Women’s Rights Campaigners Target Huntingdon
By Katie J.B.
There was a sea of purple ribbons, tags and protest signs around Huntingdon this weekend as campaigners targeted the town. The signs were part of a nationwide protest by women under the hashtag #NotOurCrimes referencing the increase of crimes being recorded as committed by women due to police forces using gender identity rather than biological sex when recording crimes, and also the increasing number of male prisoners identifying as women and being moved to female prisons.
Protest signs outside Huntingdon police station.
The signs included ‘sex not gender’, ‘keep prisons single sex’ and the name ‘Karen White’, referring to a male convicted paedophile and rapist, who identified as transgender and was moved to a female prison where White sexually assaulted two female inmates before being moved back to a male prison.
The signs also encouraged viewers to ask their local MP Jonathan Djanogly, Mayor Nik Johnson and PCC Darryl Preston what they thought of mixed sex prisons, meaning that if prisoners are grouped according to gender identity rather than sex, then by default women’s prisons become mixed sex. Male prisons would remain single sex, however, as there have been no cases to date of biological women identifying as transmen requesting to be moved to male prisons.
The colour purple is a nod to the Suffragette’s colours of purple, white and green and has been used by feminists to symbolise women’s equality. The ribbons and signs appeared to be put on display on Friday evening and many were still visible Saturday outside the courthouse and police station, with some in the Chequers Court area too. No group appears to have claimed responsibility for the protest, although the hashtag #NotOurCrimes was trending on Twitter over the weekend.