Women's Rights Network Imploding - thread 2

[ThimbleThief]

Continuation Thread.

Original thread here:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5485117-womens-rights-network-imploding

Also being on Twitter or on Mumsnet is not activism. It’s being a social media warrior. Very different

So women’s rights groups on X are not doing activism? OK 😂 Have you thought maybe that’s just a platform they use to publicise some of their activism, gain members, and communicate? Then maybe, just maybe, they do their activism in the real world, like organising and attending protests, leafleting, street stalls, debates, writing newspaper and media articles, doing TV interviews, writing books, lobbying MPs, starting petitions, writing letters, submitting FOIs, research, raising lawsuits, supporting women at tribunals… the list is endless. It is possible that all the hard work and activism goes on behind the scenes and just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.

Regarding the previous post and confusion about what’s happening: the previous thread was filled, all the info is in the thread and the conversation continued onto a new thread. Many of the posters on here know who each other is and they’re having a bit of a rant at each other, it seems some posters are defending WRN and speaking (anonymously) on their behalf but doing a bad job of it. Some are attacking WRN. WRN is a large women’s rights group in the UK, with various local groups around the country. They did some silly things ejecting women and behaving like bullies so some of those bullied and ejected women took to Mumsnet to vent their frustration and expose what happened. The previous poster mentioning the followers gained in 12 hours may have been referring to the new Women of Scotland group and comparing it to the WRN Scotland group. Hope that helps.

It is actually helpful thank you.
Do these “women of “ groups (is there a group name?) do things like “organising and attending protests, leafleting, street stalls, debates, writing newspaper and media articles, doing TV interviews, writing books, lobbying MPs, starting petitions, writing letters, submitting FOIs, research, raising lawsuits, supporting women at tribunals”?
i gathered that wrn did that but the “women of” groups were just twitter accounts?

Part of the problem in explaining things on here is that you can be banned for having 3 posts removed.

You can be banned for being too generalistic. And also banned for being too specific.

So people are forced into not writing too much, not being specific and not generalising.

So trying to explain anything ends up like swiss cheese.

Do these “women of “ groups (is there a group name?) do things like “organising and attending protests, leafleting, street stalls, debates, writing newspaper and media articles, doing TV interviews, writing books, lobbying MPs, starting petitions, writing letters, submitting FOIs, research, raising lawsuits, supporting women at tribunals”?

Yes

To reiterate the answer to that question YES , most certainly. HTH as we say around these parts

You gathered that did you @Asdexpansion, despite being so confused by what is being said. “Just a Twitter account” just happens to be the way some WRN women dismiss the work of other groups. Even a cursory search of the Women Of organisations would show the extent of their campaigning activity.

Not true. Consciousness raising is an important method of feminist activism.

Others have replied but I can confirm that the Women Of groups certainly do all of those things.

The Women of Wessex produce and distribute their own leaflets, organise and attend protests, engage with as many members of the public as possible, lobby MPs and councillors, challenge schools and academies, submit FOIs, conduct research, and have written briefing papers for MPs and ministers. In addition, members have sent pre-action letters to public bodies and a registered charity, and are prepared to go to judicial review if those organisations continue to fail to comply with the law. Some of our members have given interviews to the national press to raise public awareness of the failure of public bodies to act in accordance with the law.

Our X/Twitter account is just a shop window, signposting how to get in touch with us. Our activism is conducted in real life with real people and real organisations. We are most certainly not just keyboard warriors.

I am always bemused by the number of posters on this and the previous thread who claim to know so much about the Women Of groups (when it is patently clear they don’t have a clue) while simultaneously claiming that the WRN does not have significant leadership, governance, and member retention issues, despite the screenshots of correspondence and the many firsthand accounts of former members.

It’s a curious but recurring phenomenon.

It’s not all that surprising Lily. There are posters here who claim not to be any part of WRN but still manage to set out the party line in almost exactly the same words as some of the core team of WRN. Criticising and undermining other groups and claiming there is nothing to see within WRN despite massive rifts and swathes of women being expelled, this is a common pattern.

Totally agree @TinselAngel

Is WRN Scotland bankrupt yet?

I'm assuming you'd be happy if they were? I wouldn't; even though I was one of the women kicked out last June, I wouldn't be happy to see them fold as they do good still and raise the profile of women's rights in Scotland.

I believe you perhaps know more about the leadership issues than I ever did, am I right? I suspect so from reading your responses on these threads, so perhaps you've more reason than me to hold a grudge, but like I said, I was upset at the time, but I think it's good that other groups have started up instead, hopefully they can co-exist without issues. I'm going to try and see if I can find a local one to me and dip my toe back in again.

It was a neutral question. No need to make unjustified assumptions about other people’s motives or experiences.

I'm sorry, I meant no offence. It's hard to read tone in written word rather than in real life.

It wasn't nice what wrn Scotland did to those of us who were removed, but as they say, one door can close and another can open.

That’s OK. I can see why you thought I might be being mean. I’m not. I just think that Mary Howden throwing 62 contributing members (time &
financial resources) was a poorly thought out strategic decision.