<![CDATA[Sex Matters News: Podcasts]]>https://www.sex-matters-news.org/s/podcastshttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xG7X!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F39518097-ca36-40ae-b1bd-380609110f9a_384x384.pngSex Matters News: Podcastshttps://www.sex-matters-news.org/s/podcastsSubstackTue, 18 Aug 2026 14:53:31 GMT<![CDATA[EHRC code comes into force]]>https://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/ehrc-code-comes-into-forcehttps://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/ehrc-code-comes-into-forceFri, 31 Jul 2026 14:18:22 GMTThe EHRC code of practice finally comes into force on 5th August. In this week’s podcast, Helen Joyce and Maya Forstater discuss what it will mean for single-sex services, charities and associations. They make some predictions for the coming autumn, when organisations will no longer be able to claim they’re “waiting for guidance”, new school safeguarding policy will come into force and legal battles on conversion practices and the planned puberty-blocker trial are likely to heat up further.

]]><![CDATA[Keeping children safe in education]]>https://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/keeping-children-safe-in-education-ebdhttps://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/keeping-children-safe-in-education-ebdTue, 28 Jul 2026 08:30:34 GMTIn this week’s episode, Maya and Helen discuss the updated version of Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE), which places guidance for schools on dealing with trans issues within the statutory safeguarding framework.

The most important change is the addition of three clear safeguarding principles that constrain how schools can respond to requests for “social transition”.

Send our model policy to a school you have a connection with to help it make updates in line with the new guidance, which comes into force across England at the start of the autumn term.

Send to your child‘s school

If you are enjoying the Sex Matters podcast, consider supporting our work with a donation.

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]]><![CDATA[The Amnesty report]]>https://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/the-amnesty-reporthttps://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/the-amnesty-reportFri, 17 Jul 2026 14:38:05 GMTA major row has erupted after Amnesty International UK published — and then quickly withdrew — a report labeling more than 100 organisations as “anti-rights”, including women’s rights groups, charities, support services, and campaigning organisations. Maya Forstater and Fiona McAnena talk about the parlous state of democratic debate on human rights, when organisations are branded as threats simply for advocating sex-based rights. Amnesty is now facing demands for answers, calls for apologies and potential legal action.

Read the letters to Amnesty.
Read our letter to the Charity Commission.

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]]><![CDATA[Victory for women’s sports in America]]>https://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/victory-for-womens-sports-in-americahttps://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/victory-for-womens-sports-in-americaFri, 10 Jul 2026 16:23:08 GMTIn this week’s episode, Fiona McAnena is joined by Kim Jones, co-founder of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, to discuss the landmark US Supreme Court ruling which reaffirmed that Title IX protections are based on biological sex.

In January, the Supreme Court heard two cases that required it to adjudicate on what “sex” means in US anti-discrimination law. Idaho and West Virginia were defending state laws that restrict female athletics to those born female. Acting in the public interest and in pursuit of its charitable aims, Sex Matters provided an “amicus curiae” brief supporting the two states.

Fiona and Kim break down what the decision means, why it matters and what comes next in the legal battle to protect safe, fair sport for women and girls.

]]><![CDATA[Conversion Practices Bill targets parents]]>https://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/conversion-practices-bill-targetshttps://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/conversion-practices-bill-targetsFri, 03 Jul 2026 13:18:35 GMTIn this week’s episode, Helen Joyce speaks to Dennis Kavanagh, director at the Gay Men’s Network and non-practising barrister, about the legal minefield that is the draft Conversion Practices Bill.

Dennis examines the low threshold for criminality in Clause 1 of the bill, which states that “any conduct” can be a conversion practice and risks putting parenting on trial and breaching human rights.

Helen and Dennis speak about the potential for transactivists to use the bill to suppress discussion of trans ideology and the harms of gender-affirming care.

Read our analysis of the bill.

Read our response to Galop’s report.

]]><![CDATA[Sex, gender and free speech on campus]]>https://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/sex-gender-and-free-speech-on-campushttps://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/sex-gender-and-free-speech-on-campusFri, 26 Jun 2026 14:04:20 GMTIn this week’s episode, Helen Joyce and Fiona McAnena discuss the current climate of free speech and gender ideology within British universities.

Helen reflects on her recent talk to students at Durham Union – you can read her account of the event on her Substack.

Read our recent report, Getting back on track, which explains how the legislative framework can enable and protect sport at a university level.

]]><![CDATA[Abusive strip-searching rules: our legal challenge]]>https://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/abusive-strip-searching-rules-ourhttps://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/abusive-strip-searching-rules-ourFri, 19 Jun 2026 12:12:20 GMTIn this week’s podcast we talk to Cathy Larkman, retired superintendent and policing lead at Women’s Rights Network, about our judicial review against the National Police Chiefs’ Council over its abusive strip-searching policy.

Under PACE – the main law governing police conduct – strip-searches must be carried out by an officer of the same sex. But the NPCC says that doesn’t apply to trans detainees. We say that PACE is the only lawful basis for police searching, and that clear rules protect both officers and detainees.

Cathy speaks from experience about how female police officers will come under pressure to search male detainees, including rapists, cross-dressing fetishists and men who simply enjoy threatening and humiliating women.

Read about our case and support our crowdfund.

Read State sanctioned sexual assault, Cathy’s report for the Women’s Rights Network.

]]><![CDATA[Child gender medicine: CAN-SG conference]]>https://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/child-gender-medicine-can-sg-conferencehttps://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/child-gender-medicine-can-sg-conferenceFri, 12 Jun 2026 14:56:15 GMTIn this week’s episode, Fiona McAnena talks to Dr Louise Irvine, co-chair of the Clinical Advisory Network on Sex and Gender (CAN-SG), about Rethinking Youth Gender Medicine, on Sunday 5th and Monday 6th July in London. The conference will feature world experts discussing the social and clinical care of gender-distressed children and young people. Whether you’re a clinician, educator, parent, researcher, or simply concerned about child safeguarding and ideology distorting medical practice, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.

CAN-SG has offered Sex Matters’ supporters an exclusive discount: use the code SM25 for 25 percent off all ticket prices. Further discounts are available for people on low incomes, and students can attend the full two days for just £20.

Buy tickets



]]><![CDATA[Getting back on track]]>https://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/getting-back-on-trackhttps://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/getting-back-on-trackFri, 05 Jun 2026 10:18:19 GMTIn this week’s episode, Maya Forstater and Fiona McAnena talk about our new report, Getting back on track: Using the Equality Act to enable and protect sport for women and girls – why we’ve produced it, and what’s in it.

We show how UK law provides for separate sport for women and girls in several different ways, for fairness, safety and opportunity, from grassroots participation to elite competition, and why not having a female category may result in legal challenges for indirect discrimination and harassment.

]]><![CDATA[Small claims explained]]>https://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/small-claims-explainedhttps://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/small-claims-explainedFri, 29 May 2026 16:03:18 GMTIn this week’s episode, Helen and Maya talk through what is colloquially known as a “small claim” for belief discrimination against a service provider.

Examples of such discrimination include being refused service in a pub, barred from a gym or forced to leave an event because you are known or suspected to hold gender-critical beliefs (or to be associated with someone who does).

Sex Matters has published a guide on this process, which you can read on our website.

]]><![CDATA[EHRC guidance finally here!]]>https://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/ehrc-guidance-finally-herehttps://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/ehrc-guidance-finally-hereFri, 22 May 2026 12:03:47 GMTThis week, Maya, Helen and Fiona give their initial take on the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s long-awaited update to the Code of practice for services, public functions and associations, which has been published by the Minister for Women and Equalities and laid before Parliament.

Read the code of practice.

Read our first analysis of the code.

]]><![CDATA[The state of free speech on campus]]>https://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/state-of-free-speech-on-campushttps://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/state-of-free-speech-on-campusFri, 15 May 2026 14:26:26 GMTIn this week’s episode, Maya and Helen discuss the recent legal judgments that highlight the importance of strong protections for free speech and academic freedom to people who hold gender-critical views.

As Maya wrote last week inTimes Higher Education, at the heart of the High Court judgment in the judicial review brought by the University of Sussex is an Equality Act-shaped hole. The Office for Students’ investigation into its failure to protect academic freedom and free speech on campus had been sparked by thehounding of Professor Kathleen Stock, who had been accused of hate by activists for speaking up about misrepresentations of the Equality Act. The High Court overturned the regulator’s £585,000 fine punishing Sussex for infringing on academic freedom and freedom of speech by adopting a policy in 2018 banning so-called transphobic propaganda from its campus and pledging to discipline those committing “transphobic abuse”.

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]]><![CDATA[Are City employers breaking the law on single-sex toilets?]]>https://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/city-employers-breaking-the-lawhttps://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/city-employers-breaking-the-lawFri, 08 May 2026 14:26:46 GMTIn this week’s episode, Maya and Helen discuss our latest report, Sex-based rights in the City, which uncovered the widespread failure of the financial sector to comply with the Supreme Court ruling.

Not one of 15 financial institutions contacted replied clearly stating that it provided single-sex toilets, as required by workplace regulations, and restricted access to people of that (biological) sex.

Maya and Helen discuss how we got here, the experiences of those working in the sector and what can be done to bring employers into compliance.

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]]><![CDATA[Meet the Sex Matters help desk]]>https://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/meet-the-sex-matters-help-deskhttps://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/meet-the-sex-matters-help-deskFri, 01 May 2026 11:59:02 GMTIn this week’s episode, Fiona talks to Emma Moore, who manages our help desk. They discuss common themes, the advice provided to those seeking support, and the resources available on our website.

Explore Sex Matters’ resources.

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]]><![CDATA[Putting sex on digital ID]]>https://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/putting-sex-on-digital-idhttps://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/putting-sex-on-digital-idFri, 24 Apr 2026 15:13:31 GMTIn this week’s episode, Maya and Helen discuss the new national digital ID (BritCard), which the government has committed to creating by the end of this parliament. But the government does not plan to include sex on the BritCard, saying that this “is not necessary for the intended purpose of the digital ID”.

Maya and Helen explore why failing to include sex as a voluntary field on the BritCard is a cop-out that will leave individuals and service providers floundering and mired in conflict, instead of being able to simply and clearly verify a fact about people which is often needed.

Take action: A government consultation is open until Tuesday 5th May. Read our briefing and respond to the consultation.

]]><![CDATA[One year later – part 2]]>https://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/one-year-later-part-2https://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/one-year-later-part-2Mon, 20 Apr 2026 18:28:33 GMTIn this week’s episode, filmed in London, Maya, Fiona and Helen discuss the week’s events marking the anniversary of the For Women Scotland judgment at the Supreme Court.

During the year since the Supreme Court judgment confirmed that “sex” in the Equality Act means biology, not self-ID or paperwork, there has been some progress but also significant institutional resistance. Shortly after the ruling a series of sporting bodies restored female-only categories; more recently, statutory safeguarding guidance for schools has been updated to require all English schools to record sex accurately and bar children from using single-sex sanitary facilities for the opposite sex.

However, many organisations in both the public and private sector have ignored the ruling, often using the excuse that they are “waiting for guidance” from the equalities regulator. The civil service and local authorities continue to operate unlawful policies, both in their workplaces and in services they run.

In this episode, we look at the progress that has been made and the obstacles that have prevented it from being greater – as well as making some predictions about what will happen in the coming year.

Read our One Year Later booklet.

Read our easy-read version of the EHRC interim update.

Read Murray Blackburn Mackenzie’s new report on women’s charities and the Supreme Court ruling.

Videography: Belinda Jiao.

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]]><![CDATA[FWS one year later]]>https://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/fws-one-year-laterhttps://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/fws-one-year-laterFri, 10 Apr 2026 16:17:05 GMTIn this week’s episode, Maya and Helen talk about our latest publication, One year later, which tells the stories of individual women harmed by the failure to implement the Supreme Court ruling handed down on 16th April 2025. A year after the landmark judgment, we are still hearing distressing stories of ordinary people being treated terribly simply because they want single-sex spaces, because they spoke up about safeguarding risks caused by ignoring the reality of sex or because they were open about their lack of belief in gender identity.

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]]><![CDATA[IOC protects female category]]>https://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/ioc-protects-female-categoryhttps://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/ioc-protects-female-categoryThu, 02 Apr 2026 16:59:23 GMTIn this week’s episode, Fiona McAnena and Emma Hilton discuss the International Olympic Committee’s new policy on protecting the female category, released on 26th March. They talk about what’s in the policy, what it means for sport more broadly and how it’s been received.

Emma is Sex Matters’ interim chair and the co-author of the most-cited paper on sex differences and the impact of testosterone suppression in sport. She is also a published critic of the now-defunct 2021 IOC policy, and a leading academic voice in calls to reinstitute sex screening. She’s been consulted by several international and national sports federations, and has been an expert witness in court cases, including a US Supreme Court amicus brief on sex screening.

Background reading

Watch Emma Hilton’s 2019 talk for Fair Play For Women.

Listen to Fiona talking to Spiked about how the Olympics battered women’s sports.

Read Fiona’s 2023 article for Spiked on the trans colonisation of women’s sports.

Read Fiona’s 2025 article for The Critic on how women managed to get men out of Olympic female sport.

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]]><![CDATA[Boys told to leave Girlguiding]]>https://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/boys-told-to-leave-girlguidinghttps://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/boys-told-to-leave-girlguidingFri, 27 Mar 2026 16:04:09 GMTMaya and Helen discuss Girlguiding’s recent decision to reverse its policy of allowing boys who identify as girls to join its groups. They trace the history of the charity’s move towards “inclusive” policies, the failure of the Charity Commission and other regulators to provide the necessary leadership, and the practical safeguarding risks that follow when a supposedly female-only organisation admits boys under the pretence that they are girls.

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]]><![CDATA[Women-only sport goes to High Court]]>https://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/women-only-sport-goes-to-high-courthttps://www.sex-matters-news.org/p/women-only-sport-goes-to-high-courtFri, 20 Mar 2026 14:01:39 GMTThis week Fiona and Helen discuss the case of Harriet Haynes, a trans-identifying male pool player who took the England Blackball Pool Federation to court last year because it restricted entry to women’s events to women. After losing in the county court, he has been granted permission to appeal. If the original verdict is upheld, that will set a strong precedent protecting all women’s sporting competitions against legal challenge from aggrieved trans-identifying men.

Read our case briefing.

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