Women’s Rights Network

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Heather Binning is joined by Fiona McAnena - a woman who has spent years at the sharp end of the fight to restore and protect women's rights.

After five years as Sports Campaigning Lead at Fair Play For Women, Fiona joined Sex Matters in 2024 as Director of Campaigns. In this conversation, she reflects on the pivotal moments that sparked significant surges in the movement, the long battle to hold mainstream media to account, and why grassroots activism remains the most powerful force of all.

A former Cambridge Blue, Fiona still rows and is a committed parkrunner.

Also joining us briefly is Maya Forstater, who offers a timely reminder of just how much weight a well-timed response to a public consultation can carry.

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Useful Links:

Sex Matters:       https://sex-matters.org/ @SexMattersOrg 
Fair Play For Women:  https://fairplayforwomen.com/ @fairplaywomen
Audible:   https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Terf-Island-How-the-UK-Resisted-Trans-Ideology-Audiobook/B0GMKFLK2R

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If you enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to hear more, go to womensrights.network/wrn-podcast to listen, download and subscribe to more of our episodes.  

You can also find more news, articles and videos on our substack at https://womensrightsnetwork.substack.com

And if you’d like to join our live conversations, go to womensrights.network/join-wrn

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Ruth Lewis, founder of Moma Breastfeeding, joined our morning panel at the Derby Women’s Festival on Saturday 9 May 2026 - an event organised by the Women’s Rights Network Derby and Staffordshire group

Ruth was here to talk about “Breastfeeding support and the mother-baby dyad” .  MoMa is a mother-led, not-for-profit organisation, dedicated to providing mother-to-mother support for breastfeeding. 

The event gave Ruth the chance to debate and network with the audience and other speakers  - Sorcha Nic Lochlainn from The Countess, Lexi Ellingsworth from Stop Surrogacy Now, Jennifer Gourley from Protect and Teach, Stephanie Davies-Arai from Transgender Trend and Kathleen Richardson Author of Sex Robots - The end of love, Professor of Ethics and Culture of Robots and AI at Leicester’s De Montfort University, 

Find Ruth on X @MoMaBfing and for more information take a look at the website  https://momab.org.uk/ 

#DerbyWomensFestival

If you enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to hear more, go to womensrights.network/wrn-podcast to listen, download and subscribe to more of our episodes.  

You can also find more news, articles and videos on our substack at https://womensrightsnetwork.substack.com

And if you’d like to join our live conversations, go to womensrights.network/join-wrn

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Faye McGinty is joined by Sophie Power, an elite ultra-runner who, whilst famously known for completing the gruelling 106-mile Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) while stopping at aid stations to nurse her three-month-old baby, is also a fierce advocate for structural change. As the founder of SheRaces, she is leading a vital movement demanding that the running industry dismantle its 'one-size-fits-all' approach.

We sit down with Sophie to discuss how gear, race policies, and training schedules must evolve to truly support the unique physical, physiological, and lifestyle realities of the female body.

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Useful Links:

SheRaces website: https://www.sheraces.com/

Couch to 5K: Get running with Couch to 5K - Better Health

If you enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to hear more, go to womensrights.network/wrn-podcast to listen, download and subscribe to more of our episodes.  

You can also find more news, articles and videos on our substack at https://womensrightsnetwork.substack.com

And if you’d like to join our live conversations, go to womensrights.network/join-wrn

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Lexi Ellingsworth, co-founder of Stop Surrogacy Now UK, joined us at the Derby Women’s Festival in May 2026 - an event organised by the Women’s Rights Network Derby and Staffordshire group.

Lexi was here to tell us why we should ban all forms of surrogacy and what people can do to work towards this aim. Lexi spoke on  ‘Surrogacy - Erasing Mothers: the exploitation of women and denial of the mother baby dyad.’

The festival speakers were able to debate the issues with the audience and listen to talks by Stephanie Davies-Arai from Transgender Trend, Ruth Lewis from MoMa Breastfeeding, Sorcha Nic Lochlainn from The Countess, Jennifer Gourley from Protect and Teach and Kathleen Richardson Author of Sex Robots - The end of love, Professor of Ethics and Culture of Robots and AI at Leicester’s De Montfort University 

Find Stop Surrogacy Now on X @WombsNotForRent and for further information take a look at the website https://stopsurrogacynowuk.org/ 

#DerbyWomensFestival

If you enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to hear more, go to womensrights.network/wrn-podcast to listen, download and subscribe to more of our episodes.  

You can also find more news, articles and videos on our substack at https://womensrightsnetwork.substack.com

And if you’d like to join our live conversations, go to womensrights.network/join-wrn

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We met Sorcha Nic Lochlainn of The Countess at the Derby Women’s Festival in May 2026 - an event organised by the Women’s Rights Network Derby and Staffordshire group.

The Countess is a non-profit, volunteer-led organisation formed to promote the rights and interests of women and children in Ireland. Sorcha was with us to discuss the importance of language with her talk, ‘These words belong to us: why language matters'.

She described her day at the Festival as  “brilliant”  with the opportunity to debate issues throughout the day with the audience and fellow speakers. 

She joined the morning panel with Lexi Ellingsworth from Stop Surrogacy Now and Ruth Lewis from MoMa Breastfeeding. In the afternoon she joined the audience to hear Jennifer Gourley from Protect and Teach, Stephanie Davies-Arai from Transgender Trend and Kathleen Richardson Author of Sex Robots - The end of love, Professor of Ethics and Culture of Robots and AI at Leicester’s De Montfort University.

Find Sorcha on X @TheCountessIE and for further information take a look at the website https://thecountess.ie/ 

#DerbyWomensFestival #LanguageMatters

If you enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to hear more, go to womensrights.network/wrn-podcast to listen, download and subscribe to more of our episodes.  

You can also find more news, articles and videos on our substack at https://womensrightsnetwork.substack.com

And if you’d like to join our live conversations, go to womensrights.network/join-wrn

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Olympian Sharron Davies is joined by a trio panel of Susan Smith of 'For women Scotland', Kate Harris co-founder of LGB Alliance, and employment and discrimination law barrister Naomi Cunningham.

This live event was co-hosted by WRN Wales and Merched Cymru.

If you enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to hear more, go to womensrights.network/wrn-podcast to listen, download and subscribe to more of our episodes.  

You can also find more news, articles and videos on our substack at https://womensrightsnetwork.substack.com

And if you’d like to join our live conversations, go to womensrights.network/join-wrn

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Step behind the scenes for an exclusive look at the work of the Women’s Rights Network (WRN) and hear directly about one of its most significant recent campaigns. 

This session offers a unique opportunity to learn about WRN’s extensive Freedom of Information venture, to hold local councils across the nation, to account over their unlawful policies and practices. 

Beginning in May 2025, the project was launched in response to the landmark ruling in the For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. 

Over months of investigation, WRN volunteers gathered evidence from councils across the country, exposing the scale of non-compliance with the law. 

This work ultimately culminated in the powerful exposé report “The Waiting Shame”, which brings together the findings of this nationwide inquiry and highlights the consequences of these policies for women. 
You will also hear about the other strategies and actions being undertaken by WRN regional groups to force the attention of councils that are failing to uphold the law. 
Among these is the widely discussed WRN Leeds Deposition, an initiative that rapidly gained national attention after going viral online. 

If you are a woman who would like to get involved in the incredible work of WRN, visit: www.womensrights.network/join-wrn. 
Membership is free, and WRN has regional groups across the entire UK, offering opportunities for women to collaborate, organise, and take action locally. 

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Useful Link: 

WRN Leeds Deposition to council: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkZO9Tswqo0

If you enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to hear more, go to womensrights.network/wrn-podcast to listen, download and subscribe to more of our episodes.  

You can also find more news, articles and videos on our substack at https://womensrightsnetwork.substack.com

And if you’d like to join our live conversations, go to womensrights.network/join-wrn

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Heather Binning hosts guest Menno Kuijper, better known to the world as Mr Menno.

Menno describes himself as a 'satirist, songwriter, performer, woo woo buster'.
 
Menno takes us through his profound personal journey from a young gay man sympathetic to a seemingly innocuous gender movement to his startling realisation that it is unapologetically motivated by homphobia and mysogyny.

A funny, honest, bittersweet account that is both touching and uplifting.

Useful links:

https://www.patreon.com/BadGaySuperGay

If you enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to hear more, go to womensrights.network/wrn-podcast to listen, download and subscribe to more of our episodes.  

You can also find more news, articles and videos on our substack at https://womensrightsnetwork.substack.com

And if you’d like to join our live conversations, go to womensrights.network/join-wrn

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Heather Binning is joined by Michael Foran, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Oxford and Tutorial Fellow at Keble College, specialising in public law, equality, and anti-discrimination law.

Drawing on cases including Sandie Peggie and the Good Law Project's latest challenge to EHRC guidance, Michael cuts through the legal complexity to explain — in plain language — what these developments mean and how they are being weighed by legal professionals.

He also offers practical advice for anyone facing discrimination from an employer, or being refused service by event organisers as a gender-critical individual or group.

Michael's first book, Equality Before the Law (Hart, 2023), won the Yorke Prize from Cambridge. His second book, Sex, Gender Identity, and the Law, is forthcoming from Cambridge University Press in 2026.

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Useful Links:

Michael’s Substack on the GLP appeal:  https://knowingius.org

Equality Act Schedule 3, Paragraph 26: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/schedule/3/paragraph/26/enacted/data.xht?view=snippet&wrap=true

The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-sector-equality-duty-guidance-for-public-authorities/public-sector-equality-duty-guidance-for-public-authorities

If you enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to hear more, go to womensrights.network/wrn-podcast to listen, download and subscribe to more of our episodes.  

You can also find more news, articles and videos on our substack at https://womensrightsnetwork.substack.com

And if you’d like to join our live conversations, go to womensrights.network/join-wrn

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This week, Heather Binning is joined by barrister Akua Reindorf KC to discuss the legal and institutional fallout from the Supreme Court’s April 2025 judgment. Akua was closely involved in the developments surrounding the case, both through her work as an Equality and Human Rights Commissioner and through her prominent role as a public legal commentator. 

Drawing on that experience, she reflects on the responsibilities of public bodies following a definitive ruling from the UK’s highest court. Akua argues that once the Supreme Court had clarified the law, public authorities and regulators had a clear and immediate duty to implement it promptly and transparently. 
Akua explains why, in her view, there is no legal justification for institutions to delay compliance or for the UK government to postpone the long-awaited Statutory Code of Practice, stressing that regulators cannot simply defer difficult decisions or wait for political consensus when the law itself has already been settled.

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Useful Links:

EHRC Codes of Practice: www.equalityhumanrights.com/equality/equality-act-2010/codes-practice/code-practice-services-public-functions-and-associations

Akua’s X account: @akuareindorf

If you enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to hear more, go to womensrights.network/wrn-podcast to listen, download and subscribe to more of our episodes.  

You can also find more news, articles and videos on our substack at https://womensrightsnetwork.substack.com

And if you’d like to join our live conversations, go to womensrights.network/join-wrn