Hundreds of women met at the weekend to discuss the effects of austerity on the world’s largest “minority,” as activists prepare for the upcoming People’s Assembly national conference.

In the opening speech of the Women’s Assembly Against Austerity conference on Saturday, former Labour youth minister Dawn Butler said: “In my career, I was often told I would not progress because I didn’t have a penis.”

The assembly was kicked off by trade unionists and politicians including Green Party leader Natalie Bennett, Scottish TUC assistant secretary Ann Henderson and TUC equality and employment rights head Sarah Veale.