Not all men are sexual predators, but almost all sexual predators are male.

Since sexual predators, by definition, have multiple victims, all women learn how it feels to be prey, most of us long before reaching adulthood.

The first time I was sexually molested by a male, I was six years old.

The first time I was sexually molested by an adult male, I was nine years old.

The first time I was sexually molested by a “trusted” adult professional, I was twelve years old.

The first time I narrowly avoided a credible risk of rape, I was fourteen.

There is nothing in these experiences that is even a little bit unique. Girls born in a world of wealth and privilege have a far better chance of being protected from sexual predators, which explains why some of them still think we should all #BeKind, but I suspect many of them have similar stories to tell anyway, because predatory men can be found in every demographic group.  

I cannot count the number of times I have been touched inappropriately by males without my consent. I know how it feels to be preyed upon. I know that the same mammalian instincts that evolved over millions of years to help keep us alive can be triggered in social situations by the only type of predator a modern female is likely to encounter: a human male. If a man enters a locker room or other single-sex space where a female is undressed or otherwise vulnerable, her fight-or-flight response is a serious biological signal, not “bigotry.” It is not a “social construct” that any person should ignore but a warning that should be attended to.  Training women and children to ignore such instincts can put the most vulnerable at an increased risk of sexual abuse.

The idea that men who pretend to be women are somehow less of a threat to female safety is not supported by any evidence. Quite the contrary, in fact. Men who take wrong-sex hormones are just as violent as other men. It does not matter whether these men take hormones or have surgery – they continue to be a statistically significant danger to females and their “gender identity” is irrelevant in this context. Sex, not gender, is the reason men who claim to be trans are unwelcome in single-sex spaces for females and sex is a trait that can never, ever be changed.

If you are a trans-identifying male and I find you in a single-sex space for females, I will ask you politely to leave and never come back, because you are trespassing. You are also violating one of our most important social contracts, and may be committing the crimes of both voyeurism (if any females are undressing) and/or indecency (if you expose male genitals to females.) I will contact the police and insist that the law be upheld. If police express reluctance, I will point out that refusing to uphold the law would be (in Canada) unlawful sex discrimination because such failures obviously cause disproportionate harm to females.

As for the “legal fiction” of “sex change” I think we must recognize that “mistakes were made” that have led to serious injustices. People who believe there’s no harm in gender self-identification have not thought through the consequences. Everyone who campaigned for self-ID is complicit in the rapes perpetrated by the men who were then admitted to women’s prisons. It’s time to acknowledge that the only way to end the gatekeeping so many trans people find distasteful, in a manner consistent with the principles of justice and respect for the fundamental human rights of females, is to deny all males access to all single sex-spaces for females, with no exceptions. I’m done being nice about this. It is time to #BeKindToFemales.