A Woman’s Place is whistle blowing

We are excited to invite you to an evening of informed discussion, focusing on the many issues and implications around children and young people expressing a gender identity.

We are delighted to hear our expert panel who can share their experiences of whistle blowing, and their concerns around the medicalisation of children from their unique perspectives.

Our Speakers

Sonia Appleby is a psychoanalytical psychotherapist. Until recently she was the director of child safeguarding at the Tavistock and Portman trust. She was awarded compensation after an employment tribunal ruled the NHS’s Tavistock and Portman trust’s treatment of her damaged her professional reputation and “prevented her from proper work on safeguarding”.

Stephanie Davies-Arai is the founder and director of TransgenderTrend, the leading UK organisation calling for evidence-based healthcare for gender dysphoric children and science-based teaching in schools. She was shortlisted for the John Maddox science prize in 2018 for her schools guide Supporting gender diverse and trans-identified students in schools. She founded My Body Is Me Publishing, dedicated to creating and promoting resources for children, young people and those that support them. In 2022 she received a British Empire Medal for services to children in the Queen’s Jubilee Birthday Honours list. Communication skills trainer and author of Communicating with Kids.

Sue Evans is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist. She trained as a state general and then psychiatric nurse and worked for nearly 40 years in the NHS, in a variety of mental health services, including the national gender identity service for children where she blew the whistle in 2005 due to clinical concerns around the medicalisation of patients with gender dysphoria. She is a member of the British Psychotherapy Foundation, the London Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Service, and is registered with the British Psychoanalytic Council. She is co-author of the book Gender Dysphoria: A Therapeutic model for children, adolescents and young adults.

Rachel Rooney is a trained teacher in both Primary and Special Education. She taught for many years in a variety of educational settings and across all age ranges, but with a particular interest in autism. She is also an award-winning children’s poet with four poetry collections and a number of rhyming picture books to her name. Until recently, she worked as a visiting poet in schools. My Body is Me! a body positive picture book for very young children (illustrated by Jessica Ahlberg) was published by TransgenderTrend in 2019.

Chair: Lucy Masoud is a barrister, feminist campaigner and a former firefighter. As a firefighter Lucy campaigned against mixed sex changing rooms on fire stations, and was also heavily involved in the fight for justice for the survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire. Lucy is currently a family barrister who specialises in representing female victims of domestic violence.

About us

Woman’s Place UK exists because violence against women and sex discrimination still exist. Women need reserved places, separate spaces and distinct services. You can follow us on twitter, facebook, insta and watch our previous meetings on our YouTube channel.

The Event

Our meeting will be held in a central Lewes location. Venue details will be released to ticket holders on the day of the event. The event is fully accessible and has refreshment facilities.