Universities ‘don't protect academics from trans harassment'

Telegraph

4 days ago

Universities have failed to protect gender-critical academics from interference and harassment, a government-commissioned report has found.
A review led by Professor Alice Sullivan, a sociology expert at University College London (UCL), found that many academics had faced 'barriers to research' as well as abuse and intimidation because of their gender-critical views.
The report, which was commissioned by the previous Conservative government and analysed submissions from 140 academics, claimed failure to support such individuals was 'a stain on the higher education sector'.
It alleged that administrative bloat at UK universities in recent years and the growth of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) departments were interfering with academic freedom.
'Provided levers for activists'
Prof Sullivan suggested they had 'provided levers for activists' trying to shut down gender-critical academics by requiring research to be approved by lengthy ethics committees.
The report - on barriers to research on sex and gender identity at British universities - said this had also resulted in some academics having parts of their studies blocked.
One anonymised submission from a UK academic claimed they were prevented from collecting data on the number of transgender and non-binary patients in an NHS autism clinic.
Another alleged that they were unable to collect data on sex for various national datasets despite the research being relevant to domestic abuse.
'EDI overreach'
The report called for universities to crack down on 'EDI overreach' and said such departments should be slimmed down to personnel matters rather than being involved in deciding research content.
It comes after research published earlier this year by the Taxpayers' Alliance (TPA) found that the cost of EDI teams at British universities rose by 125 per cent between 2022 and 2024, to £168,000 on average per institution.
The number of EDI staff in UK higher education also swelled by a fifth over that time, with each university out of 110 analysed by the TPA employing an average of 6.9 people in such roles in 2023/24.
The report published on Wednesday, led by Prof Sullivan and with input from other academics, urged universities to review their governance documents to remove 'partisan policies and messaging on questions of sex and gender'.
'A chilling effect arose'
It claimed free speech and academic freedom on UK campuses have come 'under attack' in recent years by those who believe 'treating sex as an important category 'denies the existence' of trans people'.
The report cited the evidence over the treatment of academics including Professor Kathleen Stock and Professor Jo Phoenix, who both claim they were subjected to serious harassment campaigns at their respective universities.
The university's watchdog hit the University of Sussex with a record fine of £585,000 in March for failing to uphold free speech in the case of Prof Stock, who claims she was hounded out in a 'witch hunt' over her views on gender.
The Office for Students (OfS) warned that 'a chilling effect arose' from the university's transgender policy that caused staff and students to 'self-censor' and left them feeling unable to express 'lawful' opinions.
'Hostile environment'
Meanwhile, Prof Phoenix won an unfair dismissal claim against the Open University last year after she was discriminated against and harassed because of her gender-critical beliefs.
An employment tribunal found that the academic was compared with 'a racist uncle at the Christmas table' and was forced to quit her job because of a 'hostile environment' created by colleagues and 'insufficient protection' from the university.
Long-awaited free speech laws are set to come into force in England next month after they were temporarily shelved by the Labour Government.
The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act will include a new free speech complaints scheme for teaching staff overseen by Professor Arif Ahmed, the university watchdog's director of academic freedom.
'These are complex issues'
Universities UK (UUK), the lobby group representing vice-chancellors, said it would 'carefully consider' the report's findings.
A spokesman for UUK 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 from 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.'