‘NHS, Whitehall and sports bodies fail women – despite year to get act together’

A year on from the unanimous Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland v. Scottish Ministers that affirmed “man” and “woman” as biological categories under the Equality Act, men are still participating in women’s and girls’ sport. Following that landmark April 2025 judgment, organisations across the UK rightly revised their eligibility policies to reflect the scientific reality that men and women have irreversible physical differences, which cannot be negated by any “self-identification” or “Gender Recognition Certificate.” You are the sex that you were born as, and nothing can ever change that.

Nevertheless, a recent investigation revealed that almost 400 public bodies—including NHS trusts and Whitehall departments—in England and Wales have failed to act on the ruling, sending a clear message to women and girls across the country: your safety, opportunities, and achievements come second place to the preferences of men who want to identify as women.

Perhaps nowhere is this more apparent than in the sporting world, where female categories still do not enjoy basic protection, particularly at the amateur level. In the UK, men can still access women’s talent pathways up to the national level in rounders, and men can still set women’s records in recreational runs.

After years of ambiguity, it was a relief to see the International Olympic Committee’s new policy reserve participation in female-category Olympic sport for women, ensuring fairness and reflecting scientific consensus at the highest level. Yet many women around the world are still fighting for their own sports and spaces.

A recent UN Report found that female athletes worldwide have lost nearly 900 medals to men who have intruded into their sports.

In the United States, over half of the states have now enacted laws protecting female sports from male intrusion. These laws are designed to prevent males from topping podiums in female sport competitions, pushing women further down the ranks in their own category, and eroding the academic and career ambitions of would-be scholarship athletes.

The US Supreme Court is expected to soon rule on two key cases involving challenges to these laws. Idaho and West Virginia, together with Alliance Defending Freedom, asked the Supreme Court to allow these states to enforce their laws protecting fairness in women’s sports.

In the West Virginia case, for example, the male athlete plaintiff has displaced 423 girls more than 1,000 times. Here in the UK, ADF International and the Women’s Sports Union have sent a joint letter to sporting bodies that have failed to protect the female category even after For Women Scotland, warning of legal ramifications if they do not act.

Our message is simple: every woman and every girl have the right to compete on a fair and safe playing field. Allowing men into women’s sports denies women equal opportunities and places female athletes in physical danger. And the right to privacy is flouted every time a man is allowed inside intimate spaces like showers or locker rooms. Every girl deserves to know that she has a fair shot.

The UK Supreme Court’s ruling last year was unambiguous and must be acted upon now to protect women and girls at all levels of sport. The judgment clarifies Section 195 of the Equality Act 2010, which together with draft guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, obliges governing bodies to protect the female category for women in any activity where the physical attributes of one sex would give them competitive advantages over the other.

There is a legal obligation to protect women’s sport categories across the UK, including in Northern Ireland, where the Supreme Court’s decision has also provided authoritative clarification that “man” and “woman” are biological categories under the unique equality legislation in place there.

Males generally have greater muscle mass and bone density, in addition to wider shoulders and longer limbs. They have approximately 30-40% higher oxygen intake capacity, translating to a 10-15% endurance advantage. In running events, men consistently outperform women by around 10-12%.

The biological differences between men and women are so pronounced that they are even recognised as producing a competitive advantage in pool and darts.

Men and women are equal in dignity, yet different in design which demands sex-specific categories. That’s why we yesterday formally warned ten sporting bodies across a range of disciplines that their policies are in breach of the law: the Football Association of Wales, the Royal Yachting Association, Swim England, British Powerlifting, Parkrun, the British Baseball Federation, BaseballSoftballUK, Rounders England, British Gymnastics and the Irish Football Association, which governs football in Northern Ireland.

We are committed to protecting women and will pursue all legal remedies to ensure that every girl in the UK can pursue a future in sport without fear of being disadvantaged, harmed, or displaced by a man pretending to be a woman.

Female sports belong to female athletes. We hope that this critical legal initiative – backed by legal experts and elite sportswomen – will be a means to secure the protection and equality that all women deserve – at all levels of sport, as in all areas of life.

Sharron Davies MBE (@sharrond62) is an Olympic medallist, Conservative member of the House of Lords and CEO of the Women’s Sports Union

Kristen Waggoner (@KristenWaggoner) is CEO, President & Chief Counsel of Alliance Defending Freedom, which is currently litigating two cases before the US Supreme Court to protect women’s and girls’ sport