Reem Alsalem

"[It] would potentially open the door for violent males who identify as men to abuse the process of acquiring a gender certificate and the rights that are associated with it. [...] This presents potential risks to the safety of women in all their diversity (including women born female, transwomen, and gender non-conforming women)."

"[The proposals] do not sufficiently take into consideration the specific needs of women and girls in all their diversity, particularly those at risk of male violence and those who have experienced male violence, as it does not provide for any safeguarding measures to ensure that the procedure is not, as far as can be reasonably assured, abused by sexual predators and other perpetrators of violence."

"What I was saying was that there is no right — and I repeated that again and again — to self-ID and that self-ID also, when it is so unregulated, leads to negative consequences for specific groups of women based on their sex."

"Where there is a contradiction or a conflict we have to give consideration to the rights of women based on sex in these specific circumstances. In the letter I named a few — for example women in prisons, shelters from victims of violence."

"We have seen numerous instances in which the presence of just one male on a female team is enough to knock women and girls off the podium. Moreover, allowing athletes born male to compete in women’s and girls’ sports also dramatically heightens the vulnerability of female athletes to injury. Regrettably, the fear of experiencing such harm can and does result in women and girls choosing to self-exclude themselves from participation."

"[N]ot only disappointed but also very concerned about this dystopian ruling ... which distorts key concepts like sex and discrimination while dodging Australia's international human rights obligations vis-à-vis women."