© RT
SWS is an important new group desperate for women's voices to be heard, rather than to be drowned out by militant trans activists, in the fight to ensure their rights are not further eroded.
Based in the US, it has members of all classes and ethnicities, but some have a serious problem - such is the current climate of intimidation, they feel compelled to remain anonymous for fear of ramifications.
This frustration chimes with Sovereign Women Speak founder April Morrow, who admits to being railroaded into representing beliefs that don't mirror her own. Speaking to RT.com, she said, "It's affected me personally at the university I teach at. I am being forced to use pronouns and if I don't, I will lose my job. I'm being forced into an ideology that I don't believe in or I become unemployed."
The incident that saw Morrow nearly lose her job happened following a book reading by author Derrick Jensen.
Morrow explained, "He is an ally to women on this issue, and there were almost 100 [trans] activists who came in and totally destroyed his event, shutting him down because he supports women. He should have been able to read from his books.
"The next event I went to, I saw the same thing - it was a pattern. They do not want us speaking the truth, they want us to remain silent and they do everything in their power to keep us silent. They have the right to speak but every time we try to have an event, they come and shut us down. That's scary."
Angered by the disturbance, Morrow went to the Democratic National Convention in Wisconsin to vocalise her concerns, and explained, "I made a video and put it on YouTube and that's how I almost lost my job at Pacific Lutheran University, where I've taught for over a decade. Some of the students saw a video that I had made fighting for the rights of women. I couldn't believe I almost lost my job over that, so it's been a real awakening."
SWS believes that some women do not appreciate the seriousness of the threat to female rights posed by the trans community.
And there are members who are worried that their concerns will be dismissed as overreactions. One, Heather Scalzi, explained, "Now is the time. If we don't stand up, we lose completely. We can't wait six months - this has to be spoken about and the word has to be spread."
This fear has been exacerbated due to it becoming socially easier to identify as another gender. Everyone is entitled to be who they want to be, but Scalzi feels the growing influence of the trans lobby is impacting on women massively. She explained, "I'm a three-year midwifery student and I've been asked to change all my language in the way that I deal with women. People can be who they want to be, dress how they want to dress, feel how they want to feel, but the reality is that women are women, and men are men - and there's not a biological way to change that."
She continued, "I have a really dear friend who has stopped speaking to me. The reality is he can come into any bathroom he wants - I can't stop him. I can't really say anything about it, so I just have to allow it to happen, which is not OK.
"As much I'd like to say, 'I'm sorry you're being traumatized in the males' bathroom, but this is not the space for you', I can't, as it's illegal for me to ask them not to be in the bathroom. We've been told to be quiet and we don't want to 'wheesht' - and we won't."
The reference to 'wheesht' relates to the court case of Scottish woman Marion Millar, accused of posting transphobic and homophobic messages on social media.
Her supporters use #WomenWontWheesht to show solidarity, as the word is a colloquial term in Scotland meaning 'shut up.' SWS came to many people's attention when they posted a video chanting the message to raise awareness for their global campaign.
Morrow said, "A lot of people are unaware of what's going on with gender ideology, not just here in the United States but all over. This is being shoved down the throats of our children. It needs to be addressed and the conversation needs to be had.
"Women have lost their sex-based rights and a lot of women don't even know that - they don't understand the implications of what it means for us and the impact of what it will bring to women in the next five years. This is just the beginning and we are already seeing a nightmare."
One obvious area of contention has been the use of bathrooms. Laws are different around the world over whether trans people can enter the toilet of their choice.
But, for Scalzi, this undermines what it means to be a woman. She explained: "What if a pregnant woman suddenly suffers a miscarriage? They need to be in the bathroom and have a safe space. Or something has happened to them - they've been accosted at a bar. Again, they need to have a safe space.
"Women and girls can be gawked-at by men asking how do you use a tampon, or digging through our sanitary baskets. It's horrendous, and we deserve our privacy."
One solution could be to create a third bathroom, but would it then be fair to put trans men and trans women together?
It's a microcosm of an issue where it is extremely complex to find a balance for everyone.
However, Morrow stresses she believes that gender dysphoria is valid. She said, "Our younger generation of women and men are being pushed into this corporate agenda that is making a ton of money off trans-ing and giving wrong sex hormones to 12-year-olds.
"Gender dysphoria is real and tough to get through, but you're going to get through it and be way better off if you don't mutilate your body or take cross sex hormones, and get proper care and love. Like everything I do in life, I come from a place of love and SWS was built from a place of love."
That addresses one obvious criticism of activism in this space, as so much hate speech floods around it. People can be attacked on social media, lose their jobs or even be physically assaulted.
This toxicity is something SWS wants to avoid, but Scalzi admits the group will not be forced out of the debate. She said, "We've been told to be nice for a long time and just stop, as we're 'hurting people's feelings.' But nobody is taking into consideration how women are being hurt and how they are being damaged.
"I have daughters, I have a granddaughter, and this is something that's going to affect them in their lifetime if we don't stand up. Being nice about it isn't always the answer - we're kind and do come from a place of love but we're not going to back down. We would like to have kind, considerate, respectful discussions, but it doesn't always happen."
There's also a feeling that the situation would not have been allowed to develop in the way it has if it was men's rights that were being affected.
Scalzi said, "There's no way that men are going through the same kind of travesties that women are going through at this time. Our rights are being taken back hundreds of years. There used to be this thing called the 'bathroom leash' [where] women couldn't go as far as they felt comfortable from a bathroom, as we didn't have [many] women's bathrooms.
"It's been less than 100 years that women have even had their own bathrooms, own protections, sports rooms and places to be. Now we're being threatened with our jobs and being stuck back in our house because if we try to have a voice, we are silenced all over the place."
And, Morrow reiterated, "If men were going through this right now, there would be blood and war - there is no way they would stand by and allow this. What is the answer? Well, giving up women's rights is not the answer."
Chris Sweeney is an author and columnist who has written for newspapers such as The Times, Daily Express, The Sun and Daily Record, along with several international-selling magazines. Follow him on Twitter @Writes_Sweeney
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