Women's Shelters and Safety: Why Biological Sex Requires Careful Policy

Anyone fleeing domestic or sexual violence needs more than a bed and a secret address. A women's shelter must be a place where survivors and their children are physically safe, but can also relax, sleep, shower, talk and recover without being constantly on alert. It is precisely in this practical context that biological sex matters. Recognising this does not have to be a judgment on transgender people. It is, however, necessary to develop policies that take into account the different safety and recovery needs of everyone involved.

Women's shelters are specialised safety services

Domestic violence shelters and other forms of women's shelter are intended for people who have left their home because of acutely or structurally unsafe circumstances, including physical, psychological and sexual violence. Residents often arrive with children, few possessions and under severe stress. Shelters provide calm, support, confidentiality and assistance with healthcare, income, legal steps and housing, among other things. The Dutch government emphasises that women's shelters are intended to provide victims of violence with a safe temporary place to stay and a new foundation.

Regelhulp, a service of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, explicitly describes women's shelters as facilities for victims of domestic violence, often together with their children. The quality framework for social care and women's shelters also states that safety encompasses both actual safety and the perception of safety. Calm, privacy, professional boundaries and the protection of children are part of this as well.

This matters because trauma is not determined solely by a new, objectively identifiable danger. Someone who has experienced sexual violence, coercion or prolonged abuse may feel unsafe in situations that others consider ordinary: a shared bathroom, a corridor at night, physical proximity or the presence of someone who reminds her of a male perpetrator. Recovery therefore does not require residents to first prove that their fear is "reasonable". The shelter must take that vulnerability as its starting point.

What biological sex means in this context

Biological sex refers to physical characteristics associated with reproduction and sexual development, such as chromosomes, hormones and reproductive organs. In most people, these characteristics form a predominantly male or female pattern; there are also people with variations in sex characteristics. Gender identity concerns a person's inner experience and social identification as a woman, man, both or neither. Both concepts deserve a respectful approach, but they are not the same.

Sex may be relevant in women's shelters because the service has historically and practically been organised around violence that disproportionately affects women at the hands of male partners or acquaintances. This is not only about statistical risks, but also about bodily privacy, experiences of sexual violence, pregnancy, menstruation, medical care and the need for an environment without people with male bodies or a history of male socialisation. This does not apply to every resident to the same extent, but shelter policies must specifically take into account those for whom it is essential.

National quality regulations make clear that shelter organisations must assess safety broadly: for clients, children and staff alike; both in concrete incidents and in people's feelings of safety. The regulations also refer to physical measures, such as a confidential address, camera surveillance and key policies, alongside social safety within the group. The quality framework for women's shelters therefore leaves room for policies that take the specific nature of the service into account.

The tension surrounding self-identification

A policy based exclusively on self-identification may conflict with the purpose of a sex-separated shelter. If a declaration of gender identity automatically determines placement, an organisation can no longer guarantee in advance that a residential space will be used exclusively by biological female residents. For some women fleeing male control, abuse or sexual violence, that guarantee is precisely what enables them to feel able to use a shelter or safe enough there to recover. In the United Kingdom, the highest court considered exactly this question in 2025 in relation to the definition of 'woman' in equality legislation; that UK Supreme Court ruling has direct implications for hospitals and shelters.

This does not mean that transgender women as a group are dangerous. Nor does it follow that transgender people cannot be victims of violence; they may themselves face discrimination, rejection and violence. The policy question is therefore not: "who can be trusted?" The question is: what form of placement, in a specific crisis situation, respects the privacy, physical boundaries and trauma-related safety needs of all residents?

Individual risk assessment remains necessary, but it cannot fully replace a sex-specific service. Risk assessment primarily considers known threats, behaviour, stalking, mental health issues or risks posed by an ex-partner. It cannot remove the fact that some residents may feel unsafe in the presence of a biologically male resident, even when that person behaves respectfully. The government stresses that the key question in placement is whether someone can be accommodated safely at a specific location. Parliamentary questions about safe shelter describe current risk screening and tools for women's shelters.

Careful policy: protection without stigmatisation

A workable approach begins with clarity. Organisations can explicitly reserve part of their residential capacity for biologically female victims and their children, particularly where rooms, sanitary facilities and living spaces are shared. This is not a general rejection of transgender people, but a defined service that aligns with the purpose for which women's shelters exist: recovery after sexual or partner violence in an environment that residents experience as female and sex-separated.

At the same time, transgender victims must receive appropriate, safe and dignified support. This could include a separate room or unit, small-scale individual accommodation, hotel accommodation as a temporary emergency solution, placement with a specialised provider or outpatient support combined with safe housing. Which solution is appropriate varies from person to person and depends on available capacity, medical and psychosocial needs, any children involved and the risk posed by a perpetrator. A transparent network of alternatives prevents anyone from falling through the cracks. The policy dilemma and suitable alternatives are explored in greater detail at vrouwenruimtes.nl.

• Be clear in advance: explain to residents what admission and placement policies apply and what privacy arrangements are in place.
• Seek informed consent: discuss relevant placement choices before someone is placed in shared accommodation, insofar as immediate safety permits.
• Protect confidentiality: share medical, legal or personal information about someone's sex or transition only when strictly necessary for safe care.
• Listen to residents separately: allow women to express their boundaries without dismissing them as intolerant, and allow transgender clients to discuss their safety concerns without humiliation.
• Invest in capacity: tailored support is only possible if municipalities and providers have enough separate rooms, alternative placements and expert guidance available.

Safety, dignity and recovery belong together

Good women's shelters do not require an ideological choice between women's rights and transgender dignity. They require professional discernment. Biological sex may be a relevant and sometimes decisive factor for privacy and trauma recovery in a residential service for victims of male violence. At the same time, this observation must never be used to humiliate transgender people, cast collective suspicion on them or deny them support.

Policy is at its most careful when it takes the boundaries of vulnerable residents seriously, guarantees trans people access to appropriate support and explains decisions in terms of safety, proportionality and individual care needs. Only then can women's shelters remain what they are meant to be: a safe space between situations, where violence ends and recovery can begin.

Similar considerations arise in the placement of prisoners, discussed in gender and prisons, and in the broader debate about trans people and women's safety.