A feminist PhD student has lost her legal case against a university after claiming she suffered harassment and bullying from trans rights activists.
In February, Raquel Rosario-Sanchez announced that she was suing Bristol University after claiming she was subjected to a two-year hate campaign over her involvement with the feminist campaign group Woman’s Place UK.
She said both her mental health and her academic performance suffered as a result of online attacks that began in February 2018. Sanchez, 30, who is from the Dominican Republic, had been doing a Ph.D. on women and violence at Bristol University’s Centre for Gender and Violence Research.
Activists had protested against a talk she gave and had labelled her a “terf,” a controversial term meaning trans-exclusionary radical feminist. The acronym TERF has been thrown at the author JK Rowling after she made comments deemed transphobic for her views on sex and gender.
The hearing heard that one student, known only as AA, faced disciplinary proceedings for alleged harassment. But the disciplinary proceedings were later dropped due to AA’s worsening mental health in 2019.
In one social media post, AA wrote: “I’m gonna eat pizza in bed. And with every bite my solid mass of queerness will grow denser. … all the better to punch them terfs with.” Another social media user suggested throwing eggs at those attending the meeting and slapping an attendee on the face. However, the disciplinary proceedings were later dropped in spring 2019 due to AA’s worsening mental health.
Judge Alex Ralton dismissed Sanchez’s claim and said that his ruling focused on the university’s managed complaints rather than gender rights.
“Generally, it is not for me, in this case, to pass judgment on the acceptability of the things said and done and whether the line beyond acceptable free speech was crossed but I do observe that the threat or use of violence such as the threat of throwing eggs or a punch obviously crosses that line and amounts to abhorrent and deplorable conduct,” said Ralton.
“The university accepts that Ms. Rosario Sanchez was the victim of unacceptable behaviour, particularly in the form of AA’s threat of violence. However, it was apparent in evidence that Ms. Rosario Sanchez perceived behaviour as unacceptable to her which may nonetheless be permissible in the form of free speech—albeit offensive and rude—such as the use of the acronym terf,” he added.
The judge added that Sanchez “was not carefully informed and guided” about the disciplinary process and the information was delivered “in somewhat piecemeal fashion.”
“Ms. Rosario Sanchez’s complaints could have been progressed in a much better fashion, and this has already been recognised by the university, but there is no evidence of any malice on the part of any member of staff of the university towards Ms. Rosario Sanchez and there is no evidence to support any inference of a strategy to close Ms. Rosario Sanchez down rather than AA,” said Ralton.
A Bristol University spokeswoman said: “From the outset, we have sought to remain neutral in our management of this conflict and to follow our internal complaints procedure. While we are pleased the judge found this to be the case, dismissing all claims made against us, we acknowledge that this has been an incredibly challenging period for everyone involved.”
“While I have known the truth all along, I cannot emphasise enough how at peace I feel knowing that this dark cloud that has hung over my head every day is now gone,” said Sanchez.
“I did not deserve years of intimidation for daring to chair a feminist meeting or for defending sex-based feminism. Nobody does,” she added.
