Dear MNHQ:

[PerfectPretender]

It's become perfectly clear now that pointing out safeguarding failures over recent years has not been unreasonable, or mean-spirited, or unkind, but actually completely reasonable and expected of educational guidelines and safeguarding procedures.

It's time for you to accept that our concerns were, shall we say, valid.

And every single time you deleted one of us for pointing out these blindingly obvious safeguarding failures? Wrong side of history. You.

You owe a lot of women an apology.

Spartacus 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Without this board I think the government would have brought in self id. I know fpfw, wpuk and others would have been able to mobilise as they did using social media, but I don't think the momentum would have grown without this place. The irl networks that have sprung up. The newspaper stories that were picked up from here. And all the mums who wondered in and thought 'you what? They are planning to change the law to what?'

Mnhq allowed it and I'm grateful. It would have been easier to go the other way. I don't disagree that the suspensions and deletions are bad (in the main) but in the context it was the harder thing to do.

I've often disagreed with MNHQ, but this was the place where I came to learn.
It would have been easy for MN to simply turn off all comments about trans activism - wrong, but easy. I'm grateful that they didn't.

Also grateful.

I miss Lang though.

I think we need to be freer to talk about safeguarding and AGP. And to speak openly on webchats and not be told off for ‘haranguing’ (MNHQ’s word) people who are paid to hear our views.

@colouringindoors

Ease off OP. Mumsnet may have made decisions we haven't liked and probably hurt some people. But they have enabled the debate to continue despite some serious pressure, and been one of the very few places online where it's even been possible. And that's worth a LOT.

I agree it's worth a lot and I'm damn grateful.

At the same time in the last few days we've seen two threads zapped for discussing comments made on a public forum by a man whose been at the forefront of not only denying womanhood but actively trying to erase it whilst drumming up hatred towards women in the public eye who take a stand.

The irony being the subject at hand being one that intrinsically relies on understanding female biology to achieve a personal objective.

I think we should be able to challenge such hypocrisy by an individual.

The

I would never have known how high the stakes are without Musmnet. So, even though I agree with the OP it is the only site I have come across that allows this conversation. Hats off I say! They did not capitulate, stayed with it, and learned along side all of us.

MNHQ have worked very hard. Even yesterday, Justine was under attack on twitter, and she defended our right to discuss the ethics if surrogacy.

Missing in Action/Roll of Honour

langcleg
the bewilderness

Please feel free to add

AngryAttackKittens
AssignedPurrfect
PrawnofthePatriarchy

Maryz

Maryz

I would like to expend my thanks to the women who provide the content here, for free. Their knowledge, tenacity, courage and compassion in the face of utterly hideous woman-hatred and behaviour that would test anyone's mental health, all while living their own difficult lives to boot, has achieved amazing things. They have truly spoken truth to power, and moved mountains.

You, women of FWR, all have my undying respect.

I appreciate MN have an extremely difficult job.

I'm going to cut to the chase and ask: Are we allowed to talk about grooming? And name it as grooming?
I understand we cannot use it in conjunction with named individuals, or even generalise to groups. But can we characterise a type of behaviour as grooming, if it's removed from the context of who is doing it?

Without this board I think the government would have brought in self id. I know fpfw, wpuk and others would have been able to mobilise as they did using social media, but I don't think the momentum would have grown without this place. The irl networks that have sprung up. The newspaper stories that were picked up from here. And all the mums who wondered in and thought 'you what? They are planning to change the law to what?'

This. I got involved because MN's amazing women slapped me awake. I would never have known about fpfw or wpuk or posie parker or Glinner or Magdalen Berns or Helen Joyce or any of those fabulous and powerful voices if not for MN. We have been a part of an amazing change, here. Problems: there have been a few. But without this board I would have not understood the reality, and I would still think people were being spiteful for keeping the downtrodden and oppressed out of women's spaces. And without this board government would have brought in self-id.

@FloralBunting

I would like to expend my thanks to the women who provide the content here, for free. Their knowledge, tenacity, courage and compassion in the face of utterly hideous woman-hatred and behaviour that would test anyone's mental health, all while living their own difficult lives to boot, has achieved amazing things. They have truly spoken truth to power, and moved mountains.

You, women of FWR, all have my undying respect.

claps wildly

I suspect a lot goes on at HQ that we have no idea of here, and it's a company that has to consider whether it wants to deal with legal actions. I suspect too we're a total thorn in the side in many ways, but we're here because of principles I respect. So while yes, I agree with several things you say OP about safeguarding, and it says a lot about how bad things have become for women and children in the UK that these conversations are so high risk and must be stifled so fast, I realise it isn't HQ that are dying to do the stifling. And appreciate the out of sight sucking up of the endless crap they must do that comes with allowing uppity women to talk at all these days.

God, I didn't realise some of those posters were banned

At the same time I do thank MN and the mods for the countless times they get it right.

Demanding apologies is straight out of woke 101.

MNHQ have likely had to make compromises on all sides to keep this board going. I haven't always agreed with their choices, but I'm grateful for the safe space in a time when it would have been much easier for them to shut it down altogether.

I would never have known about fpfw or wpuk or posie parker or Glinner or Magdalen Berns or Helen Joyce or any of those fabulous and powerful voices if not for MN.

Ditto.

I have discovered more female heroes in the past few years in real time doing real things for women than I ever knew of before I joined MN. Amazing women.

Although that makes me think with amusement of that article posted the other day, about the problem with MN being that it allowed women to talk together about things other than prams, which is obviously just dangerous, and it led to them thinking activist thoughts and things. The naivety. All the boards here are stuffed with women talking, there are better news digests here than in the newspapers, better journalism and research very often, women practically sharing advice on every damn thing you can think of between themselves, keeping each other safe, there's no one staying nicely in their box anywhere on the site.

@DeaconBoo

I appreciate MN have an extremely difficult job.

I'm going to cut to the chase and ask: Are we allowed to talk about grooming? And name it as grooming?
I understand we cannot use it in conjunction with named individuals, or even generalise to groups. But can we characterise a type of behaviour as grooming, if it's removed from the context of who is doing it?

Yes, this is one of the things we need to know about, and fetishes - I have learned a lot over the last few years.

It is one of the things you could get away not knowing much about until recently. Parents need to understand this. And safeguarding.