Women's Platform for Action International

It's a social construct
Gender
Icon gender.svg
Spectra and binaries
v - t - e
“”The UK Supreme Court knows what a woman is
—Women's Platform for Action International[1]

Women's Platform for Action International (WoPAI) is a Sweden-based international anti-transgender and anti-gender group founded in 2025 by the Swedish Women’s Lobby and the European Network of Migrant Women. It describes itself as a promoter of “sex-based rights,” an anti-trans pseudolegal concept used by gender-critical activists to oppose transgender inclusion in legal and social definitions of womanhood. WoPAI campaigns against what it calls the “queer agenda” and “pro-gender movement” in academia and NGOs.[2] This language reflects a broader populist, anti-intellectual framing common in anti-gender movements.

The group is closely aligned with the broader anti-gender movement and includes among its members several organizations with ties to the far-right, most notably the SPLC-designated hate group Women's Declaration International (WDI). WoPAI shares its secretary-general (Susannah Sjöberg), address, and infrastructure with the Swedish Women’s Lobby, positioning itself as an international hub for exporting gender-critical and anti-trans ideology.

Opposing the "queer agenda"

Launched in 2024, it purports to be "a unified voice for a global women's movement" and, eerily reminiscent of MAGA politics, to "put women and girls first."[3] The organization states that it promotes "sex-based rights", a TERF dogwhistle and anti-trans pseudolegal concept, and claims to oppose an alleged "pro-gender movement" in academia and NGOs, as well as "queer, postmodern, or neoliberal agendas of liberal and leftist origin." The language about "the queer agenda" refers to an anti-LGBT+ conspiracy theory popular among far-right and anti-gender activists and is borrowed from the old homophobic trope "the gay agenda." WoPAI positions itself as opposing "large civil society organizations that claim to be feminist" and "non-legal and not agreed upon by the international community concepts of ‘gender identity’." It explicitly defines itself as a counterweight to mainstream women's organizations, bringing together organizations that promote "sex-based rights", that is, TERF ideology. Though they claim to oppose both sides of the political spectrum, their platform and messaging consistently center on attacking the left, revealing a deep animosity and ideological fixation that is rarely directed at the right.[2]

“”Spreading all over the world are also states, organisations, interests and ideologies that position themselves as “progressives” but, in fact, are too rolling back women's rights. Neoliberal, relativist, left-labeled agendas rooted in the exploitation and subjugation of women are being institutionalised. These actors have codified postmodern identity based ideologies and theories which harm women’s rights. They claim that being a woman is a matter of opinion (...) They say that a floating gender replaces sex.
—Political platform of Women's Platform for Action International[2]

The Swedish Women’s Lobby and the European Network of Migrant Women conceived of the organization as an international umbrella organization for the TERF movement, which they refer to as the women's movement, although most women's organizations reject their transphobia and far-right alliances. Both the Swedish Women's Lobby and the European Network of Migrant Women themselves started out innocuously, without a specific transphobic platform, but were later radicalized into increasingly extreme anti-trans groups, especially as the anti-gender movement gained momentum in the 2020s.

WoPAI is closely associated with Women's Declaration International (WDI), an SPLC-designated hate group that is aligned with Trumpist, alt-right and fascist movements, and appears to be heavily influenced by it, particularly in its strategic appropriation of feminist language and concepts. Like WDI, it seems to deliberately craft an air of faux legitimacy by adopting an official-sounding name that echoes official United Nations frameworks or documents, merely tacking on “International” to give the impression of being an authoritative global body. Indeed, one of WoPAI's two founding organizations,[4] the Brussels-based TERF group European Network of Migrant Women, is listed as one of WDI’s “supporting organizations.”[5] WDI's Swedish branch XXantippas Vrede is also a member the Swedish Women's Lobby.[6]

In its first action, the group launched a declaration of support[7] for well-known TERF and WDI supporter[8] Reem Alsalem, which was framed as a counter-declaration to a 2025 open letter by 230 recognized women's groups spearheaded by Planned Parenthood and Women Deliver condemning Alsalem's long track record of transphobia, that includes appearances at anti-trans events organized by Alliance Defending Freedom, an SPLC-designated far-right anti-LGBT+ hate group.[9]

WoPAI has praised the ongoing attacks on transgender rights in the United Kingdom, including the British courts’ assertion that women are defined solely as "biological women". The group stated that "the UK Supreme Court knows what a woman is", echoing well-known anti-trans rhetoric. WoPAI is urging other countries to adopt similar positions.[1]

Analysis

WoPAI is a reactionary, anti-trans group that cosplays as a women’s rights organization to push a biologically essentialist and deeply conservative and even far-right agenda. It is not a continuation of inclusive feminist legacies, but a strategic appropriation of feminist language that stands in direct opposition to the core principles of feminist thought. Through its name and branding, it co-opts feminist discourse while promoting exclusionary slogans like “putting women and girls first” and “sex-based rights,” which are rooted in anti-trans ideology rather than feminism. In doing so, it empties feminist rhetoric of its intersectional and liberatory content, weaponizing it to justify rigid gender binaries and target trans and queer communities. WoPAI’s rejection of “gender ideology” and promotion of pseudolegal and pseudoscientific concepts places it squarely within a broader global anti-gender movement tied to authoritarian, nationalist, and religious fundamentalist agendas. By imitating the structure and tone of official UN platforms, WoPAI masquerades as a legitimate authority on women’s rights while in fact advancing a fringe backlash against gender equality. Far from defending women, it seeks to roll back hard-won rights and undermine decades of intersectional feminist progress, harming the very people feminism exists to protect.

Member organizations

The member organizations are a who's who of TERFism and include Women's Declaration International, FiLiA, European Network of Migrant Women, For Women Scotland, and other well-known TERF groups.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The UK Supreme court knows what a woman is – now the rest of the world must follow, Women's Platform for Action International (WoPAI)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Why Wopai is needed (archived)
  3. ↑ Women's Platform for Action International
  4. ↑ We are launching Wopai
  5. ↑ Supporting organizations
  6. ↑ Medlemsorganisationer
  7. ↑ CALL FOR A GLOBAL ACTION OF SUPPORT FOR UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, Ms Reem Alsalem
  8. ↑ "Rights For Me, Not For Thee: How Anti-Trans Feminists Took Their Advocacy to the United Nations". While their past attempts had failed, WDI and their supporters saw their biggest success in late 2022: getting the ear of Reem Alsalem
  9. ↑ Joint Statement Concerning the Call for Input by the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls
  10. ↑ Who we are
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