Women’s Rights Network imploding

[NameChangedWren]

WTF is going on? There are letters circulating with members alleging bullying, and anyone who asks a question is suspended and comments deleted. The leader calling everyone to urgent meetings with bizarre messaging: ‘there is no letter, and if there is it’s full of lies, and you can’t see the letter just trust us, and ooh look, something shiny!’ Should I cut my losses, cancel my standing order and just follow Let Women Speak?

Yes, I've heard that tale. Before my time I'm afraid

Did you learn how to bold text? Well done you

I’ve never seen member guidelines or rules of any sort. So I assume I’m not a member but I get emails Nd am in whatsapp. I definitely don’t get all the messages, this thread has been confusing I didn’t know the half of it all.

The messages posted in this thread were only sent to specific women or groups of women. If you didn't get them it is because you are not in one of those groups.

I don’t think I’ve been vetted either. What does it mean? I’ve been around since this was all fields round here so it might’ve be I was already in groups and was inherited ?

it’s pretty odd. Are you all paying a membership and swearing allegiance? I really can’t work out how it works and amnt sure I want to really. What I want is to get politicians to protect my rights and this bollocks isn’t relevant to that

I don’t think I’ve been vetted either. What does it mean? I’ve been around since this was all fields round here so it might’ve be I was already in groups and was inherited ?
No idea, sorry. I haven't been in WRN as long as you.
Are you all paying a membership and swearing allegiance?
No-one is paying any membership fees or swearing allegiance to anyone.

i Think im maybe not a member but on a mailing list and a what app that’s a spin off. I don’t know what the difference between whatever I am and being amember is but I’m happy avoiding the drama so will carry on.

Oh, bless your heart for noticing the spelling, darling—yes, I’m American, so “favoritism” it is, straight from across the pond where we also say “color” and drive on the wrong side of the road. As for the “mad TRA” bit? Hardly, pet. I’m just a feminist with eyes wide open to how unaccountable leadership tanks good causes, no matter the zip code. But if we’re playing detective, let’s not deflect from the actual issues I raised—care to address those, or is ad hominem the new debate strategy? 😘

I would definitely recommend avoiding the drama😘

It's not ad hominem mate. I just can't understand 90% of what you're on about. Your posts are simultaneously unintelligible and creepy.

A series of posts where you claim bad things happened, that the rest of us have no way of verifying. Posts that suggest your people skills would not be a huge asset in any sort of organisation.

Are you including the work of the women of North & South Bucks in things "that the rest of us have no way of verifying. Posts that suggest your people skills would not be a huge asset in any sort of organisation."?

If you are member of WRN, then surely you would be aware of at least some of the verifiable contributions of members of North and South Bucks as listed in this post:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5485117-womens-rights-network-imploding?reply=150493334

Copy and paste from that post:

The Buckinghamshire WRN groups have been highly involved in the network’s actions from the very beginning of WRN and in the Shoppers which predate WRN.

We have:

• Led the piece of work gathering and reporting on rapes in UK hospitals
• Undertaken FOI exercises on hospital and university sexual assaults
• Co-delivered the Education campaign on single sex toilets in schools, including researching and challenging provision in Bucks schools
• Drawn all the artwork for the above campaign
• Set up a system for sending letters automatically to political representatives, a process no other group has been able to replicate
• Led WRN’s work to tackle male violence, supported women to become trustees of rape crisis centres
• Jointly created and run the WRN website
• Worked on the Education campaign to address dodgy PSHE providers in schools
• Led the work to challenge self-identification in sex categories in parkrun
• Led the campaign which successfully got girls moved out of Wetherby Young Offender Institution
• Designed WRN leaflets, logos and other materials, in English and Welsh
• Travelled to Paris during the Olympics and held up banners in front of famous landmarks and videoed key messages outside the Olympic Stadium to raise awareness about women’s sports
• Developed the WRN politics database, maintained it and covered the costs of this personally
• Led the WRN Academics group
• Visited the local Wickes store when their management called opposition to single sex spaces bigotry, and showed a PowerPoint of AGP men to its customers to garner support
• Attended WRN Global Women’s Day, political lobbying, Afghanistan vigils, planning and strategy events
• Written WRN newsletters
• Travelled to St Albans to run street stalls during the local elections, because there weren’t any in our area
• Brought WRN Canada and WRN Australia into existence
• Developed the WRN Male Allies group
• Travelled to Canterbury to campaign for Rosie Duffield, and to Saffron Walden to campaign for Kemi Badenoch
• Dealt with all membership enquiries for the first two years of WRN
• Led the work to develop proper security after a TRA infiltrated a WRN Zoom, wrote the new security policies and been on the Zoom ‘bouncer’ team
• Womanned the WRN stalls at the LGB Alliance conference and Battle of Ideas
• Researched and wrote the WRN crib sheets on various areas of policy
• Lobbied and met with our local MPs, councillors and PCC on women’s rights issues
• Interviewed Zoom speakers including Maya Forstater, Naomi Cunningham, Miriam Cates, Jo Phoenix, Rachel Cashman, Isabelle Thieuleux, Rosie Duffield and Helen Joyce
• Conducted background research for other Zoom speakers to inform the interviewer
• Led the WRN justice group
• Written blogs and newsletter articles
• Written and edited WRN reports
• Developed the strategy for WRN politics work
• Set up the WRN Research group and undertaken significant work for this team
• Successfully campaigned for single sex toilets and changing rooms in Bucks schools and leisure centres
• Conceived and delivered a campaign highlighting Wicke’s trans inclusive policies
• Managed and produced video for WRN YouTube Channel
• Stopped the mass coverage of Progress flags along Great Missenden High St by challenging the Parish Council
• Posted on the WRN Thames Valley X account

No, I'm not referring to the women of Bucks as a group. Just the individuals on this thread who reckon they can do a better job than the current co-ordinators but are not demonstrating the necessary skills to work with a range of other women effectively.

Hmm. What sort of feminist keeps calling women "darling" and "pet" when they're snarking at them? Is it an American thing?

The sort of person who 'identifies' as a feminist. Probably enjoys dreaming about pillow fights too.

I am not in this network and only on page 5 of reading.

As background I was very active on this topic about 10 years ago. I was one of the first on Twitter and started around the time sex matters started. That lasted a short period before I had to step back for a miriad of related and unrelated own personal reasons.

I have tried to keep a distance from this topic since then (I had to - so thankyou to everyone who continued on!), but was very concerned recently to be on a thread where language had gotten very confused; specifically the redefining of trans woman and transwomen which was a very clear distinction and well agreed by women here on MN 10 years ago. I was confused about when this change had happened and how, and by who. Perhaps now I am thinking this was hashed out, and mixed up by potentially this group.

I don’t know. But I do find it interesting because something has happened quite significantly and in a way we have gone slightly backwards there, making me question which other areas we have gone backwards in.

And this whole thing sounds fishy as fuck. But I am on page 5 so will continue on…

Are you new to Mumsnet?

One of the conventions is that when quoting what a Previous Poster (PP) has said, you copy, paste and bold any snippets of text that you are specifically replying to.

Here is a list of acronyms commonly used on Mumsnet:
https://www.mumsnet.com/i/acronyms

HTH

EDIT to add link to the Mumsnet Talk Guidelines in case you have not noticed the link to them every time you have posted:
www.mumsnet.com/i/netiquette

No, I've been on MN longer than I've been in WRN. Go back and read the original post I was replying to.

not demonstrating the necessary skills to work with a range of other women effectively.

Do you believe that you have been modelling those skills in your posts on this thread?

No, I absolutely don't have those skills, but then I'm not the one suggesting that I can make a better job of WRN than the current team.

I'd like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the WRN supporters who've chimed in on this thread. Your contributions have truly escalated the fall in WRN's reputation – you're the best PR team we never hired! Honestly, your posts are terrible, full of deflection and zero substance. The only response you seem capable of is attacking the women here who are simply asking reasonable questions about how WRN actually works and how it treats its members. Keep it up; you're doing more to highlight the bullying, suspensions, and lack of transparency than any critic could. If this is what loyalty looks like, no wonder groups are splitting off left and right. For those on the fence, maybe it's time to cancel that standing order and look at alternatives like Let Women Speak or Sex Matters – places where questions aren't met with deletions and ego-driven meltdowns.

Will no-one think of the poor, reasonable, innocent women. #BeKind

Absolutely spot on, OP – that comment nails it perfectly.
WRN’s desperate, shameless grab for ultimate victimhood by exploiting Sandie Peggie as a human shield is utterly contemptible. Comparing their own nonsense to what she suffered at NHS Fife isn’t ‘absurd’ — it’s grotesque, egotistical and deeply insulting. Women see straight through the cynical stunt and are laughing in disbelief. Credibility? Trust? Goodwill? All obliterated. WRN Scotland is now a cautionary tale in how to destroy your own reputation in one pathetic move.
This is exactly the sort of self-sabotaging behaviour we've seen time and again from them. Sandie Peggie went through real harassment and suspension for standing up for single-sex spaces – a genuine fight with huge personal cost. And now WRN tries to piggyback on her case to play the victim over their own internal dramas, suspensions, and bullying of members who dare ask questions? It's beyond tone-deaf; it's exploitative and insulting to every woman who's actually faced consequences for defending women's rights.
They've torched whatever goodwill they had left. No wonder so many are walking away to groups that actually focus on the issues without the ego trips and deletions. If this is their idea of leadership, it's no surprise the whole thing is imploding.
Well said – women really do see straight through it. Keep calling it out. 💚

Starting to wonder if I was the only person asked to agree to member guidelines, when I decided not to join the WRN!

In that case your point in posting that response seems to be solely to belittle TipsyKhakiJoker

You have criticised the tone of how women express themselves. You have criticised their spelling. Now you have sneered at how they format text.

LordArnoldsWife · Today 22:13
I tthink member in this context simply means anyone who has passed the vetting process and been given access.

TipsyKhakiJoker · Today 22:31
Passed the vetting process and been given access

LordArnoldsWife · Today 22:40
Did you learn how to bold text? Well done you.

So far, I don't think that you have passed comment on some of the most serious criticisms of WRN Ltd.

• the lack of transparency about how donations are being used and who is being paid how much for doing what and in what capacity,
• members in WRN Scotland being required to pay donations to WRN into a Director's personal bank account rather than donating to the WRN Ltd. Business Account,
• the covert creation of WRN Ltd. by Heather Binning just seven months after "two ordinary women" Heather and Jo, "inexperienced in organising and activism", published "A Word from your Admins" saying:

"These groups are yours, run by you, not by us or anyone else and you know best what is happening in your local area and can organise accordingly."

"Heather and I are two ordinary women who had seen what the Scottish women were doing and wanted to be a part of it. We are certainly not experienced in organising and activism, we are admins and part of the groups like everyone else."

"Ordinary woman" Heather Binning's bio on the WRN website:

"Born in Scotland Heather began her career in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office where she held a number of overseas postings in places such as Washington DC to Kuwait. An experienced businesswoman, she went on to establish the first public internet access across the UK before becoming an economic development consultant for a range of organisations.

Heather lives in South London and took up the baton of women’s rights in July 2021, bringing together a number of local women’s groups which grew to become the (entirely voluntary) Women’s Rights Network."

Care to break from sneering at and belittling women on this thread long enough to comment on these issues?