Universities did not protect gender-critical academics from harassment
The report – on barriers to research on sex and gender identity – has called for staff and students who take part in freedom-restricting harassment to face 'consequences commensurate with the seriousness of the offence'.
Universities should critically review their policies and practices to remove 'partisan policies and messaging on questions of sex and gender', it added.
The report follows a review of data, statistics and research on sex and gender, which was commissioned by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology under the former Conservative government in February 2024.
It came after high-profile cases of academics who faced harassment relating to their gender-critical views garnered media attention in recent years.
In March, the Office for Students (OfS) issued a fine of £585,000 to the University of Sussex for failing to uphold freedom of speech.
The watchdog's investigation into the university was launched after protests called for the dismissal of academic Professor Kathleen Stock in 2021 over her views on gender identity.
The OfS concluded the university's trans and non-binary equality policy statement had 'a chilling effect' of possible self-censorship of students and staff on campus.
In January last year, an academic won an unfair dismissal claim against the Open University (OU) after she was discriminated against and harassed because of her gender-critical beliefs.
An employment tribunal found Professor Jo Phoenix – who was compared with 'a racist uncle at the Christmas table' – was forced to quit her job because of a 'hostile environment' created by colleagues and 'insufficient protection' from the university.
Prof Sullivan's latest report cites evidence from a number of academics – including Prof Stock and Prof Phoenix – who have challenged the theory that sex is always less important than gender identity.
It said: 'Several respondents to this review have suffered extreme personal consequences, both to their careers and to their physical and mental health, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and extensive sick leave as a result of bullying, harassment and discrimination.
'The failure to adequately support and defend these individuals is a stain on the higher education sector.'
The review concluded: 'Campaigns of harassment have had devastating consequences for individuals and created a wider chilling effect for academia and the research community.
'University policies have often adhered to the tenets of gender-identity theory, thus embedding discriminatory practices.
'In cases where individual academics or students have tried to resolve issues using internal mechanisms, these processes have often proven inadequate.
'Going to an employment tribunal is an exceptionally onerous and potentially career-ending step.
'Statements from higher education management representatives and bodies have typically downplayed and denied problems with academic freedom, dismissing or minimising concerns as 'media noise' or 'culture wars'.'
Report author Prof Sullivan, from the UCL Social Research Institute, said: 'The evidence I have collected raises stark concerns about barriers to academic freedom in UK universities.
'Researchers investigating vital issues have been subjected to sustained campaigns of intimidation simply for acknowledging the biological and social importance of sex.
'Excessive and cumbersome bureaucratic processes have exacerbated the problem by providing levers for activists to exert influence.
'Academic institutions need to examine their policies and processes carefully to avoid these unintended outcomes.'
Among a series of recommendations, the report said senior leaders in higher education should acknowledge the reality of bullying and harassment by internal activists and 'take on board the lessons of the Phoenix judgment'.
Prof Phoenix, who resigned from the OU in December 2021 after she was harassed for her gender-critical views, said: 'I just suggested that there was a different evidence base from which we could make assessments about the potential harms of placing males who identify as trans in female prisons and I set up a research network. That was all I ever did.
'But it was enough for the activist academics to stop my criminological research career in its track and to do so permanently.'
A Government spokeswoman said: 'We are taking strong action to protect academic freedom and free speech, which are fundamental to our world-leading universities.
'This includes introducing new duties on universities to ensure they are robust in promoting and protecting free speech on campus.
'It also comes alongside the firm steps the Office for Students is already taking, through fines and new guidance, to ensure universities remain beacons of academic freedom.'
A Universities UK (UUK) spokeswoman said: 'We agree that universities must protect and defend academic freedom and freedom of speech.
'They are bound to do so by law and, in England, there is a new regulatory approach under the Freedom of Speech Act which is about to come into force.
'These are complex issues. In practice universities are bound by law to protect the free speech of individuals who have very different views on contentious topics.
'They are required both to allow and facilitate protest, and to prevent that protest creating an intimidatory or chilling environment on campus or from preventing staff and students from pursuing their work and studies.
'We will carefully consider this report as part of our work in supporting universities as they navigate these difficult issues.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
5 hours ago
- BBC News
Government pledges extra £100m funding to tackle people smuggling
The Home Office has announced £100m in extra funding as part of efforts to crack down on illegal people smuggling in the English money will pay for up to 300 additional National Crime Agency (NCA) officers as well as new technology and than 25,000 people made the journey from France to the UK in small boats before the end of July, a record for this point in the Secretary Yvette Cooper said the move would help the UK better "track the [smuggling] gangs and bring them down". The Conservative Party called it a "desperate grab for headlines which will make no real difference". Last month, the government agreed a "one in, one out" pilot scheme with France which aims to deter migrants from crossing the Channel. Under the scheme, some arrivals would be returned to France and in exchange the UK would accept an equivalent number of asylum seekers, subject to security to the Home Office, the new £100m will boost border security and strengthen investigations targeting smuggling kingpins who have operations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Cooper said gangs had shown a "a ruthless ability to adapt their tactics and maximise their profits, no matter how many lives they put at risk".The NCA has 91 ongoing investigations into people-smuggling networks affecting the UK, the agency's director general of operations Rob Jones said. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp accused Labour of having "no serious plan" to tackle the issue."The British public deserves real action, not empty slogans and tinkering at the edges," he in the Daily Express, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said it was an effort to "throw taxpayer money at the illegal immigration crisis and hope it will go away"."Another £100 million here or there won't move the needle. It won't stop the boats or the gangs," he and previous Conservative governments have both struggled to reduce the number of people coming to the UK illegally in small Conservatives had proposed sending arrivals to Rwanda, but the scheme was delayed by legal challenges. The general election was called before it could be of Sir Keir Starmer's first acts as prime minister was to scrap the plan, calling it a another measure, which was revealed on Sunday, people advertising illegal Channel crossings online could face up to five years in prison under a new offence the government plans to illegal immigration to the UK is already a crime, but officials believe the new offence would give police and other agencies more power to disrupt criminal would criminalise the creation of material for publication online which promotes or offers services that facilitate a breach of UK immigration would include people using social media to advertise fake passports or visas, or the promise of illegal work opportunities in the UK, and as well as jail time could carry a large fine.
Powys County Times
11 hours ago
- Powys County Times
Cut red tape hindering marine restoration to boost coastal towns
Conservative MPs are urging Labour to cut red tape for marine restoration companies to support coastal communities in decline. The Conservative Environment Network (CEN) warned of the impact on towns of declining tourism and flooding, storms and coastal erosion, in a report outlining measures to help them. The group, which includes dozens of Tory MPs, called for regulation to be streamlined for projects such as the Solent Seascape Project, an initiative to restore saltmarsh, seagrass, oyster reefs, and seabird nesting sites between the Isle of Wight and mainland England. Shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins backed the report, calling it a 'valuable conservative contribution for consideration in our ongoing policy renewal programme'. 'Britain's once-buzzing seaside towns are facing growing economic and environmental pressures. The Conservatives are determined to set out a plan to protect our coastal communities and preserve them for future generations,' she said. She added: 'Needless red tape continues to hamstring investment into marine restoration projects that could bring coastal communities jobs, nature-abundant habitats, and protection against the growing threats of climate change.' The network is also calling on Labour to use the flood defences budget to fund more nature-based solutions and to designate more highly protected marine areas in English waters to protect against practices like bottom trawling, in which fishing gear is dragged across the seabed destroying habitats and scooping up a wide array of species. They also want the Government to publish blue carbon codes – frameworks that define how carbon stored in marine habitats like seagrass and saltmarsh can be measured, verified and sold as credits – to unlock more funding for coastal resilience. They say these moves will boost nature recovery as well as local economies through nature tourism and job creation as more projects could get off the ground. Some 67% of English coastal towns are in the Office for National Statistics higher deprivation category and 3,500 properties are in areas at risk from coastal erosion. Kitty Thompson, head of campaigns at CEN, said offering solutions for coastal communities could also help the Conservatives challenge Nigel Farage's Reform UK. 'The teal tide is not inevitable. Reform offers an easy outlet of anger for many coastal towns who have watched their neighbourhoods fade. 'But they won't give these communities the solutions they deserve. If the Conservatives offer a pragmatic, credible alternative that can deliver for coastal communities, then they can challenge Reform in coastal target seats, stopping them in their tracks,' she said. Jacques Villemot, marine rewilding lead for Rewilding Britain, said the current marine licensing framework is outdated and called for the application process for projects to be streamlined. 'This framework urgently needs to be updated to support marine rewilding projects. Though necessary, in its current format marine licensing acts as a blocker, a laborious and costly process which was designed for approving developments like huge oil rigs and large wind farms,' he said. A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said: 'We are committed to supporting coastal communities. 'This government inherited flood defences in their worst condition on record. 'Through our Plan for Change, we're investing a record £2.65 billion over two years to repair and build more than 1,000 flood defences across the country, including nature-based projects. This will protect tens of thousands of homes and businesses.'
The Independent
12 hours ago
- The Independent
Cut red tape hindering marine restoration to boost coastal towns
Conservative MPs are urging Labour to cut red tape for marine restoration companies to support coastal communities in decline. The Conservative Environment Network (CEN) warned of the impact on towns of declining tourism and flooding, storms and coastal erosion, in a report outlining measures to help them. The group, which includes dozens of Tory MPs, called for regulation to be streamlined for projects such as the Solent Seascape Project, an initiative to restore saltmarsh, seagrass, oyster reefs, and seabird nesting sites between the Isle of Wight and mainland England. Shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins backed the report, calling it a 'valuable conservative contribution for consideration in our ongoing policy renewal programme'. 'Britain's once-buzzing seaside towns are facing growing economic and environmental pressures. The Conservatives are determined to set out a plan to protect our coastal communities and preserve them for future generations,' she said. She added: 'Needless red tape continues to hamstring investment into marine restoration projects that could bring coastal communities jobs, nature-abundant habitats, and protection against the growing threats of climate change.' The network is also calling on Labour to use the flood defences budget to fund more nature-based solutions and to designate more highly protected marine areas in English waters to protect against practices like bottom trawling, in which fishing gear is dragged across the seabed destroying habitats and scooping up a wide array of species. They also want the Government to publish blue carbon codes – frameworks that define how carbon stored in marine habitats like seagrass and saltmarsh can be measured, verified and sold as credits – to unlock more funding for coastal resilience. They say these moves will boost nature recovery as well as local economies through nature tourism and job creation as more projects could get off the ground. Some 67% of English coastal towns are in the Office for National Statistics higher deprivation category and 3,500 properties are in areas at risk from coastal erosion. Kitty Thompson, head of campaigns at CEN, said offering solutions for coastal communities could also help the Conservatives challenge Nigel Farage's Reform UK. 'The teal tide is not inevitable. Reform offers an easy outlet of anger for many coastal towns who have watched their neighbourhoods fade. 'But they won't give these communities the solutions they deserve. If the Conservatives offer a pragmatic, credible alternative that can deliver for coastal communities, then they can challenge Reform in coastal target seats, stopping them in their tracks,' she said. Jacques Villemot, marine rewilding lead for Rewilding Britain, said the current marine licensing framework is outdated and called for the application process for projects to be streamlined. 'This framework urgently needs to be updated to support marine rewilding projects. Though necessary, in its current format marine licensing acts as a blocker, a laborious and costly process which was designed for approving developments like huge oil rigs and large wind farms,' he said.
