Campaigners slam ‘cruel’ decision to allow biological men who self-identify as female into women-only shelter

•  Glass Door will run its first women’s night shelter as an emergency provision
•  But they say the ‘warm, safe space’ will be for all people who ‘identify as women’

Women’s rights campaigners have slammed the ‘cruel’ decision to allow biological men who self-identify as female into a women-only shelter. 

This winter London homeless charity Glass Door will run its first women’s night shelter as an emergency provision for the escalating number facing homelessness while temperatures drop.

But the ‘warm, safe space’ will be for all people who ‘identify as women’ – the charity revealed as they launch the new service.

The group also run a men-only and a mixed gender space, which will be able to house 105 every night.

‘In line with our Gender, Equality and Diversity policy any guest who identifies as a woman will be treated in line with their gender identity and will be eligible for a space in our women-only shelter dependent on availability,’ Glass Door told The Telegraph.

This winter London homeless charity Glass Door will run its first women’s night shelter as an emergency provision for the escalating number facing homelessness while temperatures drop

The move has been slammed by campaigners who blasted the policy as ‘cruel’ and pleaded with the charity to backtrack and protect women-only spaces

The move has been slammed by campaigners who blasted the policy as ‘cruel’ and pleaded with the charity to backtrack and protect women-only spaces.

READ MORE: Labour will make it easier for people to change their gender: Rift opens between the two main parties on ‘woke’ policies after Rishi Sunak declares a ‘woman is a woman’

‘A women’s shelter that accommodates men who identify as women ceases to be a women’s shelter,’ director of advocacy at Sex Matters Helen Joyce told the paper.

‘Gaslighting vulnerable women in this way is among the cruellest examples of how organisations are prioritising the feelings of men over the fundamental safety and wellbeing of women.

‘Glass Door needs to scrap this policy and reassess why the shelter was set up in the first place.’ 

The charity also says that self-identifying women will be allowed to their ‘women’s group’ – a place where they say: ‘women guests have been able to come together and relax: sharing tea, biscuits, activities and their own experiences, safe in the knowledge that this is a women-only space.’

Activities run by Glass Door for ‘homeless and vulnerably housed self-identifying women’ during these sessions include arts and crafts, relaxing in a women-only space, speaking to women caseworkers for support and accessing showers.

In January the charity co-signed a letter to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Homelessness Felicity Buchan pleading for local authorities to improve access to rough sleeping services for women.

In 2021 640 people were estimated to be sleeping rough in London on any one night – with 13 per cent of these female. 

The charity also says that self-identifying women will be allowed to their ‘women’s group’

In January the charity co-signed a letter to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Homelessness Felicity Buchan pleading for local authorities to improve access to rough sleeping services for women

They say their implement a ‘gender informed approach’ where they aske self-identifying women if they would prefer to speak with a woman caseworker.

Speaking about this service, they said a new guest of their Women’s Group said: ‘I only feel safe in women only spaces. 

‘I access day centres only out of necessity if I need to use a shower or do laundry, but will avoid them otherwise, and would rather stay outside because I doesn’t feel safe in an environment around so many men.’

It comes after Rishi Sunak told the Conservative Party Conference audience on Wednesday: ‘We shouldn’t get bullied into believing that people can be any sex they want to be. They can’t, a man is a man and a woman is a woman. That’s just common sense.’

His comments follow a conference in which multiple Cabinet members have used their own speeches to mention transgender issues, with Health Secretary Steve Barclay announcing a ban on trans women from female NHS wards and Home Secretary Suella Braverman saying she would forbid sex offenders from changing gender.

The subject has been an increasingly important one for activists on the right of the Conservative Party, with two stands at the conference centre in Manchester focused on the issue.

Hate crimes against transgender people have hit a record high in England and Wales, as police have recorded an 11% rise in the last year.

While the overall number of hate crimes recorded by police in England and Wales has fallen year-on-year for the first time in a decade, those motivated by religious and transgender hate have risen.

Glass Door have been contacted for comment. 

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