Sall Grover
Nationality	Australian
Alma mater	Bond University
Occupation(s)	Journalist, writer, app developer
Known for	Giggle, a women's only social media app

Sall Grover is an Australian businesswoman and the founder of Giggle, ^[1] a social media app designed for women. Prior to this endeavour, Grover worked in the American film industry as a scriptwriter. ^[2] The app gained notability following a legal challenge concerning the legality of the app's membership policies that restrict access to females. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

Education and early career

Grover grew up on the Gold Coast, doing her undergraduate and post-graduate work in journalism and philosophy at at Bond University. ^{[6] [7]} From there she worked as an entertainment journalist—first in Australia, then the UK—before moving to Los Angeles to begin work as a screenwriter. ^[8] Here she teamed up with Emma Jensen, a fellow Australian expat, to publish a novel The LA Team, which was later optioned by Working Title Films. ^{[8] [9]} In interview, Grover has said the scripts were mostly romantic comedies with strong, independent female leads, "who realise they don't need a man." ^{[10] [11] [12]}

Giggle App

After returning to Australia in 2020, Grover founded Giggle, a mobile app for women only. ^{[13] [14]} The app is described as catering to adult women, offering a safe online space for them to connect and find support in various areas such as finding roommates, freelancing, emotional support, and activism. ^{[15] [16]} Grover has said she was driven to develop a women's only digital platform by her desire to guard against the advances of predatory men, a view that was informed by her experience with misogyny and sexual violence. ^{[17] [18]} To verify users, the app relied on technology developed by Kairos, a company that offers facial recognition software. ^{[17] [19]} The name, which is the collective noun for women, came out of a conversation with her mother. ^[20]

Legal case

Grover's efforts to create a digital women-only space that excluded transgender women led to the app being criticised by transgender activists and led to legal proceedings to determine the legality of the membership policies used on the platform. ^{[21] [6]} The case was brought to the Federal Circuit Court following a complaint raised by Roxanne Tickle, a transgender woman who was denied membership of the site, to the Australian Human Rights Commission. ^[22] Grover has alleged that transgender activists have sent numerous rape threats and death threats. ^[23]

Timeline of legal proceedings

• December 2021: activist Roxanne Tickle filed a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission, saying "I believe that I am being discriminated against by being provided with extremely limited functionality of a smart phone app by the app provider compared to that of other users because I am a transgender woman." ^[24]
• March 2022: Giggle’s lawyers at the Feminist Legal Clinic responded to the complaint, saying Tickle was “considered male” based on her appearance in the selfie. ^[24] The demand to apologise and undergo re-education is declined. ^[6]
• July 2022: case dropped by Tickle. ^{[10] [16] [25]}
• April 2024: after the case is re-opened by Tickle, Grover is due to appear Federal Court for discrimination. ^[13]

Responses

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In April 2023, the group LGB Alliance Australia published its support for Grover's stance. ^[26] This support was followed by Women's Forum Australia. ^[27] Similarly, the group Australian Feminists for Women's Rights published its support for Grover's case. ^[28] Grover has also received the support of the Coalition of Activist Lesbians (COAL). ^[29] Grover's initial cause and later case has similarly been reviewed by Meghan Murphy's Feminist Current, ^[30] FiLiA, ^[31] Women's Declaration International (WDI), ^[32] Cambridge Radical Feminists Network, ^[33] and 4W (standing for Fourth Wave). ^[18]

Personal life

Grover grew up on the Gold Coast in Queensland, where she returned to begin a family. ^{[34] [14] [15]} Following the birth of her daughter in 2022 Grover raised the issue concerning the use of gender neutral language in Medicare forms (swapping a field to "mother's name" for "birthing parent") which had been part of a trial used in three hospitals. ^[35] As a result, Bill Shorten, Minister for Government Services, reversed the naming policy to its previous position. ^{[36] [37]}

See also

• Woman's Commonwealth – a women's land-based commune established during first-wave feminism
• Womyn's land – a women's community established during second-wave feminism
• McIver Women's Baths – a notable women's only space in Sydney ^[38]

References