Women’s Declaration International
This content was last updated Nov. 22, 2023, 6:44 p.m. UTC
Women’s Declaration International (WDI), formerly known as the Women’s Human Rights Campaign, is an anti-trans radical feminist organization based in the United Kingdom with chapters in the United States, Brazil, Australia, and elsewhere. They are most notable for creating the Declaration on Women’s Sex-Based Rights, an open letter for signatories that details ways they believe trans women should be excluded from being considered under women’s rights, instead opting to misgender transgender people.
WDI has also done legal advocacy in the United Kingdom and the United States, sending in dozens of testimonies written in opposition to transgender rights.
WDI has also organized various protests in opposition to transgender rights, with these being seen throughout the United States and the United Kingdom. They have hosted webinars, gatherings, and other events all with the express purpose of opposing transgender women’s legal rights under a gender identity framework.
The concept of ‘gender identity’ has enabled men who claim a female ‘gender identity’ to assert, in law, policies, and practice, that they are members of the category of women, which is a category based upon sex.
Founding
WDI was founded in March of 2019, but wasn’t incorporated as a business until June of the same year. The organization is registered as a private company limited by guarantee without share capital in the United Kingdom. It was originally named Women’s Human Rights Campaign before rebranding to Women’s Declaration International. WDI is based in Mildenhall.
The organization had Josephine Hilda Brew instated as a director, alongside Sheila Jeffreys, Heather Brunskell Evans (who was later terminated as a director), and Mary Ann O’Hara.
Of their purpose, WDI states on their website, “Women's Declaration International is a group of volunteer women from across the globe dedicated to protecting women's sex-based rights. Our volunteers include academics, writers, organizers, activists, and health practitioners, and aim to represent the total breadth of the human female experience.”
Finances
WDI has brought in less than £15,000 total over its lifespan since its inception. It brought in £1,921 in 2020, £7,828 in 2021, and £3,559 in 2022. In 2022, it reports having only £410 in accruals and deferred income, with about £1,400 being spent in liabilities in 2021. No other information is available as to its reported income.
The American branch of Women’s Declaration International, WDI USA, is a registered 501(c)4 nonprofit. This is registered in Catskill, New York, however it does not report any income.
WDI gains at least some of their funds through their Shopify account, which hosts various bits of merchandise available to their supporters. It is unclear how much money is brought in from this, however.
WDI also offers donations on their website, allowing “adult human females” to become members of the organization, with men being offered the ability to donate instead.
History of Anti-LGBTQ+ Activism
WDI’s American chapter has done separate work from the United Kingdom branch of the organization, tailored specifically to anti-trans activism in the US. They also have listed grassroots campaigns, including efforts to send letters to politicians opposing the Equality Act, to support incarcerated New Jersey women who allegedly got pregnant from transgender inmates, to send out Kara Dansky’s book "The Abolition of Sex to Congresspeople", and to show social media solidarity with Marion Miller who was being charged for allegedly posting abusive, anti-LGBTQ+ language at people and for revealing people’s private information.
They have hosted an action outside of the International Olympics Committee opposing the integration of trans women into women’s sports. They also hosted a tour of protests in three cities across the United States and were affiliated with the anti-trans “Our Bodies, Our Sports” rally held in 2022.
Other campaigns include spreading stickers and buttons across the US in opposition to transgender rights.
WDI USA held a demonstration in Athens, Ohio where they rejected the ability of people to “change sex,” and where they lamented bullies who aim to “silence” them. They equated being trans to sexism, and discussed the supposed harms that being trans has on the rights of cisgender women.
The organization has submitted Freedom of Information Act requests to each of the 50 US states to determine the number of “natal male” prisoners in women’s prisons as of 2023.
WDI hosted their second national convention in San Francisco in September of 2023, which took place across two days and consisted of talks from individuals like Megan Murphy, Mary Lou Singleton, and Katherine Kinney. This convention was met with mass protest by individuals advocating for transgender rights.
WDI hosts two webinars that are dedicated to an audience of anti-trans radical feminists. These include the “woman only” Feminist Question Time and Radical Feminist Perspectives, which is dedicated to hosting voices that “have been cancelled or silenced.”
The UK branch of the organization has written a research paper about the supposed harms of mixed-sex facilities being accommodated by the NHS.
The organization has written numerous consultations, statements, and letters since its inception, including to the United Nations. These written testimonies are primarily in regard to their opinion on various transgender-related issues.
They feature a journalism style guide on the American WDI’s webpage, which features suggestions that primarily revolve around misgendering transgender people and a rejection of the usage of singular ‘they.’
WDI also featured various recommended reading resources - exclusively to sources that are oppositional to transgender rights, such as ‘Trans’ by Helen Joyce - and a blog consisting of their statements on various large issues, along with their opinions on gender identity.
Members of WDI and their associates have written a book entitled “Women's Rights, Gender Wrongs: the global impact of gender-identity ideology.” This book details the supposed effects of trans people on the rights of cis women internationally, ranging from issues like prisons to that of surrogacy, with the overall perspective being focused on the alleged harms that “gender ideology” has done.
The Declaration
WDI is best known for their Declaration on Women’s Sex-Based Rights, which makes many demands primarily to redefine the rights of women as based around biological sex and not gender identity, to ban transgender women from women’s sports, to remove trans women from cis women’s spaces, and to allow cisgender women to misgender transgender people without legal repercussions.
They have received thousands of signatures, albeit without any verification on the legitimacy of these signatures.
WDI has written a statement in support of Kathleen Stock, a signatory of their Declaration who faced backlash for her anti-trans views.
Legislative Impacts
WDI has made various legislative impacts in America and abroad. These include advocating for bills and writing amicus curiae for prominent trans-related legal cases.
In the United Kingdom, WDI has written to MPs in opposition to the Gender Recognition Act of 2004, which allows for trans people to be legally recognized as their gender identities.
WDI in the United States alleges to have sent out their own model legislation for anti-trans Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act on March 4, 2022, a bill which would restrict the ability of minors to access gender transitioning services. Versions of this bill have appeared in legislatures across the country, albeit some with altered language and a different name. However, the initial version of this bill appeared in Arkansas in early 2021, and it is unclear what connection they have, if any, to this original version, as they do not report having sent their model legislation to Arkansas.
WDI, in response to US President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 13988, wrote many letters to federal agencies in protest of EO 13988, which made no differentiation between gender identity and sex in legal protections, allowing transgender women to be recognized as women.
The organization wrote a draft act, known as the Equality for All Act, that would counteract the benefits seen with the current Equality Act in enshrining gender identity as a protected legal category. This act has not been proposed by any US politician.
WDI wrote an amicus curiae for the case Neese and Hurley vs. Becerra and the United States of America. They opposed the usage of gender identity in legal protections, opting instead for their preferred model of sex-based legal protections, which would exclude transgender women. They made similar arguments in the case B.P.J. vs. West Virginia State Board of Education, as well as the case Hecox vs. Little.
From 2022 to 2023, WDI has given their testimony to over 51 bills in the United States, with 24 people writing in testimony on behalf of the organization for various different bills. Each of them were signatories of the organization’s Declaration. A full list of each of these bills is available on their website.
They have publicly given their support to the anti-trans “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,” a bill that would ban transgender women from participating in women’s sports across the country, amending Title IX.
Kara Dansky, on behalf of WDI, has supported the Republican-ran anti-trans Women’s Bill of Rights.
WDI USA features a webpage tracking “gender identity laws” in America, with these laws being any that validate transgender people.