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?

I agree that there are serious concerns that should be answered about HBs "ownership" of WRN, and I'm concerned.

But , for a so called imploding network, there were a hell of a lot of us at the Puberty Blocker Lobby in Westminster today!

Not all who were there are members.

No, I never said they were.

There were Sex Matters and LGBA members as well. And other allies.

Lots of us are members of two or more of those networks!

And there were many WRN members there, as I can attest to.

Interesting. Must be English people. I hear the Scots members had to pledge allegiance to WRN before all other organisations.

I’m glad to hear there was a good mix of allies and groups represented.
That said, the recent revelations about certain behaviours within WRN have been a major topic of discussion among many of us. A lot of current members (myself included) are absolutely horrified and are actively exploring other paths for activism, including forming new groups and strengthening ties with organisations. We’re not planning to fully exit WRN just yet – it’s useful to keep an ear to the ground – but we’re stepping back from active involvement to focus our energies where they align better with our principles.

I agree, I feel exactly the same (and I'm not the only one)

This is hilarious, and very true!

I want to say how grateful the WitChes, Women in the Chilterns were at the warm reception we received at the Puberty Blockers Lobby Day yesterday. We especially thank all those members of WRN who made a point of coming up to us in full view of the Directors. Thank you for the solidarity and also for the concern you showed us for the very difficult time we've had. We knew this took courage and appreciate that we are all actually campaigning for the same things. 🙏

You’re an actual member of the new group @Worriedfeminist? I hope it’s going well and I really wish you all the best. I hope you can link up with Women of Wessex and the other breakaway groups - if you have that then really, apart from the big name Zooms, what have you lost? Being free of the control of central WRN and the sneering, dismissive attitude of some of the more unpleasant posters on this thread sounds really good!

Anyone who thinks terfs will just do what they're told is living in fantasy land. Surely we just take part in actions we think are useful as we see fit? No-one is beholden to any of the leading figures.

This platform keeps deleting my comments!

Sometimes people (including me) want to belong to an organisation so we can attend events when we are available.

I was wary when the leadership said they were restructuring the specialist groups and everyone had to reapply for membership of subgroups but then the members they didn’t want were ignored. Worse, several members of one group were told that their expertise in that area wasn’t required.

That is rubbish. Hopefully there's enough women keeping others in the loop.

I’m pleased to tell you that the Women of the Chilterns are in direct contact with, and fully affiliated with, the Women of Wessex and the Women of Surrey. They are now part of our network.

This means that we are all independent groups who have agreed to share common objectives, group rules, and a strict vetting procedure, so that we can offer knowledge, expertise and support to each other when it is needed.

No central control, no topdown micro-management. We help each other, but we don’t get in each other’s way. It’s the best of both worlds.

I am especially pleased to tell you that Wessex, Surrey and The Chilterns are now in joint discussions with a fourth group and they too seek affiliation with us.

In fact, a grassroots network of independent women’s groups! It’s all very 2021!

@LilyCraven if an existing WRN group wanted to join your emerging network and be a Women Of their area as well as in WRN,
would that be acceptable? Or do you only take WRN refugees? Just asking rhetorically, you understand.

"Asking for a friend"

🤭

I think discussion could be had, for sure, but given WRNs attitude to dissent, unauthorised info and working with other groups, I suspect they couldn’t remain a member of both for very long.

To be honest I think the main issue is in the nature of 'groups' thmselves. When a group becomes established, or tries to establish itself more formally, or when it grows in size, conflicts inevitably happen. Some voices are louder or more prominent than others; different priorities start to assert themselves; subtleties and/or gradations of ideological thought turn into divides between people; group think can start to take over......to the point where the group itself becomes the focus rather than the issue which brought you together in the first place. People fall out and start hating each other.

RinklyRomaine has a point.

When I left the WRN after being Heathered, many members of WRN West Country followed me out of the door, and that’s when I set up the Women of Wessex.

Some stayed put, but HB gave them an ultimatum: leave the WRN immediately if you join Wessex. Some did because they resented being told what they could or could not do — but it was an empty ultimatum, because others joined us while remaining WRN members, mainly for the Zoom sessions with high profile campaigners.

HB had no way of knowing, because we don’t tell.

To answer your question, however, the Women Of groups do not insist on unswerving loyalty and we do not believe in telling other women which other groups they can join or support. We are entirely unconcerned if women want to belong to both the WRN and an independent grassroots Women Of group. We will take in whole groups and we also take in individual WRN members.

The WRN might still be of the view that you cannot belong to both. Even today, nearly three years after we set up, the Women of Wessex X account is still blocked by the WRN X account.

We are entirely unconcerned about that too. That’s why we haven’t bothered to block back.

Thanks for your take, but let’s not sugarcoat this with vague talk about “group dynamics” – that’s just a cop-out that lets toxic organisations off the hook. The real rot here is WRN itself: its leadership has been caught engaging in bullying, suspending anyone who dares ask questions, deleting comments to suppress discussion, refusing to address serious governance issues, arbitrarily kicking out group admins who challenge them, summarily removing over 80 women from the North and South Bucks local groups for alleged privacy breaches without any investigation, opportunity for rebuttal, or even basic due process – just deactivating their log-ins, cutting off member emails, and barring them from events after ignoring repeated attempts to engage and resolve issues – and even breaking up long-standing groups like WRN Scotland without any consent or consideration, all while treating basic enquiries as a “test of loyalty”. It’s not some inevitable growing pain; it’s a deliberate betrayal that’s alienated allies and undermined the entire cause.

An appropriate moment for me to return to remind us all that:
all we have in these <checks> 38 pages is a few documents where stuff that some women say happened is then contradicted by what WRN say happened. The rest of us cannot verify any of it either way.
We also have no idea how many of the women initially removed from WRN en masse then applied to return individually and were accepted back.

We have multiple first hand statements from women describing their personal experience, in at least four separate instances. It has been established some time ago that @LordArnoldsWife is a goady goader so I don’t think any more rebuttal is warranted.

Exactly so.
A last ditch attempt for WRN to save face after their dysfunctional behaviour has been outed.
Is anyone setting up a Women of Scotland group yet?