Opposing the Political Erasure of Sex
The existence of two sexes, male and female, is the basis of human evolution and existence. Yet sex - a protected characteristic under the Equality Act - is being systematically removed from policy across almost all public institutions. It is, we believe, the source not only of a great deal of confusion, but also of a great deal of injustice against women.
The term the political erasure of sex, coined by feminist scholar Dr Jane Clare Jones in her 2021 publication of the same name (co-authored with Lisa Mackenzie), addresses the various fronts on which sex as a basis for understanding women’s needs, and for making policy, is being rapidly obscured from view.
Other autonomous scholars, journalists and grassroots women’s groups are researching, reporting and campaigning to ensure that women continue to be represented fairly. Fair Play for Women and Sex Matters are two leading organisations in this field and sources for further reading on the subject.
We believe the implications of the political erasure of sex must be of fundamental interest to Liberal Democrats due to its potential for:
loss of the integrity of the sex disaggregated data which informs the social sciences and public services
undermining the fair application of equality law, which must recognise the protected characteristic of sex
inaccurate recording and reporting of crime data
the marginalisation of women from public life
This is an area of policy in development. We look forward to bringing this issue to a future Liberal Democrat conference as a subject to debate.