JK Rowling [US Federal Government CC 0 1.0]

• OPRAH Winfrey said, “it takes a while to develop a voice, but once you have it, you damn better use it on stuff that matters”.

It was disappointing that no one added their voice to the letter (Women’s spaces, November 4).

This stuff matters because females and their needs are being devalued.

Future female Olympians may never begin their journey if girls avoid local swimming baths because a visit would mean changing in sight of a male.

Females are often made to feel that there is something wrong with them if they listen to instincts evolved by nature to help them survive.

An access-all-areas policy may mean that abused females will feel unable to use women’s refuges, and pregnant women needing to access a toilet may not feel confident of their safety as they need to partially disrobe.

Why are females having to fight for the common sense right to have female-only safe spaces, when male-only clubs in London don’t face the same storm?

For every good person who self-identifies as a woman, there will be another who wishes to don garb that children trust, to gain access to them.

As a survivor, I and many females wish to protect both child and mother. Loo cubicles are narrow so mums needing to go, can’t take all their children in.

At present these females-only spaces offer protection to children. It’s taken females centuries to obtain any rights, including those to their own children.

In the 1970s a woman could not sign a hire purchase agreement, but any man could.

Abused females, who had paid into the system, were refused social security support, and told to seek this from their husbands.

Up to recently period products were classed as a luxury and financially penalised.

We are lucky to have JK Rowling acting as punchbag to protect females.

History tends to repeat itself when we don’t listen.

Unfortunately many movements attract the unwanted attention of those wishing to fulfil their own agendas.

In the 1980s paedophiles attached themselves to the unsuspecting LGBT movement and, riding on its coat-tails while shouting down anyone who tried to raise the alarm, nearly obtained use of a building and financial support.

By whistle-blowing I stopped them. There are reasons for taboos.

Dressing teddy bears in bondage gear and requiring innocent children to clutch them while being fashion photographed is a scurrilous attack on child safety norms.

The Wallace Collection has male / female labelled individual toilets, in a short corridor, open both ends and very brightly lit. Each cubicle has a stout door with good locking mechanisms and washing / drying facilities within.

But they would not be suitable if a mum had to leave some of her children outside in the traffic flow.

RÓISÍN NÍ ĊURRÁIN, N1