Only women should run women’s health charities

When the announcement was made, by Endometriosis South Coast on Monday, many of us considered it to be a parody. “We are excited to share with you all that we welcome Steph to the team as our new CEO. Supporting to move forward with our missions as a charity – we are all grateful to have Steph on board” read the announcement on X. 

The new CEO is a man who identifies as a transwoman. Endometriosis is a debilitating disease, currently with no cure, where the tissue of the uterus grows in the ovaries and fallopian tubes. It causes severe pain in the pelvis, and can also cause infertility.

Steph Richards is well-known as a trans-activist, often leading the charge of protesters at feminist events, such as one I attended in 2021, in his hometown of Portsmouth. The FiLiA Women’s Rights conference, a gathering of more than 2,000 women from around the world, was picketed by a large group of protesters, draped in trans flags. 

Steph was amongst them, screaming about “transphobic feminists”, whilst inside there were women speaking about being raped in refugee camps, trafficked into prostitution, and overcoming childhood sexual abuse. 

It is utterly outrageous to employ a man to run a women’s health charity, however he identifies. There are plenty of women, including those whose lives are blighted by endometriosis, that could do the job. It is gaslighting in the extreme. 

I have heard the arguments since the appointment was announced that women regularly see male doctors for a range of conditions, including gynaecological problems. But this charity is supposedly there for awareness raising and direct support to those that experience the condition. Steph has never experienced a day in his life as a woman, and can’t know anything about the associated stigma and shame that can accompany endometriosis. Girls are often conditioned to mistrust, and even hate our own bodies, which leads some to avoid seeking treatment. How can Steph possibly understand any of this?

Thanks to extreme transgender ideology being adopted by many women working in the sector, Steph is not the only example of a man taking such a role from a woman. The chief executive of Edinburgh Rape Crisis is a man called Mridul Wadhwa, employed by the handmaidens in order to look “intersectional” and “inclusive”. In 2021 Wadhwa caused outrage when he said on a podcast that those that believe in single sex spaces for rape victims and survivors, need to “reframe their trauma” if they are in the least bit bothered about a male person being in the vicinity of a supposed women only space.

I am afraid that many of those in the women’s sector have a lot to answer for regarding the likes of Steph and Mridul. They have capitulated to bullying and caved in at the slightest whisper of “transphobia”. There are examples of feminist charities that have refused to bend the knee, caring more about the service users than “being kind”. Whilst trans-activism seems nothing more than a misogynistic men’s movement, women are its foot soldiers. 

Such capitulation to the demands of trans activists is shameful, particularly when so many of us have made huge sacrifices and often paid a terrible price for refusing to bow down. It is high time that the bravery and tenacity that exemplifies the women’s liberation movement reared its head above the current cowardice.