Women’s Rights Network Scotland has imploded

Because they are purely anti-trans organisations that contribute nothing to feminism and are staffed by a mix of people from the far-right to the center.

Calling them "feminist" orgs is an insult to feminism and to women.

Obviously if your organisation is based purely on creating conflict in order to rake in money and attention eventually you're gonna turn that inwards.

MY WRN group is fantastic. We know we disagree within the group about politics, religious beliefs and social issues and yet we manage to be respectful to each other and to not be snowflakes every time someone takes a line that someone else might disagree with or expresses themselves in a manner someone else might not choose. We are there to defend the sex-based rights of women and that involves practical, grass-roots, local activites rather than endless lamenting and navel gazing.

Definitely a clique and not lefty. Any "membership group" that is actuly a private company run by 6 directors led by HB is not what the lefty feminists of the last century argued for. Personally I would even query whether WRN is a feminist organisation.

WRN is definitely NOT a lefty organisation. I know some very active women who were removed for challenging racism and homophobia within the supposedly "non-political" organisation which apparently welcomed robust discussion... And no they weren't abusive.

WRN is not a membership organisation in the way that most women's groups are. It isn't a charity or CIC with any form of democratic governance, it's a "private company limited by guarantee without share capital". In effect, the 6 directors led by Heather Binning can do as they wish. The "membership" have no say whatsoever.

I know one of the women who was kicked out. She wasn't a member of the other alternative group and was just removed without any notification at all. She had hardly engaged with WRNS. Certainly hadn't been plotting behind the scenes!

Did this not also happen with another group? Scottish Feminist Network maybe? Something like that. It's more peculiar to the left than to women's groups specifically.

This is why I don't join groups.

Do those who “join” the Women’s Rights Network (you have to be vouched for by another member to be let in) realise that it is a limited company with a very command and control top down management? There is a suggestion that they are seeking charitable status to source funding other than just donations from their “members”.
There are no democratic processes in this company and using a list of names, supplied to one of their admins by a member of an informal chat group without permission of the named people and using that to throw a large number of people out of WRN seems rather unethical and against data protection standards.

Yes this is basically it in a nutshell. It's a shame as everyone supported the overall aims. I've been quite shocked at the way it was handled tbh.

Something to bear in mind, is that people generally think they are doing the right thing. Few people deliberately intend to mess things up for others.

Whatever your stake in this, the others were trying to achieve something they viewed to be positive. It will have made sense from their perspective.

The chat that WRNS shut down (without consultation) was the Scotland-wide group. Some of those who missed having a national group created a new non-WRNS group. Someone in that group shared the list of members with WRNS admins, who then threw all the new chat group members out of WRNS without due processes being followed. So it seems that WRNS has exploited a data breach of another group - not a good look.

Women being accused of ‘security breeches’.

Are those like sturdy pyjamas?

As a WRNS member, I understand that some of us have a great deal at stake. From my perspective, the account presented here does not fully reflect the reality of the situation—I wonder if there may be other factors influencing how events are being portrayed.

It's reassuring to see that the security of the group is being treated with the seriousness it deserves.

Feminist groups are frequently targeted by TRAs who have screenshot chat and photos and doxxed women. WRN has many members who can’t afford to be outed because of jobs, family members or safety. It seems WRN Scotland has taken a security decision to shut a chat group and that members affected are able to rejoin. Not sure that rumour and speculation here does anything other than undermine.

I don't know anything about what's kicked off in Scotland but do think that nationally, WRN has run excellent campaigns and produced powerful reports eg hospitals, prisons and women’s sports.

I think it's amazing how it's grown in a comparatively short time to become an organisation that is approached for comment by the BBC, listened to by MPs etc.

I love my local group. We all get along very well. We've had plenty of online disagreements because there are women with different political views but it's always a debate rather than an argument and nobody's ever fallen out with other members.

I support other groups as well: I go to LWS when I can; have been to some 12 of 5 actions; am a supporter of Sex Matters and really appreciate the resources that they produce.

I think that it's brilliant that Terf Island has so many women's groups and like to think of them as complementing each other rather than competing against each other.

I think the ReSisters were local groups before WRN.

I’d be really wary of using this against ‘feminists’ or talking about ‘mean girls’.

That’s buying into patriarchy.

There will be a lot of hurt people.

Maybe it’s inevitable- things naturally change which in itself causes friction, as many of us are resistant.
Then systems need to be put in place to manage or support changes.

Some people want systems to preserve the original core purpose and structure. Others want systems to allow change.

Pop.

Think the key word here is "hearing". I am always wary of rumour, particularly when it comes to a group defending women's rights
As we've all seen, WRN does some amazing work, and will no doubt be the target of activists — so they have to take security seriously.
We've all seen how women are targeted for expressing lawfully held opinions, and there will no doubt be many within WRN who are fearful of being outed.

I’ve been pushed out, but I’m not fighting it.

For those of us not in London, WRN was a lifeline back in the day. It was the first set of local groups. If it hadn’t been, it wouldn’t have taken off. Covid helped with its initial popularity too.

Now that we have our established networks of local women, we don’t need WRN anymore. Good riddance as it’s eaten itself.

A friend who is a WRNS member in Glasgow tells me that a number of women have been removed from the local chat and various working group chats and then comments turned off so that remaining members can't ask questions.So they've started another chat of their own to discuss it, which means they'll probably get booted out as well for having such temerity.

She's hearing that around 60 members have been thrown out without warning; WRN has procedures to deal with disciplinary issues, but WRNS hasn't followed these.

A decent organisation would have spent a bit of time wondering why such a large proportion of its local membership was unhappy, but it seems that the four women at the top aren't capable of reflection.A pity, as WRN has done some brilliant work.

There was a person still loyal to the admins on the new chat who (we suspect) basically screenshotted everyone details on the new chat and sent it to the admins then everyone was expelled from the official website and WRN chat.

Seriously?!

This doesn't even seem "political". This is someone with personal issues or a need to display "loyalty" to what the original idea or admin.

This sounds like one of those obscure left groups who never did any thing but endlessly purged each other in pursuit of totally purity. Or just good old fashioned cliques.

I uderstand women needing to feel safe when sharing online, but this over the top.

Makes the MN FWR seem like a well adjusted compromise.

So sad.

But not unique to feminists.

It's incredibly heavy handed. Women who have done nothing wrong except chat to other feminists in Scotland have been punished for being in the 'wrong' group. I'm so disappointed in them. I don't want them to 'rectify' it, I don't want to be part of a group that treats its members like property. Women need to be free to have open and honest discussions with each other.

I joined WRN for a short while but watched a member get bullied out for a difference of opinion. I too left when they refused to look at my view on a subject and I felt they were very close minded women.

Tbh those of us in the new chat don't actually know for sure why or what actually happened. The general consensus is the new group chat think the admins didn't like the fact that a separate chat had been created. There was a person still loyal to the admins on the new chat who (we suspect) basically screenshotted everyone details on the new chat and sent it to the admins then everyone was expelled from the official website and WRN chat. Everyone is upset as the new chat was not a challenge to them it was simply set up to continue to chat nationwide. The new set up of regional groups upset people as no one got to vote on it. Felt forced upon everyone.