Scotland’s domestic abuse services should be a lifeline, not a battleground. Yet, with Edinburgh Women’s Aid’s shocking decision to “exclude transgender women and males who have transitioned to non-binary (including those with a GRC)” and Scottish Women’s Aid’s utter silence on the matter, we had to take action.
So, we professionally printed Stonewall’s ‘Supporting Trans Women in Domestic and Sexual Violence Services’, a 32-page report and sent it to every single Women’s Aid service in Scotland. Because if they won’t educate themselves, we’ll make damn sure they can’t ignore the facts.
Read the report here: Stonewall Report
The Reality They Refuse to Face:
- More than 1 in 4 trans people (28%) experience domestic abuse in a single year, for cis women, the figure is 7.5%. Trans women alone face a 16% risk, more than double the rate of cis women. (Office for National Statistics (ONS))
- Galop found that only one LGBT+ domestic abuse service in the UK aimed at the community provides refuge for trans survivors. That’s one, for the whole country.
- Despite making up just 0.5% of the population, 28% of referrals to Galop’s domestic and sexual violence support are from trans people. We’re at an elevated risk and yet the so-called “gender critical” movement is actively trying to shut every door in our faces.
Who’s Really ‘Destroying Women’s Services’?
Let’s be crystal clear: it’s not trans women endangering life-saving domestic abuse support. It’s the likes of Let Women Speak, LGB Alliance, Sex Matters, and other ‘gender-critical’ groups who are pressuring services to cut off trans survivors entirely. Domestic abuse is the crisis, not trans survivors seeking help.
This report wasn’t just pulled from thin air. It was written by Stonewall, in collaboration with single-sex service providers, including direct interviews, the very group that “gender critical” activists claim to speak on behalf of. Those services recognise the crisis, that they are failing trans women and want to address it. Although Edinburgh Women’s Aid, still excludes trans women, regardless of this fact.
LGBTQ+ services have long identified trans people as especially vulnerable in cases of domestic and sexual violence. Yet, instead of addressing this, “gender critical” groups focus on keeping the most at-risk women from getting help at all.
Trans women fleeing abuse deserve safety.
Trans women deserve support.
And we’re making sure Edinburgh Women’s Aid can’t pretend they didn’t know.
