our work and our positions take courage. I am truly sorry that you have chosen the least line of resistance. I have been here before. The political left had huge problems when women asserted their rights to address their oppression and not just that of the working class as a whole. Once again, women are being told that someone else’s rights, needs and sensibilities are more important than ours and we must adjust to a new reality—sex is just a social construct—gender is the more modern approach. The worst part is that my “research” organization has now told me that too. So I choose to assert my sex based rights because understanding my own oppression in a capitalist world is how I understand racism, homophobia, colonization and class oppression. I can’t be a progressive feminist on the political left and accept your under researched position that panders to a fragile hold on reality and barely masquerades as analysis. You do good work in many areas. But in this instance, you cross a line—a core value—that means I can no longer support you. Please stop my monthly payments and membership. I will amend my will soon.

Exploring self-identification policies and their implications for women’s spaces, law, and public policy. Response to the BC Government change in law allowing anyone, by self-declaration, to change their sex designation on all BC identification On Friday January 14, 2022, the BC NDP Government announced a change in legislation that now allows any person to self-identify as the opposite sex by simply filling out a form to have their sex changed on all BC legal identification documents: BC Services Card Driver’s License BCID Card Birth Certificate Women’s Space Vancouver condemns this action as another nail in the coffin of women’s human rights. This change is driven by gender identity ideology with its ill-defined and subjective concepts of gender, in contrast to science and fact. This will further impede the lives of women and girls and make a mockery of our material reality, endangering services, programs, and all spaces designated for women only. Women and girls are human females with immutable characteristics, a protected class under provincial, federal, and international human rights law. The discrimination and oppression we face is based on the reality of our biology, not because we ‘think’ or ‘feel’ we are women. This move shows contempt for women and the public, as the Provincial NDP government has, once again, made major changes to law and policy by focusing on the demands of a small interest group without consulting all of those affected. We understand they have made no assessment on the impact of these legal changes, including no Gender Based Analysis (GBA) intended to safeguard equality rights, which would be critical to share with the public. The NDP government calls this support for the ability to be true to a person’s gender. However, the document conflates gender with sex. The Vital Statistics form reads, “my gender designation captured as "Sex” …”male” or ”female“ or “X” . Sex is a fact – observable and immutable. Gender has no one definition and has been described as a ‘feeling’, as socially constructed stereotypes for roles, relationships, behaviours, and other traits that society ascribes to women and men. “We are not a costume or a feeling”, said Kim Zander, Chair for WSV. “Our human sex-based rights took a long time to be recognized, and we continue to face sexism, systemic discrimination, and horrific misogyny in BC, Canada, and around the world, on the basis of our biology. Women and girls are being sentenced to further vulnerability at every level of our lives by allowing men to declare they are women and therefore access washrooms and showers, counselling and programs, sports, prisons, medical care, and other services, and facilities that are meant to address and protect our dignity and our rights.” The BC government said, “This announcement will make it easier for people to have their true genders reflected on their B.C. identification documents.” This raises a number of concerns, but most importantly, why does the government think it is important for individuals to express their personality traits on legal identification, in place of a factual piece of data often used for statistics. Zander added, “It is possible to respect gender identity while also acknowledging that all trans/non-binary people were born male or female. Allowing a subjective expression of personality to replace a factual and protected characteristic is unnecessary and harmful to women and girls.” The Minister of Citizen’s Services said, “By removing the medical requirement for a change of gender designation, this is part of our continued commitment to making this government, its services and the province increasingly accessible for people of all genders.” This move does not support the acknowledgement of gender diverse people, but rather hides them under the incorrect or no sex category. This will compromise the integrity of important statistics upon which government and organizations base the development of programs and services for specific populations, including those who consider themselves “gender diverse”. The government did not provide information about services that are not currently available to gender diverse individuals or how this change to identification will address accessibility to services. “We believe the intent is to allow access to female-only services and spaces. This gender identity ideology driven change will only put human rights in conflict and women and girls at risk”, said Zander. The consequences of allowing men to self-declare they are women on legal documents is huge. Women and girls are already experiencing a violation of our human rights as government allows and facilitates access to our spaces to men who self-identify as women. Men will be able to enter spaces, services, and programs meant only for women, such as public and school washrooms and showers, transition houses, counselling services, training programs, equity programs, women’s committees and organizations, including those created to heal from and combat male violence, and those organizations, programs and services meant for Lesbian women. Women will have no space without male interference and influence. Male criminals will be allowed, without question, to be placed in women’s prisons, threatening the well-being of women prisoners. Already, with the few males claiming to be women that the government has allowed into women’s prisons, women prisoners have reported abusive behaviour, assault, rape, a diminishing of their mental well-being, and a fear of participation in prison counseling programs. Men will now be included as women in statistics and data collection, skewing the real-life experiences of women. They will be able to speak for women in surveys, focus groups, government working groups, and in every area data is gathered to understand and address women’s experiences, needs, and goals. Their crimes will be counted as women’s crimes. Their violence and rape will be counted as acts committed by women. Men claiming to be women, and their advocates, have already harassed and bullied women who have spoken up for women’s and girls’ human rights, calling them intolerant and hateful, transphobic, and fascists. They have targeted women who will not conform to the language of gender identity ideology but instead insist on scientific material reality. They have already tried to skew sexual orientation by saying that gay men and lesbian women are “same-gender” attracted, when sexual orientation is based on biology, not what someone thinks or feels. They have harassed Lesbians who will not accept men who claim to be women as intimate partners, calling them transphobic. They attempt to compel speech/language that is confusing, lacks fact, and distorts reality. And they demand this ideology be taught and enacted in our schools. Women speaking up for our human rights have been threatened with and experienced job loss, censorship, and violence. Men self-declaring they are women will misrepresent women’s experiences and the rights women are entitled to. Those claiming to be women, and their advocates, have put a lot of energy into doing as much harm as possible to women who won’t ‘behave’. Men who self-identify as female have been and will continue demanding that the medical and healthcare system conform to language that includes their male bodies as women. They demand that women as biological beings be referred to by body parts, that women-only bodily functions be renamed, and that the system assert that men who claim to be women can also carry out these functions. They have and will continue to demand they be medically treated as women and deny the distinct differences in male and female bodies. Healthcare for women will be dehumanizing, distorted and confused, particularly in the area of education about our unique bodies. There is no such thing as a ”girl penis”. Allowing men to self-identify as women will create huge difficulties for law enforcement when they need to describe suspects, to forewarn the public of dangerous criminals, or to keep accurate statistics. Already we see Stats Can and policing records conflating sex and gender, and therefore crimes committed by men are attributed to women. Men self-identifying as women will destroy women’s sports. The very basis of competition in sports is based on physical attributes. It is well documented that male bodies have distinct differences and advantages over female bodies. Sports will no longer be fair, safe, and inclusive for women. It has and will ruin opportunities for hardworking women athletes to find acknowledgement of their achievements. Already, several female sports records have been broken by men claiming to be a woman. Lastly, when government is complicit in the conflation of gender and sex, it has and will have an impact on our schools and education of children, resulting in the denial of basic biology. Children are becoming more confused about material reality. This creates an opening for harmful ideas that children who do not conform to the gender-based stereotypes expected from their sex need social and medical interventions to correct the ‘wrong sex’. The B.C. NDP government has been fully captured by this ideology, showing disregard for basic science, and the rights of parents. It boasts of the number of mastectomies done on youth and young adults for gender reassignment surgery (often called “chest masculinization”). Generations of children will pay for our government allowing society to be steeped in a political ideology. We demand the NDP government commit to the following: Uphold women’s sex-based human rights and Canada’s commitment to the standards the United Nations have developed through CEDAW. The collection and registry of objective data and statistics based on science and clear and meaningful language. Stop using the tenets and language of gender identity ideology. Remove provisions for self-declared identification using selected gender stereotypes. Removal of the word ‘gender’ as a synonym for ‘sex’ and retrospectively update all official documents that conflate the two terms. The government can always collect additional data rather than replacing data with inaccurate terms. Democratic processes that involve the public and affected populations in the development of law and policy. This is a key element to ensuring an engaged, respectful, and respected civil society and that no stakeholder groups are disenfranchised in the law and policy making process. Prevent a conflict of human rights. Women and girls and those who are gender diverse have human rights that are equally important. No one group’s human right need be sacrificed for another. Women won’t sit idly by while our rights are destroyed by a government that has submitted to ‘woke’ politics. These letter has been written by an ally in support of our actions. They have allowed us to share them here. Please feel free to use the content of these letters for your own submissions. Self-declared gender on all BC legal identification documents Dear Adam Walker, Jinny Sims, Ellis Ross, and Nathan Cullen, I wish you all good health and courage in the debates this term. I am writing to you because of the January 14th announcement by the NDP government that anyone can now self-declare that they are the opposite sex (or no sex) on all government identification, including a birth certificate. The change can be made by simply filling out a form. I ask that you consider this proposition very carefully before proceeding. This is a shocking move and done with no analysis of the consequences. I am very concerned about the consequences of this action and lack of public consultation. I oppose this move. Why was such an important issue kept quiet. This is a serious misuse of power that will have harmful consequences to women. You may ask why I’m writing to you in particular. Adam Walker, you are my MLA, and I want you to represent this area well. Jinny Sims, I’ve worked with you for many years, we’ve shared concerns and worked hard on issues relating to the Status of Women. Ellis Ross, you would be my MLA if I were still living in Kitimat and I know that you share concerns about women’s issues, along with Nathan Cullen, as we all know the shattered lives of women that have occurred in the north and along Highway 16. We must do better. I thank you all for reading my concerns and the attached letter. This is a universal issue. Women’s rights must still be attended to. If you have daughters, sisters, mothers, granddaughters and nieces, think about how safe they’d feel if this law passes. Without any notice to or consultation with the people of BC, the NDP government went ahead with this action that will drastically alter the lives of women and girls. If anyone can self-identify as a woman (“female”), any man will be able to enter any and all women’s spaces, from changerooms and showers, transition houses for those who’ve experienced male violence, counselling programs, to sports, women’s prisons, and organizations meant for women to discuss our experiences and defend our rights. Youth can make this change with permission from parents – boys will have access to all spaces meant for girls. Women’s human rights will become meaningless. I would direct you to Women’s Space Vancouver, an organization that is presently working on this issue and will provide more information as you need to reconsider the steps you have started. For a first step, the government must initiate public hearings, consultations and listen to the women of British Columbia. Please read and consider the following statement which was published by Women’s Space Vancouver in response to the Jan 14th announcement by the NDP government before rash decisions are made by the government. Download our brochure on Gender Self-Declaration

Discussion on gender nonconforming children, safeguarding, and evidence-based approaches to care. Gender Nonconforming Children Transgender Trend Stephanie Davies-Arai's UK based organization Transgender Trend is an excellent source of information for families of gender nonconforming children. She has graciously allowed us to share her information here: School resources for parents and teachers Resources for parents of trans-identified children Detransition Useful links Terminology Social Transition Puberty blockers Detrans Canada Another useful site for support and information is Detrans Canada: "Detrans Canada is an independent and non-partisan advocacy organization that supports detransitioning, desisting, and re-identifying Canadians. We seek to fill the gap in research, resources, and platforms available to those detransitioning, desisting, and re-identifying. We believe those who are in the process of questioning, ending or reversing a gender identify or gender transition process should be offered support, access to high-quality research, access to informed medical professionals, and the ability to advocate for themselves." You can also find them on X (formerly Twitter) @DetransCanada and on Instagram at detranscanada. Abigail Shrier and Posie Parker There is a very good interview between Posie Parker (Kellie-Jay Keen) founder of Let Women Speak (formerly Standing for Women) and Abigail Shrier author of Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing our Daughters wherein they have a deep conversation about the dangers girls are in from institutional trans ideology. It is available on YouTube. Erica Anderson Erica Anderson is a trans psychologist and former president of the United States Professional Association for Transgender Health and former board member of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). Anderson is speaking out against the affirmation model of treating gender non-conforming children. The health establishment is failing young adults who question their gender When it comes to trans youth, we're in danger of losing our way A Trans Pioneer Explains Her Resignation from the US Professional Association for Transgender Health Top Trans Doctors Blow the Whistle on ‘Sloppy’ Care More Information The Swedish U-Turn on Gender Transitioning for Children Reconsidering Informed Consent for Trans-Identified Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults Sweden’s Karolinska Ends All Use of Puberty Blockers and Cross-Sex Hormones for Minors Outside of Clinical Studies