Please or to access all these features

Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Feminist Laywer Sarah Phillimore

58 replies

MarieIVanArkleStinks · 31/10/2019 09:33

I've followed Sarah, a family lawyer, on Twitter since she offered her vocal support to female victims of childhood sexual abuse in the wake of a vicious tirade against these women. What happened was that a fellow-barrister (whose Tweets are now protected) began to accuse them all of being liars, peddled lots of literature about 'false memory', then attempted to sue (for defamation) anyone who took issue with her. She took to the courts in pursuit of Phillimore, who refused to back down, and lost. The Times newspaper also took that same barrister to task for allegedly making death threats against students.

Fast-forward to yesterday evening. I watched Phillimore engaging in Twitter-conversation with a handle calling itself 'Trans Globe'. She was consistently measured, calm and polite. Her unworthy adversary was consistently sound-bitey, irrational, accusing her of hateful behaviour (she wasn't), cowardice (she was posting under her own name, they weren't), twisting her arguments to 'reducing women to menstruation' (she didn't say this) and ultimately reporting her for misgendering (she didn't refer to a trans woman as 'she', but was discussing simple differences between the male and female sex).

Her standpoint is that she'll willingly respect others' rights to believe in the Gods they believe in, and respect their religion. The same applies to trans ideology. What they don't have the right to do, is make her believe in the same gods, or re-classify her own identity to fit with someone else's version of it.

Sarah expects her account to be gone by today and possibly to follow in the same position as Alison Bailey. If this happens, having witnessed the exchange and not seeing one hint of transphobia but merely respectful disagreement, I'll be contacting Twitter with these observations, and also Phillimore's chambers, in support of her. In fact, I'll be doing the latter in any event.

These women are being incredibly courageous - indeed risking their careers - by putting their heads above the parapet. Hope others will join me.

OP posts:
littlbrowndog · 31/10/2019 10:33

Sarah 💪⭐️

Joisanofthedales · 31/10/2019 10:00

I am a great admirer of Sarah Phillimore

Themyscira · 31/10/2019 09:54

I've had the privilege of speaking to Sarah face to face. She is indeed formidable, intelligent and measured.

MarieIVanArkleStinks · 31/10/2019 09:53

Barbara, it's happened before when she tried to uphold the rights of women. And extraordinarily enough, by another woman (unrelated to trans rights).

Just goes to show how recent onslaughts against women, women's rights and women's safeguarding issues (#MeToo and its backlash was my wake-up call) is legitmizing misogyny, in a way I've never seen in my lifetime.

OP posts:
MarieIVanArkleStinks · 31/10/2019 09:51

Thanks @HandsOffMyRights. I've done that. The account's still up as of now and I hope it remains so. But I've seen colleagues of mine 'de-platformed' for pretty much the same thing; sometimes for less. And on occasions where I do see these things play out live, I'd jump to defend them in the spirit of not having activists' ideology silence women's voices altogether.

OP posts:
BarbaraStrozzi · 31/10/2019 09:48

Placemarking so I don't lose this thread as I'd like to be updated if some bastard tries to hound her out of a job.

HandsOffMyRights · 31/10/2019 09:43
  • bloody commas - she's a perceived threat like Allison, not an MRA! Blush
HandsOffMyRights · 31/10/2019 09:42

Sarah's brilliant and measured woman and therefore a perceived 'threat' to MRAs, just like Allison.

Take screenshots for your complaint, if needed.