Members of Swansea University feminist society are forced to quit for their own safety after being targeted by trans activists
- Swansea University feminist society was ‘purged by trans activists’, it’s claimed
- Abby Claron, the society’s outgoing president, says members were intimidated
- It came after the society supported Sussex University professor Kathleen Stock
- Ms Claron clams the society as piled on by trans activists and branded a ‘Terf’
The president of a university feminist society says its members were forced to quit for their safety after it was targeted by trans activists.
Abby Claron, who is the outgoing president of Swansea University Feminist Society, says its members were intimated after it showed support for a university professor over her views on gender.
The 23-year-old says the society’s email accounts were even shut down after a ‘frenzied’ backlash which saw her own person social media accounts shared among trans activists.
This included messages being sent to the society’s social media accounts branding them ‘Terfs’ – a shorthand for trans exclusionary radical feminist – and other insulting messages.
Abby Claron (pictured), the outgoing president of Swansea University Feminist Society, says it has been ‘purged by trans activists’
She says the university’s student union has shut down access to the society’s email accounts. Pictured: Swansea University
It came after the society publicly supported Kathleen Stock, the Sussex University professor who resigned in October last year after a campaign by students against her ‘gender critical’ views.
Members of the society also received abuse after it promoted a book by feminist author Helen Joyce.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Ms Claron claimed the society had been ‘purged by trans activists’ after it supported ‘women’s sex based-rights and sex-based spaces’.
She claimed the Swansea University’s Students’ Union announced it would investigate social media posts made by the group after the furore.
However, nine months later, she says this probe is still taking place and over the summer the society’s email account was deleted and its profile page removed from the union website.
She told the publication: ‘We’re not sure how there can be an ‘investigation’ that lasts the entire academic year, but never once involved us?
Ms Claron says trans activists targeted the society over its support for ‘women’s sex based-rights and sex-based spaces’
The philosophy graduate says some members of the society were told they would be shunned as a result of its position on gender
‘My committee members were frightened into quitting, with one telling me that her friends were no longer speaking to her if she remained in the society. The university vice-chancellor also ignored all letters of support sent to us by women’s rights groups.’
The philosophy graduate claims the university has told the society to ‘re-conduct’ its election for the next academic year’s committee and was told this was because the election had ‘failed’ due to the ‘timing’ that had been set.
Ms Claron said: ‘Frankly, I find their behaviour appalling, what has happened to us is concerning for freedom of speech more generally, and the academic climate of Swansea University.’
She added that the incoming president is ‘concerned that people will find her personal and work accounts, and that her job could be at risk.’
A spokesperson for Swansea University Student Union told the Telegraph the society was ‘deemed dormant until a committee can be elected’ and as a result was ‘not able to access some society resources, including society email accounts’.
They added: ‘The complaint refers to a separate issue of transphobia allegations made against some individuals within the Feminist Society. This investigation is ongoing.’
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