Andrea and Bethany address Global women’s summit

Andrea Williams, Chief Executive of Christian Concern and the Christian Legal Centre, and Darlington nurse Bethany Hutchison delivered powerful addresses today at the She Leads the Nations Global Summit on Capitol Hill, Washington DC.

Their remarks highlighted the escalating challenges to women’s rights, Christian foundations and free speech in the United Kingdom, and the global implications of these struggles.

Hutchison addressed the summit following the Darlington nurse’s landmark legal victory, in which she and six colleagues were found to have been victims of harassment and sex discrimination after a biological male identifying as a woman was permitted to undress in their female-only changing facilities at Darlington Memorial Hospital.

This case, backed from the very beginning by the Christian Legal Centre, has become a symbol of resistance against the imposition of gender ideology within UK institutions.

Following the result, Bethany and Andrea were invited to speak at the She Leads summit and meet Congress men and women to give a warning to America about how far women have to go to have their basic rights defended and upheld.

“Our story has become a warning”

In her speech, Hutchison opened with a reflection on the moment she finds herself in:

“I never imagined I would be standing on a stage like this, speaking to women from across the world about something as basic, yet now as controversial, as the reality that men and women are different.”

She described how she and her colleagues were confronted with an NHS system “so ideologically captured” that “biological reality, women’s dignity, and basic workplace safety” were disregarded. She recounted the moment their ordeal began:

“Everything began when a biological male employee, identifying as a woman, was, without warning or consultation, granted access to the female changing room… the private place where women undress, store their belongings, and prepare for long shifts.”

Hutchison detailed the impact on staff, including the trauma triggered for vulnerable colleagues:

“A colleague told me that after encountering the semi‑naked male in the changing rooms, she had suffered a panic attack that triggered memories of childhood abuse.”

Despite raising concerns, management failed to act. Instead, Hutchison explained, they were told to be “educated,” “broaden [their] mindset,” and “be more inclusive”, even being advised that the male colleague should personally “educate” them.

Christian Legal Centre’s crucial role

Hutchison emphasised that it was only with the support of the Christian Legal Centre that she and her colleagues were able to pursue justice:

“With the help of the Christian Legal Centre, we launched legal action and went public with our story in the UK media.”

This backing proved vital as the women were ostracised, smeared, and left to change in unsafe alternative rooms for 11 months while the Trust insisted they were the ones who must adapt.

The legal victory

The tribunal ruling handed down just weeks ago marked a profound vindication:

“And then, just over two weeks ago, something extraordinary happened. We won.

The tribunal ruled in our favour… They confirmed that the NHS Trust had broken UK law by forcing women to share a changing room with a male colleague.”

This victory, as Hutchison told the summit, was “a win for every girl and woman in Britain… a win for truth… a win for common sense.”

Hutchison concluded her remarks by warning that her case is not isolated:

“This is not a British problem. It is a Western problem. It is a cultural problem. It is a truth problem.”

Her message to America, echoed in prior reporting, was simple: do not wait until your own institutions are captured before defending truth and safeguarding.

Andrea Williams: A call to defend Christian freedom and free speech

In her own address, Andrea Williams, Chief Executive of the Christian Legal Centre, spoke compellingly of the erosion of Christian foundations in law, policy and free speech in the United Kingdom. She highlighted the growing restrictions placed on Christians within public life, citing the high profile cases of Kristie Higgs and Rev. Dr Bernard Randall.

Williams warned that failure to uphold Christian foundations in public life and punishing the expression of biblical beliefs and biological truth is spreading across the UK, and she called on the international community to stand against policies that punish individuals for expressing foundational truths about sex, safeguarding, and human dignity.

This week has also seen the Darlington Nursing Union (DNU) write to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, urging immediate national policy reform following the win.