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Has Feminism made women more free? - WRN National Conference 2026

It's tempting to think that the big problems of women's inequality have been solved, but is this true or have the problems simply changed?

Is life better for young women than their mothers, or do they just have different challenges?

When feminists strove for equality, they wanted to remove the barriers that prevented women from engaging fully in society - they wanted us to be able to work after marriage if we choose, to have bank accounts, be able to borrow money or start businesses, buy property and travel without male approval. That equality of opportunity has morphed into expecting women to operate in the world as if we are men, without regard to the differences between sexes.

WRN's Emma Thomas chairs this panel, which includes:
- Rosie Duffield MP - Independent MP for Canterbury
- Susanna Rustin - Author of “Sexed: A History of British Feminism”
- Victoria Smith - Author of “Hags” and “Unkind”
- Maeve Halligan - Co-founder of Cambridge University Women’s Society

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In April 2026, Féile an Phobail (Festival of the People) accepted a proposal from Women's Rights Network Northern Ireland (WRN_NI) to hold a panel event 'Respect, Rights & Reality' as part of that year's festival programme.

With just two weeks to go before the event, Feile cancelled WRN_NI. You may have seen some press coverage about the attempts that the women of WRN_NI made to have the event reinstated.

The event was ultimately held in a Belfast hotel to a much larger audience, and to much acclaim.

This is a recording of that event. Enjoy!

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Is the social contract between women and the State broken? - Women and the Law - WRN National Conference 2026

Over the last decade+, public bodies and employers embedded policies and procedures that impacted women and girls and their relationship with those organisations. As the public sector became overtaken by ideology, there has been an erosion of women’s rights. Promotion of ‘critical theory’ over actual equality/social justice.

For Women Scotland seemed like a watershed moment for women’s rights, yet for over a year, the Government that claims they are committed to upholding the rights of women and girls failed to lay the EHRC Guidance before parliament.

Our panel of Susan Smith (For Women Scotland), Maya Forstater (Sex Matters), Professor Jo Phoenix and Akua Reindorf KC discussed, with Emma Hartley chairing at the WRN National conference in 2026.

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Kathleen Richardson is the Author of Sex Robots The end of love, Professor of Ethics and Culture of Robots & AI at De Montfort University. Kathleen joined our afternoon panel at the Derby Women’s Festival in May 2026 - an event organised by the Women’s Rights Network Derby and Staffordshire group.

Kathleen chaired our morning session - Mother - and gave a speech in our afternoon session on the Child with her talk Abolishing child abuse: building a politics of love through I-you attachment.

The event gave Kathleen the chance to debate and network with the audience and other speakers - Sorcha Nic Lochlainn from The Countess, Ruth Lewis from MoMa Breastfeeding Lexi Ellingsworth from Stop Surrogacy Now, Jennifer Gourley from Protect and Teach, and Stephanie Davies-Arai from Transgender Trend

#DerbyWomensFestival

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Heather Binning is joined by two of the Darlington Nurses - lead claimant Bethany Hutchison and Lisa Lockey.

In 2023, eight nurses from the Day Surgery Unit at Darlington Memorial Hospital filed a discrimination claim against County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust for for sexual harassment and sex discrimination.

Female staff were forced to share their female changing room with Rose Henderson, a male member of staff. Henderson was described by the tribunal as "a biological male who identifies as female and has the protected characteristic of gender reassignment".

The Employment Tribunal ruled that the NHS unlawfully discriminated against and harassed the nurses by requiring them to share female-only changing rooms with a male member of staff, and confirmed that the Trust's policy allowing men into women's spaces was unlawful and violated the rights of female staff.

Bethany and Lisa speak candidly about what drove them to take action and the underhand tactics deployed by management before and during the tribunal.

Hear first-hand accounts of the highs and lows of their legal battle and how some colleagues, through fear or pressure, have distanced themselves from the women.

Bethany also discusses the newly formed Darlington Nursing Union, founded to help other medical professionals fight unlawful treatment.

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Useful Links:

Twitter: @DarlingtonUnion
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Darlington-Nursing-Union-61566543745560/
Email: info@darlingtonnursingunion.uk

Christian Legal Centre: https://christianconcern.com/about/services/christian-legal-centre/

Tribunal Transcript: https://tribunaltweets.substack.com/p/eight-nurses-v-county-durham-and

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If you would like to apply to JOIN the Women’s Rights Network, please visit https://www.womensrights.network/join-wrn

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.

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Heather Binning is joined by Nick Wallis, one of the UK's most distinguished investigative journalists.
Nick's groundbreaking work on the Post Office scandal followed by his book, The Great Post Office Scandal, has received widespread praise for its detailed and compelling account.

Today, Nick lifts the lid on the frustrating roadblocks he continues to encounter in the media sector, and why he believes journalists collectively are still failing to expose what he considers the greatest scandal of a generation - the capture of institutions and the medical harms emanating from gender ideology.

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Useful Links -

Nick’s website: https://nickwallis.com/
Twitter and Instagram: @nickwallis

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You can apply to JOIN your local Women’s Right’s Network group at https://www.womensrights.network/join-wrn

Membership is free.

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.

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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.

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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