Raquel Rosario Sanchez's case against the University of Bristol

[NancyDrawed]

I have just had an email via Crowdjustice.

Raquel has lost her legal case against the Uni of Bristol

'The University was able to successfully argue that they do not owe a duty of care to students who, like me, face intimidation and violent threats from trans activist students and staff. The court found that in the enactment of their internal policies, the University did not act unlawfully.'

The judgement does, however

'confirms that I was indeed the victim of the “violent, threatening, intimidating behaviour or language” by trans activist students, and that, there was a “failure to respect the right of others to freedom of belief and speech,” '

I have the utmost admiration for Raquel and will gladly contribute to a fund should she be liable for costs

And Raquel, you are a fabulous, brave and strong woman and I don't regret a single Penny I contributed. You were absolutely right to have brought your case.

Why is my first thought to this is that I bet a duty of care would have been found owed to a TQ+ student on the receiving end of this kind of behaviour?

Parlous, not parlours! Stupid autocucumber

Such a beautifully worded response.

Obviously I can't link here but it's searchable on CrowdJustice under Women Talk Back! Help Us Protect Single-Sex Services and Spaces!

And this case is super important because it will be a test of whether or not a woman's group can make use of the single sex exceptions in the Equality Act. I'm not sure that this has ever been tested in court yet so it will be really interesting.

Bristol off my list too

How can a university not have any duty of care towards students of theirs that are being harassed and threatened?

(Christ, for a moment there I thought they had got rid of the MN emojis!)

Very bad news. Disgraceful behaviour by Bristol University. Solidarity with Raquel ✊ 💐

Poor Raquel. What a disappointing result.

I am astounded that they have no duty of care to students being hounded by their own staff

By their own staff!

🌹Raquel. You are not the one at fault, here. I am only sorry you had to go through this.

💐Raquel. You have nothing apologize for.
I've been horrified by Bristol university and their lack of care for a long time,since the issue of student suicide,and have managed to dissuade many young women from applying there.

No apology needed or expected Raquel, instead I would like to offer you thanks for your strength, courage, tenacity and bravery in standing up to the Bristol bullies. You have shown them that women of character can’t be intimidated by threats and bribery.

I hope that your legacy is that the University takes this opportunity to review the way it allows groups of students to behave with impunity towards others and recognises that an institution of learning and scholarship needs to work to protect free speech and not allow itself to be manipulated by shouty woke pressure groups.

💐for Raquel. What a brave, brave woman. So sad she now has to worry about the costs. It would be a terrible injustice if she had to pay Bristol’s costs, which she says in her update that she may have to do. I will contribute again if that does happen.

I got the email from Raquel and, like other, I could not believe the university of Bristol had got away with this.

The University was able to successfully argue that they do not owe a duty of care to students who, like me, face intimidation and violent threats from trans activist students and staff.

So the university has no duty to uphold the law, or demand that its staff and students obey the law, or prevent organised violence against one of its students. I hope anyone planning to study there is aware of this. Especially if they're coming from abroad.

Raquel, I am so sorry this has been done to you. I am ashamed that it was allowed in England.

Are any of these staff still there and identifiable?

^^ as in, identifiable legally through the legal papers

I hope anyone planning to study there is aware of this. Especially if they're coming from abroad.

Yes. I rather hope this winds up hitting the University of Bristol where it’s going to hurt them most - in the international student fees.

This is a terrible judgment. Outrageous that they have no duty of care for their students in this awful position. But even when the outcome isn't what we want, the fight shows them we won't take their oppression lying down. These bastards need dragging out into the sunlight every time to expose their blatant misogyny.

I don't regret a penny I donated. My aim was to support a fellow woman in need and I'll keep on doing that.

This is such a shame, but she did everything she could and has conducted herself with grace.

i am doing a Masters elsewhere at present and researching universities for my PhD, as are some of my peers. You can bet your ass we won’t be considering Bristol.

I can’t imagine many foreign students from China, Korea, middle East and India are that keen on mixed sex spaces.

im very surprised they don’t have a duty of care for their students

thanks so much for your efforts Raquel - I hope you get some relief that it’s over at least.

Raquel, in the old days of Stonewall (when it was a good organisation fighting for equal rights for LGB people), Ben Summerskill who was leading it used to say that even the defeats were victories, because they brought the situation to the attention of more people, and more people became outraged (as I am) on your behalf. Bristol university's reputation is forever tarnished. What we need to do now is plan how, whenever anyone googles Bristol University, the first thing that comes up is an article about how badly you were treated and what the judge noted in his comments. Then we need to ask journalist friends — Janice Turner, Jo Bartosch, et al — to write about this. It's a scandal that any student can be harassed and persecuted by other students and staff and not be owed a duty of care by the university. The shock of this loss will subside in the next week and then you will be able to see that all that effort has not been wasted. I hope you can get away this weekend and have a break from it all.

Disappointing outcome, totally legitimate care of a student at Bristol university.

Is this ruling a green light for future bullying and threatening behaviour within Bristol university? Will my children be safe there if they hold a belief to safeguard women?

i sincerely hope that Bristol university learns lessons from this and responds by improving policies and procedures . A light has been shone on the university’s inadequacies.