Maya Forstater

On silencing and academia: When women are intimidated, harassed, and threatened for speaking out, they and other women self-censor or go silent. @BabyLegalEagle and @olga_jurasz have written an excellent book on online misogyny. It is worth reading to understand the impact on 1/

women and om freedom of expression. Speaking out while being female comes with a coat, and the more sensitive and difficult the issue area the higher the cost. Women's expertise seems not to matter or to be disregarded in these circumstances. Instead they frequently face 2/

the types of personal and personalised attacks that are rarely aimed at men who speak out on the same issues. The climate of fear has resulted in very few women feeling able to speak out in their own names for fear of reprisals. Those of us who do speak out are then subjected 3/

to online abuse, often spurious and pernicious accusations without evidence that are taken up as 'fact' because the online narratives largely go unchallenged. And we find ourselves in positions at work that are intimidating and can impact our ability to fulfil our everyday 4/