About Merched Cymru

Who are we?

Merched Cymru is a grassroots group of ordinary women from across Wales who are working to protect and strengthen the sex-based rights of women and girls. Our members and followers include women from different age groups, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, women of faith and those who have none. Many of us would describe ourselves as on the left, but we are not aligned to any political party and we welcome a range of political perspectives.

Merched Cymru is entirely funded by member fees and donations. We need your help to pay for work like printing our reports, hosting our website and running our online events. 

If you like what we do and are in a position to make a donation, you can transfer money to us directly.

Any amount helps, however small.
Donate to: Merched Cymru S/C 51-61-15 A/N 71749144

Why do we campaign for women’s rights?

We recognise that women face unacceptable levels of discrimination, sexual violence and harassment because of our biological sex. That is why ‘sex’ is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, and the provision of single sex services, spaces and protections are permitted to ensure women’s safety, privacy and dignity.

Currently, Welsh Government is dismantling our sex-based rights in order to prioritise the demands of men who identify as women to access our spaces, services and opportunities.

We do not consent.

We stand for the protection of these rights and for organisations and individuals to have the ability and confidence to apply single sex exemptions without fear of unfounded or malicious accusations of unfair discrimination o transphobia.

Find out more

Our position paper – Defending our sex-based rights – provides the rationale and evidence-base for our campaign and our concerns. 

It focuses on:

  • Refuges
  • Prisons
  • Hospital wards
  • Women’s sports
  • Changing rooms
  • School toilets

    We are also campaigning to raise awareness of the negative impact that gender ideology is having more broadly – an impact that is particularly felt in the lives of women and girls. More recently it has also served to curtail our right to free speech, and severely undermined democratic accountability in Wales.