Women and girls charities are 'flouting Supreme Court ruling' by offering services to males
Charities for women and girls have been found to have ignored the landmark Supreme Court ruling and are still working with males
Charities serving women and girls have been accused of ignoring a landmark Supreme Court ruling by keeping their services open to males.
A new report has found organisations across the UK that should be female-only are providing services for transgender women.
It is the one year anniversary of a key legal ruling brought by Scottish campaign group For Women Scotland.
The Supreme Court judgment set out that “woman” and “man” are defined by sex and not gender identity.
Yet a study by policy analysts Murray Blackburn Mackenzie (MBM) outlines some women’s charities have lost sight of their charitable objects.
The report identifies a range of charities set up specifically to benefit women that have extended their reach to include men who identify as women.
In many cases, charities have failed to reverse their policies following last year’s Supreme Court ruling.
MBM co-director Lisa Mackenzie said the group hopes the report will be a “catalyst for change” in the sector.”
“The women’s charity sector faces a harsh environment of limited resources and growing need,” Ms Mackenzie said.
“Trustees and managers who are strongly committed to protecting the limited and valuable charitable legacy for women have faced pressure from external lobby groups and sometimes other trustees and staff within their organisations to disregard their charitable objects.
“We hope our report will be a catalyst for change in the sector, and a resource for those in it who face an uphill battle in making a small but essential group of charities refocus on their duty to benefit women.”
A specially commissioned legal opinion, prepared by Karon Monaghan KC, outlines that where a charity’s purpose is restricted to benefitting women, they are not permitted to extend those charitable benefits to men.
This is still true when the charity has done so in the past.
The report shows some women’s charities have worked with activist groups focused on trans rights.
Some charities misleadingly refer to women or girls in their title when they also provide services to men who identify as women, it adds.
Of the charities reviewed by MBM, few appear to have amended their policies in response to the Supreme Court ruling.
Some charities with women-only beneficiaries have stated that they will continue to offer services to men who identify as women.
In some cases, funders have stipulated that women and girls’ charities must extend their benefits to trans women as a condition of funding.
Ms Mackenzie said: “The discrimination and disadvantage experienced by women and girls is persistent and endemic.
“Despite significant legislative and public policy gains, stubborn disadvantages reach into all areas of life and, in many cases, persist and accumulate over a lifetime.
“Charities established to address this disadvantage already struggle to secure adequate resources.
“Yet, in recent years, some women’s charities have extended their activities to include men who identify as women.
“Regardless of the clarity provided by the Supreme Court’s ruling, we found little evidence that women’s charities that had expanded their services in this way have reversed their policies.”
The report looks at 19 UK-based charities, chosen to represent a range of charitable activities and delivery models.
These include service provision, charitable associations, advocacy or campaigning charities, educational charities and award or prize-giving charities.
MBM has also found that regulators have been slow to respond to last April’s ruling, saying they must wait for updated guidance from government or the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
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