Women's Place event in Reading - 4th Dec

I'm so glad the uni have condemned the harassment.

About bloody time.

Hi all I was at that meeting if anyone wants to ask about it.

She's awesome.

Rosa Freedman is away according to this:

PSA: Prof Rosa Freedman is doing field research and can’t be on Twitter right now (day job preventing sexual exploitation and abuse in conflict and crisis zones). Reckon she will be back online when she returns to England.

twitter.com/RadFemLawyer/status/1070801732190564352

Good. Enough is enough.

Anlaf I agree, hopefully the statement will be borne out with actions.

Thank you for posting that R0wan - I am heartened that Rosa has the support of her employer.

Prof Freedman's response to statement above.

University of Reading statement:

Message from the Acting Vice-Chancellor: harassment and bullying
BY STUDENT-SERVICES-NEWS ON DECEMBER 6, 2018

On 12 November, we launched a joint #NeverOK campaign with RUSU against harassment and bullying. We are committed to providing a safe environment for all our students and staff, and we do not tolerate any form of bullying, harassment or discrimination.

You may have seen in the media issues about behaviour towards one of our academics on the basis of publicly stated views on a current public policy issue. Freedom of speech, debate and academic freedom lie at the very heart of university life. A critical part of the university experience is learning how to form and defend an argument. We all have issues we feel passionately about and we may express those feelings in strong terms. But however important the issue and whatever the strength of our convictions, bullying and harassment have absolutely no place in our community. That is completely non-negotiable, whatever the issue or the circumstance, and we will take appropriate disciplinary action against anyone who engages in this sort of unacceptable behaviour.

I consider the respect and support that we demonstrate towards each other here at Reading to be an immense strength of our community, so I know you will join me in supporting the #NeverOK campaign. You can find out more about the campaign and the support we provide to students on the Essentials webpages.

Kind regards.

Robert

Robert Van de Noort

Acting Vice-Chancellor

blogs.reading.ac.uk/student-services-news/

I was at the Reading meeting which was great. If anyone is nervous about attending a future meeting please don't be put off by TRAs. In the flesh they are no more than sad little lads - young enough to be my son - too inarticulate to argue their case and so resort to trying to intimidate women. Big brave boys! Why they think that a middle aged woman who has been around the block a few times should be anything other than irritated and amused by them I have no idea. In the end I felt they rather added to the gaiety of the evening (apart from of course poor Rosa) - trekking round Reading in the cold and wet holding up their banner at a variety of venues before finding the right one then spending 2 hours getting cold and wet while we enjoyed alcohol and burgers! I am still laughing at the memory of it and the twitter threads are hilarious. Well done ladies - cabinet ministers may be scared to speak out (James Kirkup) but we're not.

Because although WPUK are perfectly happy to have TS people there

And where did I say that they didn't? Stop putting words in my mouth.

All of the women's meetings are open to people who are there to listen and to ask questions respectfully regardless of sex or gender identity.

On a number of occasions some TRAs have attempted to disrupt meetings both within and without in a number of different ways.

For the opposite situation, see Jean Hatchet's account of attending the 'TerfWar' meeting in Sheffield.
thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3429911-Jean-Hatchet-attends-T-War-tour

And I did, so I'll give this thread a miss now.

The presence or not of a few TS supporters of the WPUK's campaign is irrelevant when one looks at the antics of the worst of the TRAs, or the treatment of Prof Freedman.

ZZVEV

Because although WPUK are perfectly happy to have TS people there ( we even discussed the loo situation ) and are most encouraging, we know that not everyone is as happy about that sort of thing. As we see on some MN threads.

We try to do the " decent thing", and to be open and honest. If it is true, as is often claimed, that we are always " easy to spot", then it seems only decent to say that we would be happy to hear other people's views, face to face.

Some at the Reading meeting did not " spot me", to judge from things said to me. Some did; one sees the " Hard Paddington Stare. :-)

I mean to attend other such meetings. So I thought, lets say that I am not going to have a fit if some says; "oh, I suppose you are that bloody awful Kay M".

Just trying to do the decent thing.

I didn't think it was unreasonable to suggest that anyone who meets me at a WPUK meeting would be welcome to come up to me and say their piece.

Do you wear a fancy hat or something? . How would anyone know who you are or even remember you from here?

Women are at the meeting to hear brilliant speakers and talk to other people. Not 'say their piece' to random strangers.

Not sure why you would suggest someone disclosing or not their MN user name would be whether you were seen as 'awful' or not.

As you've acknowledged, the vast majority of MN users keep their username private for good reasons (their personal reasons)

Rowantrees;
Yes, I have chosen to make certain things about me public. Mumsnetters are , of course, quite entitled to keep their own identities private. At least one has chosen to post to Mumsnet feminist threads that she has met me, while she was out leafletting. She introduced her self to me then in "mumsnet name " terms, presumably because in person I did not seem all that awful.

So though I obviously DO respect people's right to privacy, I didn't think it was unreasonable to suggest that anyone who meets me at a WPUK meeting would be welcome to come up to me and say their piece. They would not have to reveal their name or mumset "title" would they?

I'm sure she'd like that. She said at the meeting that she was very happy to elaborate on the themes and chat to people.

Thank you anlaf for the commentary It was sold out by the time I first saw this thread.

I would have loved to go to the meeting or to join your local group, but unfortunately I'm in a bind as I have teens who have drunk the kool aid and I don't want to rock our boat with too much confrontation. But thank you everyone for going and speaking out.

I've thought about popping over to the university and buying Prof Freedman a coffee / gin though, for support

Kay you've chosen to make your personal details public. That's your choice.
Mumsnet users do not usually do this for good reasons.
Important to respect this, I think.

Any poster on the site may be challenged on the posts they make. Sometimes robustly.
Its not personal or just about you.

'brownskirts'

A few people have reacted angrily on another thread to some of my posts. I'd like to feel that in person they might make the same points in a different way; if I can get tickets to the next one, and you/ they recognise me, please search me out and we can talk about these issues. No-one did at the Reading meeting, but that may be my fault as though I arrived early I did not stay till the end.

I found people to be perfectly welcoming , whatever they thought of me, (or did not spot about my past) , but I like to be open with people, and I can listen.

If Stalin and Churchill could be allies-in - the -fight, I'd like to think that TS people who support WPUK's aims could be allies too.

it was quite enjoyable watching a host of smart educated grown ups spank the bottom of the Reading Communist and Anarchist Society on this thread

twitter.com/UoR_CAS/status/1070041195412422656

they do sound like twerps

for GreenHats (and yet more for Rosa and anyone else facing this)

Sometimes my reaction is to laugh inappropriately. I still think the ridiculousness of the situation (read: unhinged bizarre behaviour of these activists) is so beyond my comprehension of real life, so absurd, so "if you wrote it as fiction, your readers would complain it's over the top", that really all I can do is cackle.

Clearly, the abusive behaviour of these TRAs is beyond the pale.

Please take care of yourselves out there!