Women’s and Girls’ All Party Group launched at Senedd

Martin Shipton

Politicians from the Senedd’s four main political parties have joined forces to champion the rights of women and girls across Wales.

Members from the Welsh Conservatives, Reform UK, Plaid Cymru, and Labour launched the Welsh Parliament’s first Cross Party Group of Women’s and Girls’ Rights recently.

The aim of the group is to bring experts and MSs together to consider the legal and policy framework for women’s and girls’ rights and its implications for devolved policy and practice.

Welsh Conservative MS Natasha Asghar will be chairing the group with Reform’s Cristiana Emsley and Art Wright, Labour’s Mike Hedges and Plaid Cymru’s Safa Elhassan joining as members.

The group’s formation is important more now than ever before following the Supreme Court’s ruling that sex is defined as biological sex only.

Natasha Asghar MS said: “The creation of this group marks an important milestone as it is the Senedd’s first ever CPG looking solely at the rights of women and girls in Wales.

“I am clear that I do not want this group to be a talking shop. I want it to be a vital platform where politicians, experts and others can come together to better understand what the law says about women’s and girls’ rights, what it means in practice, and how it should be reflected in policy and Welsh public bodies.

“Given the Supreme Court’s recent ruling, I hope the group will play a key role in ensuring public bodies are adhering to the law, particularly when it comes to single-sex spaces.”

At the group’s inaugural meeting, members agreed topics to cover including gender distress, barriers facing women and girls in sport, lesbian rights, and the impact of pornography on young people.

Women’s Rights Network Wales and Merched Cymru have agreed to be joint secretariats for the group.

Cathy Larkman from WRN Wales and Ali Morris from Merched Cymru said: “We are pleased to jointly provide the secretariat for this important cross-party group.

“Our organisations consist entirely of volunteers, and are women of all political parties, as well as women of none.

“We have considerable expertise on the law relating to women’s rights and a shared history of promoting the rights of women and girls in Wales.

“We look forward to bringing that expertise and experience to the group to assist MSs”.

‘Proud’

Reform MS Cristiana Emsley added: “As Reform UK Shadow Cabinet Minister for Fairness, Families and Communities, I am proud to join the Cross-Party Group on Women and Girls’ Rights.

“My scrutiny of the Deputy First Minister on 30 September demonstrated why this group is needed: women’s sex-based rights require clarity, not political ambiguity, at a time when women are increasingly reduced as ‘people with periods’.

“I will continue to insist that women are named, heard, and protected. Women’s rights begin with naming women.”