Mike Marsland / WireImage/Getty

Six months ago, I was abruptly removed as independent Co-chair of the Mayor of Londonâs Violence Against Women and Girls Board, an unpaid role Iâd held since 2013. For more than a year, I had been trying to get an assurance from senior figures at City Hall that womenâs refuges would not lose funding if they excluded men.
This might seem an uncontroversial policy for organisations providing accommodation for female victims of domestic violence â but that was far from the case. Research by Dr Shonagh Dillon, CEO of an organisation that supports victims of domestic violence in Hampshire, found that service providers âunderstood that they risked their funding if they spoke up in objection to trans women in female-only spacesâ.
And so in the summer of 2020, I wrote to Sophie Linden, Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, warning her about the chilling effect of Sadiq Khanâs mantra that âtrans women are womenâ on organisations that might seek funding from City Hall. I didnât get the clear assurance I sought so in October that year I wrote to the Mayor, asking whether he believes that single-sex spaces are lawful in certain circumstances and necessary for the protection of the most vulnerable women in London.
It should have been an easy question to answer: back in 2009, when he was a Labour MP, Khan voted for what became the 2010 Equality Act and its list of exemptions, one of which allows organisations to provide single-sex spaces. In my letter to the Mayor, I said we are entitled to know if he has changed his mind about a piece of legislation thatâs vital for the protection of women. That was sixteen months ago â and he still hasnât replied.
My sacking as Co-chair of the VAWG Board came the following summer. I was aghast at the insensitive way it was done â by email, on a Friday afternoon when the entire country was stunned by a horrific mass shooting in Plymouth the previous evening. The killings were carried out by a young man who appeared to be an incel, a phenomenon I had written about in Home Grown, my book on the links between misogyny, domestic violence and terrorism. I was in the middle of doing broadcast interviews, explaining the background to the harrowing events in Plymouth, when the email arrived from City Hall. Within days, more than 4,000 women had signed a petition calling for my reinstatement. Theyâre still waiting for the Mayorâs response.
At the time, Linden dealt with press inquiries, insisting that my removal was due to a restructure and had nothing to do with my views on transgenderism or any other issue. In a phone call, she apologised for the way I was informed and asked me to stay on as an âadvisorâ to the board. I couldnât see any point, given that I would no longer have any influence over the agenda. All the while, violence against women was reaching epidemic levels, with the number of rape reports in London climbing to a ten-year high in March 2021.
In that very month, Sarah Everard had been abducted, raped and murdered by a serving Met Officer. On the morning after Cressida Dick revealed the news that Ms Everardâs remains had been found, I received a phone call from Linden. Somewhat to my astonishment, she said she was calling to ask me what Khan should say about it. A few weeks later, I got another call from Linden, asking what the Mayor should say about VAWG during his campaign for re-election.
None of this inspired confidence in the regime at City Hall, to put it mildly. I kept on raising important issues, however, such as the Metâs egregious failure to identify sexual predators within its own ranks. I insisted that senior officers should attend the next meeting of the VAWG Board to tell us how they intended to deal with violence committed by police officers, and I called for a public inquiry into misogyny at the Met. I got no support from City Hall; suffice it to say that I wasnât surprised by the series of scandals that culminated in Dickâs sudden resignation earlier this month.
After my phone conversation with Linden in August last year, amid a blizzard of emails cancelling all my scheduled meetings at City Hall, I agreed to write to her formally. I reiterated my view that the board needs a Co-chair who isnât a salaried employee of the Mayor, and asked for a âyesâ or ânoâ answer to my question about Khanâs support (or otherwise) for the crucial exemption in the Equality Act. In a pattern Iâve come to expect from the current administration at City Hall, Linden did not write back for five months.
In a letter that finally arrived earlier this month, Linden says that she and Khan âhave always been clear that the commissioning of all of our services will be based on the best interests of the userâ. But if we are talking about a womenâs refuge, who is the user? Many of us would say it means natal women, but here is Lindenâs answer: âIt is vital that anyone seeking refuge is able to access the services they need and that women, including trans women, fleeing abuse from men should be able to access spaces where they feel safeâ. (My italics.) If the Mayor intends to fund separate refuge spaces for people who are transgender, no one would argue with that. But does he?
I also doubt whether service providers will feel reassured by the legalistic language in Lindenâs letter, which stands on its head to avoid offering an unequivocal endorsement of single-sex spaces: âOur approach in commissioning services does not penalise any agency that is working within the boundaries of the law⌠No agency we fund is required to act any differently from the requirements of equalities legislation.â
So what happens if the board of a refuge has a different interpretation of the Equality Act from the Mayor? If the CEO refuses access to a male-bodied trans woman, prompting howls of outrage from activists, will her organisation be treated by City Hall as âworking within the boundaries of the lawâ, or accused of transphobia? Would any service provider funded by the Mayor dare take the risk?
There is one significant revelation in Lindenâs letter. In a major climb-down, City Hall now accepts that the VAWG Board needs an independent Co-chair. Itâs back to the status quo, in other words â but Iâm not going to be reinstated. Despite offering fulsome thanks for âthe vital work you have done for women and girls through your role on the VAWG Boardâ, City Hall has been having discussions about appointing an âexternal expertâ. Members of the board will be ânotifiedâ when an appointment is made.
Forgive me thinking there is a bitter taste to all this. Khan went on supporting Cressida Dick, calling into question his judgement, long after I pointed out that the Metâs culture was mired in misogyny. Now Dick has gone and the countryâs biggest police force has been left rudderless. Four and a half million women and girls live in London, where they face quite unacceptable levels of violence, yet the Mayorâs attachment to gender ideology appears to mean that no one at City Hall can talk about women without instantly adding âincluding trans womenâ.
More than ever, women in London need someone to stand up for their rights and make sure their voices are heard. As a feminist who believes in biological reality, that person evidently wonât be me.
Join the discussion
Join like minded readers that support our journalism by becoming a paid subscriber
To join the discussion in the comments, become a paid subscriber.
Join like minded readers that support our journalism, read unlimited articles and enjoy other subscriber-only benefits.
Subscribe