SCECLB292 Individual

Senedd Cymru | Welsh Parliament

Y Pwyllgor Biliau Diwygio | Reform Bill Committee

Bil Senedd Cymru (Rhestrau Ymgeiswyr Etholiadol)| Senedd Cymru (Electoral Candidate Lists) Bill

Ymateb gan Unigolyn | Evidence from Individual

What are your views on the general principles of the Bill and the need for legislation to deliver the Welsh Government’s stated policy objective (to make the Senedd a more effective legislature by ensuring it is broadly representative of the gender make-up of the population)?

It is important that the Senedd is more representative of the population of Wales but why are you using the word “gender” rather than “sex”? There is a desperate need to get more women into politics so that women finally achieve equality on everything from pay to healthcare - but they need to be biological women who can speak from firsthand experience of personal safety fears, the impact of menopause, childcare etc, not men claiming to be women. Your proposed move to self ID will do a massive injustice to women, whose very real needs are being drowned out by a tiny but extremely vocal percentage of men, who bizzarely consider their demands should trump the rights of 51% of the population to a more equal deal.

What are your views on the system of enforcement and potential sanctions for non-compliance proposed in the Bill?

There is a very simple way to ensure 50% of every list is made up of women - look at their birth certificate. The only way to ensure women have an equal voice in the Senedd and that the elected representatives of the people of wales can ensure that women finally have equal life chances with men is to have biological women in the Senedd, Men claiming to be women are not women and cannot represent our needs. The proposed self ID is an insult to the centuries of discrimination and disadvantage women have suffered and is yet another way of taking away our voice.

Are there any potential barriers to the implementation of the Bill’s provisions? If so, what are they, and are they adequately taken into account in the Bill and the accompanying Explanatory Memorandum and Regulatory Impact Assessment?

Are any unintended consequences likely to arise from the Bill?

This will not help ensure equal representation for women as under the current proposals every candidate standing as a women could in reality be male.

What are your views on the Welsh Government’s assessment of the financial and other impacts of the Bill?

What are your views on the balance between the information contained on the face of the Bill and what is left to subordinate legislation? Are the powers for Welsh Ministers to make subordinate legislation appropriate?

Do you have any views on matters relating to the legislative competence of the Senedd including compatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights?

Do you have any views on matters related to the quality of the legislation, or to the constitutional or other implications of the Bill?

The law should deal in facts and reality. A law that allows men to declare they are women is based on fantasy not fact - and it is a fantasy that is enormously damaging to the rights of women and girls.