Merched Cymru, since its launch in November 2019, has built a strong and effective membership, and established a presence on the feminist and political landscapes of Wales.
In those 5 ½ years Merched Cymru has been very busy. Here’s a flavour of what we’ve achieved.We have:
- continually lobbied Welsh Government for gender critical and feminist opinions to get a place at the table when developing policy that impacts women and girls
- established and maintained a high profile on X (Twitter) and Facebook posting in Welsh and English on issues affecting women and girls’ rights and safeguarding
- responded to public consultations such as the LGBTQ+ Action Plan
- co-hosted a briefing with Fair Play for Women for Senedd members on women and sport
- organised and chaired a series of webinars on topics such as Welsh Government’s LGBTQ+ Plan, What Does Good RSE Look Like? and Safeguarding
- campaigned rigorously around Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) demanding age-appropriate and scientifically accurate RSE
- produced a report on Mixed Sex Toilets in Wales’ Schools based on responses to Freedom of Information Requests to at least one school in each Local Education Authority in Wales We sent this report to the CEO of each Local Education Authority in Wales.
- raised Merched Cymru’s media profile – we have had each of the above reports written about in mainstream media such as the Telegraph and the Daily Mail, in addition to regular reports by Martin Shipton in Nation Cymru
- established a strong network with other women’s groups both in the UK and abroad – eg FiLiA, Women’s Rights Network, Labour Women’s Declaration, SexMatters, Transgender Trend. LGBA Cymru, Get the L Out and Safe Schools Alliance
- investigated what Welsh schools are teaching children about sex, gender and sexuality and given advice and template letters to parents who want to ask their children’s schools for information on curriculum content
- reviewed the new Vale of Glamorgan Transgender Toolkit highlighting our concerns around safeguarding
- recently reported on trans inclusion approaches in Wales’ schools showing the impact of Welsh Government inaction on gender distressed children, their families, and their schools
You have been part of this. Your support, and loyalty, is so important to us. We want you to feel that you belong to the movement of Merched Cymru who are making a difference to the women and girls of Wales. We will continue to work to protect and strengthen the sex-based rights of girls and women and we hope you will remain on that journey with us.
