Status: Closed — this petition is no longer accepting signatures.
Final supporters
"It is not privilege to be born with a body that is, from the moment of birth, vulnerable to the constriction, damage and violence that men enact upon women, either through gender norms (the praise given to little girls for being quiet, still, delicate, dainty poppets) or through physical assault."
We the undersigned write in support of Dr Rachel Hewitt for her recent article in the New Statesman, in which she speaks about her experience of male rape, and how female only space was crucial for her healing from what is a brutal experience. We petition her employers at Oxford University to support Rachel and defend her right to her opinions, and not relent to the unjust accusations of her criticisers.
We believe that women have the right to freedom of expression in relation to these issues, and the right to speak openly about the harsh realities of being female in a male-dominated world. In England and Wales approximately 85,000 women are raped on average every year.* Although this figure may include some transgender women, the majority of women included in this figure will be females, who are biologically female and have been socialised as such since birth.
In her article Rachel highlights the calls to revoke the exclusion of males (i.e. trans women who are male-bodied, despite identifying as female) from female victims only counselling groups for sexual assault. She highlights the intimidation tactics of trans activists around this issue and sets out how important the female only space was for her in being able to come to terms with the rape. Like Rachel, we and many other women recognise a clear difference between trans women (who are biologically male and have been socialised as male, despite identifying as female) and women. We believe that this difference should be recognised through the defence of female-only counselling groups that exclude trans women. We do not see this as an anti-trans sentiment, but merely a mark of respect for women who have been victims of male violence.
It is deplorable to us that a woman who speaks out about her rape and expresses her right to freedom expression should be furthered abused in this way by so-called feminists, who should instead be supporting the right of women to vocalise their own lived experiences of oppression and male violence. We call upon her employers at Oxford University to recognise that there are differences of opinion over this complex issue within the feminist community. We sincerely hope that Rachel's employers will stand by her right to speak about her own experience of rape.
*(figure from Rape Crisis, based on government figures 2013)
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Updates
March 5, 2015
The sheer weight of this support shows that Oxford University cannot ignore us any longer. They think they can bully Dr. Hewitt into silence but this surge of backing proves we are not going anywhere.
11 Comments
Women deserve to heal in peace without biological males in the room. Why is this so hard for people to understand? Oxford needs to grow a backbone and back their own staff.
Females organizing autonomously and pursuing her own political interests should not be contentious. Normalize this!
It is a fact that globally male sexual violence against women and girls is a pandemic and therefore it is essential that female only spaces must continue to exist in order that female victims can seek help and support without the supposedly 'mandatory' presence of men. Attempts by trans activists to make this issue about males who claim they can magically morph into females is a ruse designed to erase the tiny number of real women only spaces. Do not be fooled this ruse is all about men maintaining their male sex right to oppress and silence all women - and I mean all biologically born females not males who pretend they are females.
I support the right of rape survivors and other women who have experienced male violence to female-only space. It is deplorable that Rachel is being harassed in this way, and her employers should stand by her.
I support the right for women to say how they feel about biological males being given access to female only spaces. It would be different if we didn't live in the patriarchy and have to suffer in this rape culture. A university should be a place that support critical discourse, not discourages it.
It's not that simple. On the whole humans of both genders have similar problems and it doesn't help to invent a mythical monster called the 'patriarchy' that makes a useful scapegoat to avoid facing up to the wider problems. Your first sentence by the way isn't grammatically correct; 'females' is plural and 'her' is singular. And what precisely ARE the 'political interests' that are solely related to females rather than general human rights? For the record I WAS raped at the age of 18 and I became pregnant as a result so I'm NOT speaking out of some smug abstract philosophy but out of direct personal experience. But ever since my rape I found that some people - men and women - were kind, understanding and sympathetic and some were not. The biggest rock of them all is the man who six years after my rape became my husband. If you're raped you can't assume that women are somehow magically gifted with exceptional sensitivity and empathy that men don't have. Frankly that's a pretty sexist attitude to have. The answer to male chauvinism is NOT female chauvinism!
I support Rachel Hewitt
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Status: Closed — this petition is no longer accepting signatures.
Final supporters
"It is not privilege to be born with a body that is, from the moment of birth, vulnerable to the constriction, damage and violence that men enact upon women, either through gender norms (the praise given to little girls for being quiet, still, delicate, dainty poppets) or through physical assault."
We the undersigned write in support of Dr Rachel Hewitt for her recent article in the New Statesman, in which she speaks about her experience of male rape, and how female only space was crucial for her healing from what is a brutal experience. We petition her employers at Oxford University to support Rachel and defend her right to her opinions, and not relent to the unjust accusations of her criticisers.
We believe that women have the right to freedom of expression in relation to these issues, and the right to speak openly about the harsh realities of being female in a male-dominated world. In England and Wales approximately 85,000 women are raped on average every year.* Although this figure may include some transgender women, the majority of women included in this figure will be females, who are biologically female and have been socialised as such since birth.
In her article Rachel highlights the calls to revoke the exclusion of males (i.e. trans women who are male-bodied, despite identifying as female) from female victims only counselling groups for sexual assault. She highlights the intimidation tactics of trans activists around this issue and sets out how important the female only space was for her in being able to come to terms with the rape. Like Rachel, we and many other women recognise a clear difference between trans women (who are biologically male and have been socialised as male, despite identifying as female) and women. We believe that this difference should be recognised through the defence of female-only counselling groups that exclude trans women. We do not see this as an anti-trans sentiment, but merely a mark of respect for women who have been victims of male violence.
It is deplorable to us that a woman who speaks out about her rape and expresses her right to freedom expression should be furthered abused in this way by so-called feminists, who should instead be supporting the right of women to vocalise their own lived experiences of oppression and male violence. We call upon her employers at Oxford University to recognise that there are differences of opinion over this complex issue within the feminist community. We sincerely hope that Rachel's employers will stand by her right to speak about her own experience of rape.
*(figure from Rape Crisis, based on government figures 2013)
Updates
March 5, 2015
The sheer weight of this support shows that Oxford University cannot ignore us any longer. They think they can bully Dr. Hewitt into silence but this surge of backing proves we are not going anywhere.
11 Comments
RIDICULOUS that she is being targeted for this. Keep female spaces female.
Women deserve to heal in peace without biological males in the room. Why is this so hard for people to understand? Oxford needs to grow a backbone and back their own staff.
Females organizing autonomously and pursuing her own political interests should not be contentious. Normalize this!
It is a fact that globally male sexual violence against women and girls is a pandemic and therefore it is essential that female only spaces must continue to exist in order that female victims can seek help and support without the supposedly 'mandatory' presence of men. Attempts by trans activists to make this issue about males who claim they can magically morph into females is a ruse designed to erase the tiny number of real women only spaces. Do not be fooled this ruse is all about men maintaining their male sex right to oppress and silence all women - and I mean all biologically born females not males who pretend they are females.
I support the right of rape survivors and other women who have experienced male violence to female-only space. It is deplorable that Rachel is being harassed in this way, and her employers should stand by her.
I support the right for women to say how they feel about biological males being given access to female only spaces. It would be different if we didn't live in the patriarchy and have to suffer in this rape culture. A university should be a place that support critical discourse, not discourages it.
It's not that simple. On the whole humans of both genders have similar problems and it doesn't help to invent a mythical monster called the 'patriarchy' that makes a useful scapegoat to avoid facing up to the wider problems. Your first sentence by the way isn't grammatically correct; 'females' is plural and 'her' is singular. And what precisely ARE the 'political interests' that are solely related to females rather than general human rights? For the record I WAS raped at the age of 18 and I became pregnant as a result so I'm NOT speaking out of some smug abstract philosophy but out of direct personal experience. But ever since my rape I found that some people - men and women - were kind, understanding and sympathetic and some were not. The biggest rock of them all is the man who six years after my rape became my husband. If you're raped you can't assume that women are somehow magically gifted with exceptional sensitivity and empathy that men don't have. Frankly that's a pretty sexist attitude to have. The answer to male chauvinism is NOT female chauvinism!
I support Rachel Hewitt
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RIDICULOUS that she is being targeted for this. Keep female spaces female.