Australian Feminists for Women's Rights

Who we are:

Australian Feminists for Women’s Rights (AF4WR) is an incorporated association of left-wing feminists who campaign for the sex-based rights of women and girls, within the broader struggle for a more just and equal society.

Our mission:

Women and girls must have full and equal recognition and participation in society – politically, economically and culturally. We advocate for evidence-based protections in law, policy and all social interactions, to enable and acknowledge our rights and needs specific to our sex.

Read our full manifesto here.

Feminist run women's refuges were one of many casualties of the Howard/Abbott attack on grassroots community support services across sectors and across the country that culminated in the devastating 2014 Joe Hockey budget under Abbott.

Join us in Sydney for our IWD Conference 5-7 March 2026!

We have a fabulous lineup of speakers and evening entertainment. Our special guest is Jenny Lindsay, award-winning Scottish feminist performance poet and author of Hounded: Women, Harms and the Gender Wars. Please get in touch at [email protected] for more information or go straight to registration via the QR code in the image.

The Albanese government secretly intervened in international forums against the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, over her support for women’s ­­sex-based rights, newly released documents suggest.

Obtained under freedom of ­information laws, the documents reveal the government’s handpicked ambassador for gender equality, Stephanie Copus Campbell, told an audience of public servants in September last year that Ms Alsalem had “taken a fairly difficult position on transgender rights in a way that doesn’t conform with our views”.

Ms Copus Campbell – whose term as ambassador ended in August, but was then a senior envoy in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade – told the group “we are directly engaging through various different mechanisms” to deal with the concerns about Ms Alsalem.

The next part of the ambassador’s “fireside chat” was redacted from the transcript at the request of DFAT on the grounds that “its disclosure would, or could reasonably be expected to, cause damage to the international relations of the commonwealth”.

Ms Alsalem has taken a strong stand against trans activist ideology and an intervention by the federal government against her work would mark a turning point in its bid to keep out of the issue and spark a potentially embarrassing public spat with the UN.

Ms Alsalem has requested an urgent meeting with Australia’s permanent mission to the UN in Geneva, saying that while governments are entitled to disagree with special rapporteurs “they must always respect our independence and not seek to undermine our work and our ability to speak our mind”.

[Image: a photograph of Ms Copus Campbell with Foreign Minister Penny Wong]

“My door has always been open to any government to have a constructive discussion on my positions and my interpretations of their international and regional obligations towards women and girls,” she said.

Ms Alsalem said the moves “shed light on the broader context in which also the Sex Discrimination Commissioner acted”, after The Australian revealed this week that Sex Discrimination Commissioner Anna Cody queried whether Ms Alsalem’s reappointment as UN special rapporteur could be blocked.

Ms Alsalem had challenged Ms Cody’s submission to the Federal Court in the Tickle v Giggle discrimination case that transgender women are women and that the prohibition against gender identity discrimination was consistent with the UN’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

Ms Alsalem argues that under the UN treaty, the term “gender” referred to two sexes, male and female, and the term “woman” referred to a biological female.

Anthony Albanese has continuously tried to avoid talking about transgender issues, saying in 2022 and 2023 that he defined a woman as “a human female” and that was “not a hard question to answer”.

After Scott Morrison tried to make the issue of trans women in female sports a political issue in 2022, his successor Peter Dutton also avoided talking about it publicly despite concerns from his party MPs about the growing encroachment on women’s rights.

After the last election, Health Minister Mark Butler launched a review into best practices for ­gender-distressed children due for mid-2026. But only this week, Mr Butler claimed puberty blockers were a state matter despite his own review.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong declined to answer specific questions from The Australian about whether it was appropriate for the Australian government to be intervening against Ms Alsalem, or how the government’s ­position on transgender rights differed from that of Ms Alsalem.

A DFAT spokesperson said: “The Australian government recognises that UN special rapporteurs play an important role in promoting discussion and dialogue and that their impartiality is important to the credibility of international accountability mechanisms. Our engagement on gender equality in multilateral forums is based on our commitment to international law, the multilateral system, and universal human rights.

Ms Copus Campbell’s remarks were made in a “fireside chat” with senior public servants from the Department of Education and the Department of Employment.

Affiliation of Australian Women’s Advocacy Alliances founder Megan Poore said the transcript “revealed a number of deeply concerning things from our perspective about the government’s approach to women’s sex-based protections and rights”.

“Rather than engaging directly with the special rapporteur to understand her views and her evidence-based analysis on issues affecting women and girls, the government appears to be directly engaging with selected parties to counter her position,” Dr Poore said.

“If the government maintains that ‘sex’ within CEDAW includes males who identify as women, it owes Australian women transparency about when, how, and under whose authority this interpretation shifted or was adopted.

“This matters because CEDAW was drafted to protect women on the basis of our biological sex. Any redefining of who qualifies as members of that protected class would fundamentally alter the treaty’s purpose and Australia’s obligations.”

Most witches were women, as witch hunts were mostly about persecuting the powerless.

The idea of witches has been re-branded since their ancient origins in pagan culture where they helped ward off ghosts and spirits.

"Across New England, where witch trials occurred somewhat regularly from 1638 until 1725, women vastly outnumbered men in the ranks of the accused and executed. According to author Carol F. Karlsen’s “The Devil in the Shape of a Woman,” 78% of 344 alleged witches in New England were female."

Save the date!

IWD Conference, Sydney, 5-7 March 2026.

AF4WR is honoured to have been invited by IWD Meanjin Brisbane to host the IWD conferences from 2026 onwards. The next conference will be in Sydney on 5-7 March next year, with an optional activity planned for International Women's Day on 8 March.

To join the mailing list for the conference please email [email protected].

Some good news from Brazil.

Image description under the cut.

The story below has been shared by one of our AF4WR members playing in the AFL Women's competition and highlights the persecution being experienced by women in Australia who refuse to use the language of gender ideology.

This year I signed up to play my first season of AFL football. I never took an interest in sport when I was younger because my only experience playing it was in PE class where the boys completely dominated the game and the girls were left standing around because we weren't strong enough or fast enough for them to bother passing us the ball. Now in my 20s, after a couple of years of casual running and weightlifting I finally felt like I was ready to participate in a team sport. The increased availability of women's competitions compared to ten years ago also influenced this decision.

I ended up choosing AFL instead of soccer in part due to becoming aware of the Flying Bats scandal and not wanting to subject myself to the physical risk when my team would be almost certain to lose anyway. The team I joined has many wonderful people who completely embraced me as one of their own.

Then we played Newtown, whose women's team on this occasion included a biological male. In the back of my mind I had assumed this day would come eventually, but that didn't make me any more prepared for when it did.

On the field, when I heard this player speak, my gut instinct was that it was the male umpire talking. The voice was indistinguishable from a regular man's. He towered over everyone else on the field, his tackles hit harder and his kicks were longer. The only saving grace for our team was his lack of accuracy. I did not play to the best of my ability as I would have against an all-female team, instead I modified my game in order to keep a greater distance from this player and avoid contact with him at all costs.

One of our players came off the field crying from frustration because of the strength with which this man hit her. Another sustained an injury from this male player that has taken her out of the game for weeks if not for the rest of the season. I overheard what I believe was one of the injured players complaining to our coach, but the coach responded that "her" hits were "completely legal".