Motion #18

Green Party Women (GPW)

We are pleased to present the annual report of Green Party Women (GPW) in accordance with our constitution, reflecting our commitment to representing the needs and rights of women and girls within the Green Party of England & Wales (GPEW).

Focus Areas

During our first meeting this year, the GPW Committee identified three key focus areas to guide our work:

1. Getting More Women Elected The social media team has worked hard to highlight female candidates and a huge number of local parties have started following our candidates since the start of our tenure.
2. Violence Against Women and Girls We have held 2 online events discussing the best way to tackle the abhorrent violence against women and girls who have been prostituted, including an event at Spring Conference. On 4th March 2023 members of the committee took our GPW banner to the ‘Million Women March’ event in London, with rally in Trafalgar Square. We marched alongside GPW members and in solidarity with our sisters.
3. Building a Sense of Belonging in Green Party Women Our “Belonging Project” aims to create inclusive spaces for women within the party to discuss both Green and feminist issues. We’ve organised online meetings, including our popular book club gatherings and Green Witchers sessions, providing platforms for meaningful conversations and camaraderie.

Project Highlights

We are pleased to report that we’ve successfully organised:

• Book club: 8 meetings held on the last Tuesday of every month. Selected texts: Oranges are not the only fruit by Jeanette Winterson, Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge, Well tuned women by Frankie Armstrong, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, Hags by Victoria Smith, Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver.
• Green Witchers: Four meetings held on the second Tuesday of the month. Topics have included: jackdaws, owls, bats and gardening for wildlife.
• Online Film Screening: A highlight of this project was our online screening of “Greenham Women,” which drew substantial participation and positive feedback. We are excited about our upcoming film screening scheduled for the end of August. These events have fostered engagement and insightful discussions among our members.

GPW GPEX & PDC Hustings

We know that women are often active in their local parties but feel disconnected from the National Party and confused by complex Party structures. We have tried to use GPW to bridge that gap and build a sense of belonging to the National Party. Sadly some candidates refused to attend the GPW hustings because they did not like the questions about women’s sex-based rights put to them by our members.

Monthly Meetings and Engagement

GPW Committee meetings have been held monthly to discuss ongoing work, strategise, and address member concerns. We value open communication and collaboration among our members to achieve our shared goals.

Membership

Our Membership Officer has sought help from the Digital Staff Team for our membership list. This work is ongoing.

Representation

Our Co-Chairs have actively participated in various meetings, including Policy Meetings, Equality and Diversity meetings, and discussions with party leaders. Their contributions have helped represent the interests of GPW and promote our core values within the broader Green Party structure.

Challenges and Responses

Despite our hard work and dedication, some members of the GPW Committee have encountered vexatious attacks and criticism due to their Gender Critical beliefs. We are committed to fostering respectful dialogue while standing up for women’s rights based on sex, as outlined in the Equality Act 2010.

Twitter Thread and Social Media Management In April of this year, GPW posted a thoughtful tweet thread on our Twitter account, responding to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) call for the public debate on sex and gender to be conducted on a more informed and constructive basis. The tweet thread highlighted our commitment to respectful discourse on the topic, acknowledging diverse viewpoints within GPW. We expressed the importance of clarifying the meaning of sex in the context of the Equality Act 2010 and emphasised our unwavering commitment to ensuring fairness, dignity, and safety is protected for women. We also stressed the necessity of protecting trans people from discrimination while engaging with EHRC’s evolving dialogue.

The GPW Social Media Officers (SMOs) were appointed at our first committee meeting of the year and were entrusted with overseeing our social media output, a role that involves collaboration with fellow committee members. Their cooperative approach led them to develop guidelines, strategies, and monthly reports to enhance their external communication. Despite their efforts to promote GPW and the Green Party through daily Twitter activity and Facebook posts, they have faced undue criticism and attacks since assuming their roles. They have been subjected to unwarranted complaints the most vexatious of which have called for them to be expelled from the party.

Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) In response to concerns about the treatment of Gender Critical voices within the party, GPW called an EGM. The EGM’s objectives included amending the constitution to allow electronic ballots and consultative decision-making, as well as addressing concerns about discrimination. Over 250 members registered to attend the EGM. The changes to the constitution passed with an overwhelming majority, in excess of 90% for each of the two changes. With regard to discrimination, we are in the process of collating findings from the EGM to guide our future actions.

Future Steps We are dedicated to upholding the rights of all members and ensuring that the Green Party remains an inclusive and respectful space for diverse perspectives. We anticipate further engagement with external bodies, such as the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), to address any instances of discrimination on the basis of Gender Critical beliefs. We are sincere in our hope that this will support GPEW in upholding its lawful obligations to its members. We remain committed to our mission and are grateful for the ongoing support of our members in advancing the rights of women and girls within GPEW and beyond.