ABOUT WRN
Who Are We?
We are a feminist group. We are a network of women from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland with one main focus: to defend the sex-based rights of women.
We are not aligned to any political party - we are women of all political persuasions and none. Our position is "Respect My Sex" - we support candidates who understand the rights and needs of women, regardless of party.
WRN has around 60 geographical groups, with more than 1200 members. Our members are of all ages, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability, employment status and socio-economic backgrounds. Some of us are parents and/or carers. We have differing religious beliefs. But, we are all committed to free speech and to putting the sex based needs of women and girls first.
And we are all women - adult human females.
Our groups offer a safe space to talk freely and compassionately. We provide support to one another and campaign for evidence-based solutions to stop the erasure of our sex-based rights.
Our values
RESPECT – Members engage with others respectfully. We discuss, propose and oppose ideas. We do not attack individuals. Disagreement does not equal hate. We do not condone, endorse, or encourage any abusive or discriminatory behaviour towards any group or individual.
SOLIDARITY – We work collaboratively, standing together, sharing information, and building connections with like-minded groups and individuals, curating community and resilience, to achieve positive outcomes.
EVIDENCE – Facts matter. Our approach is to consider the evidence to make informed decision and communicate in a factual and honest way. Legislation, policy and guidance must also be based on evidence.
CLARITY OF MEANING – We communicate ideas, and engage in debate, based on clear and accurate definitions. We uphold the legal and scientific definition of sex and sexual orientation.
REALITY OF BIOLOGY – We recognise that sex is binary, female and male, and that sex is determined at conception, observed at birth (or in utero) and recorded. We reject the co-opting of rare medical Differences in Sexual Development (DSDs) in order to cast doubt on the binary nature of sex.
INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM - We support women’s reproductive rights and bodily autonomy. We stand with lesbians in rejecting pressure to accept as sexual partners, or admit into lesbian spaces, males who identify or define themselves as
women.
NON-PARTISAN – We are apolitical. We engage with organisations and publications with diverse political views. However, we do not, and will not, forge links with or accept funding from any organisation that does not share our values or whose aims we consider to be fundamentally hostile to the rights of women.
RELIGION – We favour no one religion over another, and welcome members of all faiths and none.
Women's Rights Network - England, Wales, Scotland & NI
Our Aims
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To retain the hard-won rights of women
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To prevent the introduction of self-identification in the Gender Recognition Act
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To stop the medicalisation of children who are encouraged to believe that it is possible to change sex.
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To reinstate the words ‘sex’ and ‘woman/women’ into common language and law.
Join Us!
In recent months we have begun to make real progress, but our fight is not over. Why not come and join us because we are stronger together. New groups are still forming and new members are always welcome.
Simply complete the Join WRN form.
Dont forget, you can also join our mailing list.
In the words of Millicent Fawcett
"Courage calls to courage everywhere, and its voice cannot be denied"
Why do people call you the "Shopper Groups"?
The Women's Rights Network grew out of every day women connecting on social media, discussing and sharing concerns on sex-based rights issues locally to them.
They decided to meet in person, to make their presence known and in doing so faced online harassment when discussing meeting.
So, instead, they talked about going to meet to go "shopping". Other women around the UK noted that they wish they knew women local to them to "go shopping with" and the shopping groups were born.
From those initial groups, a countrywide network of women have joined forces to actively and respectfully discuss our sex-based rights. We offer support to one another. We make our concerns known and push for workable solutions.
We shrug off stereotypes and turn name calling into humour.
We know what is REALLY important.
Follow @WomensRightsNet on Twitter to find out more or join our mailing list.
PS: Bring your own shopping bag!
