safe spaces

Every person deserves to have a safe space.

Not now and then or in the middle of a crisis, but whenever it’s needed.

And those safe spaces must be truly safe. Not to the outside observer, but to the people who shelter there.

This week’s High Court ruling that restricts single sex spaces for women to those born with female genitalia, aims to provide that safe space. But by doing so the judges have left the scales – that symbol of a good, fair law – seriously unbalanced, because they made no provision for a safe space for the people they’ve just excluded from women-only spaces.

Non-binary people, intersex people, and trans people have been at the sharp end of violence as often as women. So why did the High Court judges feel that the right to a safe space did not extend to them too?

An argument could be made that the judges have left it to the policymakers to provide such safe spaces. But do we have confidence that this will happen?

To be a fair, balanced society, we need safe spaces for everyone. That includes trans, intersex, and non-binary people, just as it should include men who are victims of domestic violence.

Back at the dawn of time, people banded together because they realised there was safety in numbers. Even now, society’s first and most important task is to keep its members safe. Denying that simple boon to one group, means that in the long term we’ll all suffer for it.

I actually started this as a post about an author who uses her platform and her wealth to hurt people, but I’ve decided that I’d rather give my voice and time to those who use their gifts for others rather than against them.