Female students ‘fear for their safety’ as anti-abortion society set up at University of Manchester

Get the free Morning Headlines e mail for information from our reporters internationally

Sign up to our free Morning Headlines e mail

Female students at the University of Manchester say they’re “fearing for their safety” after an all-male committee set up a pro-life society.

Over 15,000 folks have signed a petition voicing considerations concerning the group, which has been allowed to type resulting from freedom of speech legal guidelines.

The society’s social media web page says its major intention is to “create a pro-life culture on campus” in its first put up on January 11.

A later put up inviting students to satisfy its committee shared profiles of three male students. The group insists that whereas they’re against abortion, they’re additionally “concerned with other threats to life” together with assisted suicide and deaths occurring by way of poverty.

The students’ union stated it will be unlawful to reject the society’s utility.

However, feminine students are involved that the group stigmatises girls and has even made some really feel unsafe.

Second-year linguistics scholar Heather Bowling instructed The Independent that the students’ union (SU) is “directly enabling misogynistic hate speech” and known as their response “weak”.

“My heart dropped [when I saw the society] – it felt like I was at the beginning of a new Margaret Atwood novel,” she stated.

“The society has made me feel weak and inferior to my male counterparts. I’ve had endless messages from girls who fear for their safety.

“The SU are directly enabling misogynistic hate speech. It is so upsetting and disappointing. It actively promotes a harmful rhetoric- this society’s goal is to create a pro-life culture – does the University of Manchester not realise what this entails?

“Universities are supposed to be centres of progression, yet they are allowing societies which debate women’s bodily autonomy and rights.”

The 20-year-old added that she felt as although the scholar’s union had “represented the three men over the 15,000 people who signed the petition”.

She stated: “Don’t get me wrong I am all for having different political views, but I think women’s bodily autonomy is not up for debate.

“I have also had messages from multiple women who have been through abortions and felt personally victimised and threatened by the presence of a society on a university campus such as this.”

A former scholar at the college, who had an abortion final yr whereas finding out, stated she would have been “driven mad” if the society had existed whereas she underwent the process.

“While I knew it was unfeasible [for me to have a baby] the constant stream of guilt from people who aren’t in similar circumstances made it so difficult. I kept thinking ‘I am a murderer or evil like people say’,” she instructed The Independent.

“I felt so dirty and horrible for ages after and having a bunch of boys externally reinforce that would have driven me mad.”

She added: “I completely understand the need for free speech but this is not something they need to speak up on. I don’t see why men form anti-abortion groups when there are so many men’s issues they could work on.”

Another feminine scholar, who wished to stay nameless, stated she believes the society could lead on “to the eventual harassment of women” acquiring abortions at college.

“I understand that the SU has to treat all societies equally but in terms of the message it’s sending out to women, I think it’s continuing to perpetuate the stigmatisation of abortion and denying that it’s a part of healthcare and a legal right.

“Societies are supposed to be opportunities for students to explore their interests outside of and meet like-minded people. These men turned around and said ‘what is it I like to do in my spare time?’ and thought ‘my interest is sitting and discussing something that’s never going to happen to me, that does not pertain to my bodily autonomy and something that I will never have to make a decision about’.”

An announcement from the University of Manchester’s scholar union stated that if the actions of a society quantity to hate speech or harassment, it will be challenged in keeping with the related procedures. The union declined to remark additional.

The assertion stated the union is certain by numerous legal guidelines together with the 1994 Education Act, the 2010 Equality Act, and part 43 of the 1986 Education Act.

It stated: “From a legal standpoint, it’s not possible to stop a society from affiliating for their legal views that are contrary to the views of other students. That means, despite concerns over student safety, the students’ union can’t block a society from forming because of their beliefs.

“The new freedom of speech legislation was passed in 2023 and will be fully implemented by September of this year. We know many aspects of this area of law are potentially contradictory with other legislation, such as equalities legislation, and at the very least it creates lots of tensions which are untested in law.

“The students’ union is not best placed to carry out legal challenge.”

The pro-life society stated that its management and membership “now has a great diversity” however affirmed their perception that “the right to life is not a gender-specific issue”.

It stated: “It is also important to point out that we are not an anti-abortion society but a pro-life society. This means that while we oppose abortion, we are also concerned with other threats to life including assisted suicide, the death penalty, deaths occurring through poverty and poor living standards, structural issues in critical infrastructure such as the NHS, and climate change.

They added that they are campaigning for support for students who are pregnant or parenting at university and said: “We hope that we can have reasonable and dignified conversations with everyone moving forward so we can create a better campus and society, one where everyone is valued and respected.”