Just before Christmas, the Scottish government’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill was rushed through the Scottish Parliament, with the help of Labour.

This significant legislation which could affect the entire UK, may yet still be stopped by the UK government before it gets Royal Assent, due to its potential impact across our borders.

Everyone should be whatever they want to be, we only have one life, but this bill raises serious concerns around women’s safety and the age you can obtain a gender recognition certificate, without medical diagnosis or parental consent.

Because of the rushed time frame, because certain amendments didn’t pass, this bill threatens to erode women’s safe spaces, like women refuges or in schools.

It is a shame that safeguards have to be in place, so that a small number of people don’t have the opportunities to potentially spoil it for the many, but the bill is so open to abuse, and those safeguards and the right process to obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate absolutely need to be in place. Women’s prisons being an obvious area of concern.

The changes in law pose a serious threat to safe spaces for females and women’s right to single-sex spaces. There are few safeguards within it to protect women and girls from biological males (who self-identify as women).

Written evidence, including evidence from the Women's Rights Network Scotland, has indicated that the absence of a medical diagnosis and a gender recognition panel, as well as lowering the waiting period from two years to three months, could lead to predatory males falsely claiming to be trans in order to take advantage of these changes to intrude into single-sex spaces, with the intention of abusing females.

This bill would lower the age to 16 and 17-year-olds being able to change gender without parental consent or a medical diagnosis. I also have an issue with this, as being a teenager is confusing and processes often irreversible.

This bill would also allow sex offenders to change their gender, without a medical diagnosis.

The bill is constitutionally unworkable and compromises the important work of organisations that provide single-sex services throughout Wales and the UK.

Having spent the past year speaking to women’s rights organisations throughout Wales and the UK, it’s apparent to me that this could be seen as a direct assault on women’s rights - which have been hard-fought and won over many decades.

I echo the concerns of the UK government and many others - including the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls - around the serious impact, this piece of legislation could have on women and children across the UK.

There has to be some sense about this. There have to be proper checks in place - not because anyone wants to stop people from living how they want, but to be sure we don’t put mothers, wives, sisters, daughters and friends at risk.