Portrait of a witchunt

It takes a village to hunt a terf

It doesn't take an army to shatter someone's reputation; often, a small group with a shared agenda can cause irreparable damage. I've seen it firsthand in my own life around the Father Ted musical, where former colleagues in Hat Trick Productions conspired to undermine years of work. It was in a similar fashion that a group of academics at the Open University carried out a campaign against Jo Phoenix.

Phoenix, a criminologist, held feminist views that clashed with the prevailing fashion for gender ideology among her colleagues. Such was the harassment she faced that she brought a claim to an employment tribunal against the Open University, alleging harassment and discrimination because of her reality-based beliefs.

The tribunal's final judgment concluded that Phoenix was indeed unfairly dismissed and that colleagues' actions, such as comparing her to a "racist uncle," and barring her from discussing her experiences in meetings, contributed to the hostile environment. In March 2024, Phoenix agreed to an undisclosed compensation settlement.​

But we don’t think the actions of Phoenix’s colleagues should be forgotten so easily. Here then, for posterity, by the brilliant mole at the counter, is a portrait of the Jo Phoenix witch hunt.