WEP tells election candidates they support single-sex spaces. Now we ask them to tell you.

WEP have announced our candidates for this May’s council elections.

We’re excited that our party policies will be promoted on the doorstep and in council chambers.

We know that feminist voters across the UK are looking to WEP to stand for women and girls and, as part of our Women Uniting cross-party campaign #RespectMyX we are asking them the following three questions on your behalf:

1] Do you support the right of women and girls to have single-sex spaces?

(This is currently WEP VAWG policy & the view of the WEP Members' Assembly)

2] Do you support single-sex exceptions as outlined in the Equality Act 2010?

(This position is supported by the WEP Members' Assembly and an internal document with FAQs for 2022 local election candidates

3] Can a woman have a penis?

Why are we asking this?

1] Sex. This is a fundamental issue that underpins our ability to measure, understand and respond to the needs of women and girls.

If you can’t define sex, you can’t challenge sexism.

2] Policy. We love WEP policies! We want to see them influencing local and national government policy across the country, embedding real change to improve the lived experience of women and girls.

We need our candidates to be cognisant of both the equality law and women’s needs in relation to sex-based rights in order to show that WE are a credible party, with credible policies.

3] Consent. To ask for a woman’s vote she deserves, as a minimum, to be told the candidate’s party’s position, in order to make an informed choice. She deserves honesty and not to be ignored.

The great news is that WEP have advised their candidates that they support single sex-exceptions as outlined in the Equality Act in their FAQ document for candidates.

We expect candidates to support - not vilify - voters and fellow members who are concerned that these are at risk and that various campaigning bodies’ obfuscation of the law has led to organisations being fearful of applying them.

We are asking for answers by Saturday, 30th April to give us time to publish their responses as a blog and via our newsletter the following day - You can subscribe using the form at the bottom of any of our web pages.

We will publish all responses, including those that do not reply. We invite you to do the same and to share their responses with us either via twitter DM or by emailing wepdeclaration@gmail.com.

It is our position that these basic rights and protections are compatible with valuing and respecting the rights of trans and non-binary people. WE can, as a party of compassionate feminists, find workable, balanced solutions.

But we cannot work towards this point without a clear position statement, a clear understanding of equality law and principles, and without embedding the results of our Members' Assembly. The FAQs for local candidates document is a great start, but why won’t WEP speak up for upholding women’s sex-based rights publicly?