Rejecting the false narrative that frames trans people as a threat to women

A dangerous narrative that frames trans people as a threat to women has solidified its grip on public discourse in recent months. It’s a narrative built on fear, not facts, and it’s having devastating effects on the trans community.

The Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this year, which defined “woman” by biological sex for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010, has left trans people more exposed to prejudice and discrimination than ever.

In the aftermath, we are seeing first-hand how anti-trans rhetoric, dressed up as feminism, fuels harm and division. How the far right weaponise fear to sow fear and dodge the systemic issues that actually endanger women. And how media outlets profit from moral panic while ignoring the epidemic of male violence that continues to take women’s lives.

Good Law Project is supporting Not In Our Name (NION) Women to fight back against this harmful narrative. NION Women are a collective of cisgender women refusing to let their identity be weaponised to justify discrimination against trans people, and they’re calling on women everywhere to join them.

Because when the language of ‘women’s safety’ is used to justify excluding trans people, it isn’t about safety at all. It’s about scapegoating a tiny, marginalised group who are already disproportionately harmed.

Trans people, who make up less than 1% of the UK population, are over four times more likely than cis people to be victims of violent crime , including rape and assault. Research indicates that 62–73% of trans people have experienced harassment or violence because of their gender identity. And in cases of domestic abuse against trans people, 81% of perpetrators are men.

A similar pattern of male-perpetrated violence is evident in the data for cisgender women. In the UK, a woman is killed by a man every three days. Domestic abuse is considered one of the biggest threats to women’s safety, with one in four women having experienced it. From 2020 to 2022, the suspect in 241 out of 249 domestic female homicide cases was male. Overall, men account for 98% of adults prosecuted for sexual offenses.

The statistics are clear. Set the manufactured fear of trans people against this reality, and the truth becomes unavoidable – the danger to women does not come from less than 1% of the population, but from the pervasive issue of male violence.

It’s time for women to speak out. To say “not in our name” to the discrimination and exclusion of trans people, and to demand an end to the use of women’s safety as a cover for hate.

• Add your name to the NION Women petition.