POLITICS: If You Want to Protect Women, Protect Women-Only Spaces

We just heard from a young distressed mother who was using the women’s bathroom at her local shopping centre when a 50-something-year-old man walked in, despite a unisex toilet being available in the same facility.

The woman quickly left and called the police.

The young mum said the police were sympathetic to her concern, but told her their hands were tied because the man might identify as a woman.

She said police told her that due to “anti-discrimination” laws, they were obligated to treat people according to their “self-identification,” and until the man commits a criminal offence in the bathroom, they can’t get involved.

The mother said the police understood her concern and admitted, on their end, these “woke” policies also mean that if a male criminal requires a strip search, he can claim he identifies as a woman and demand a female officer perform the procedure.

There’s currently a lot of talk in Australia about making women feel safe. But very few of those voicing their concerns seem to care about protecting women’s only spaces. Why is that?

Women deserve their privacy and security, and that’s especially important for women who’ve been abused in the past. 

It doesn’t matter if the man “poses no physical threat.” Harm can be inflicted psychologically. And for many victims of abuse, that’s exactly where much of the suffering takes place.

When an abuse victim finds herself alone with a male in a vulnerable place, such as a bathroom, change room, or public shower, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is more likely to be triggered.

If you want to protect women, if you want women to feel safe in society, then protect women-only spaces. But as long as we have a government that cannot define what a “woman” is, then women-only spaces are “women-only” in name only.