Ro Edge – Co-Founder, Save Women’s Sport Australasia

Ro Edge is a prominent campaigner for sex-based categories in women’s sports. She co-founded Save Women’s Sport Australasia (SWSA) and also helped establish the International Consortium on Female Sport. With a background in athletics advocacy, Edge has become the go-to spokesperson in New Zealand for arguments against transgender women competing in female sports. For example, she has appeared on Newstalk ZB supporting an NZ First bill to legally define sex as biological, calling it “a protection for the sex-based rights of women”. Edge has a significant presence on X (@rosey_nz), where she often comments on sports bodies’ policies and celebrates decisions like World Rugby’s ban on trans athletes. She has collaborated with Family First – notably joining Simon O’Connor in a Family First video discussion about developments in women’s sport. At the Unsilenced summit, Ro Edge spoke about the erosion of female sports categories, citing international cases and the work SWSA is doing across Australasia. She highlighted how flawed guidelines from bodies like the International Olympic Committee led to “males who identify as transgender” displacing female athletes, a trend SWSA was formed to combat. Her contributions connect the transgender debate to fairness in sports – a topic that resonates beyond just the social conservatives. Edge’s activism also connects internationally; SWSA is part of a global coalition, and she frequently cites moves by groups like Women’s Sports Alliance in the UK or policy changes in World Athletics. By collaborating with political parties (she’s voiced support for NZ First’s stance) and other lobby groups, Ro Edge plays a key liaison role between the gender-critical movement and sports policymakers.