Professor Jo Phoenix, who was compared to a 'racist uncle' for her gender-critical views, breaks her silence after winning a harassment case against the Open University – and compares the tribunal to surviving a rape when she was 15

A criminology professor who was likened to a “racist uncle” by university colleagues for her gender-critical views before winning a harassment case against her employer has compared the tribunal to her experience of surviving rape.

Texas-born Jo Phoenix faced an 'attack' of death threats after setting up the Gender Critical Research Network (GCRN) while working at the Open University in Britain.

The GCRN holds the belief that sex is biological, immutable and should have meaning over gender identity, but colleagues launched an open letter accusing society of transphobia and inciting the murder of transgender people.

Jo asked bosses for help after an 'attack' of criticism and death threats, but the Open University (OU) did not help for fear of repercussions, it was ruled.

Speaking to Emma Barnet on BBC Woman's Hour, Jo revealed how her beliefs made her feel like a 'pariah' and how she found the experience at the Watford tribunal comparable to the impact of being raped at the age of 15.

“It's been the hardest four to five years of my life, six years, and anyone who's read my witness statement will know I've had quite a background,” Jo said.

“Since everything started in 2019… it's taken a toll on my mental health, like I said, I've gone to some very dark places,” she continued.

“I grew up in Texas, and when I was a teenager I was raped,” she said.

She fought for justice and went through the “entire criminal justice process as a teenager at 15,” which “blew apart” her “ability to do anything.”

'I was walked away because I had to survive my early life, and I say survive, and then get to a point in my later career where I look at my own employer and say, 'Please believe me that these terrible things are happening to me.' … it was like insult upon insult upon injury upon deep pain,” Professor Phoenix said.

'I broke down on the last day of my hearing, and the judge was kind enough to give me some time to collect myself.'

“As I sat there in the box being cross-examined, in the back of my mind I was going over the tactics used in a rape case and 'tap.'”

She concluded, “And what I'm most proud of is that after all that, I went back to that hearing knowing that I was going to get another extreme cross-examination, and I was able to endure that for three weeks.”

Jo's views came under fire in 2019 when the OU canceled a Center for Crime and Legal Studies conference hearing after the director was accused of transphobia by several of Jo's colleagues after tweeting “Happy Human Female Day” on International Women's Day, said Jo.

Jo campaigned against the university's decision and made her gender-critical position known to colleagues.

She signed an open letter in 2019 in which she expressed her concerns about the introduction of self-identification for transgender people who wanted to undergo a gender change.

Her signature on the letter, signed by 53 other academics, provoked 'hostile' reactions from some colleagues.

As a senior professor, she felt she had “no choice but to fight this battle” and said it was her “duty” because “many of my younger colleagues” did not feel safe speaking out in their careers.

She told Woman's Hour: 'There are no questions that should be off limits, even if those questions are politically unpalatable to some.'

Later, Professor Phoenix was moved to tears after a colleague castigated her for her views.

The tribunal in Watford heard: 'Professor Westmarland said [Professor Phoenix] that 'having you in the department was like having a racist uncle at the Christmas table'.

'Professor Westmarland told it effectively [her] impeached for expressing her gender-critical beliefs.”

Professor Phoenix has also set up a Gender Critical Research Network – a group of academics who believe biological sex is real. Colleagues then wrote to the vice-chancellor, calling on them to withdraw support for her network.

Professor Phoenix subsequently became the target of tweets and retweets from colleagues describing her as transphobic. The tribunal heard she was working in a 'hostile environment' in June 2021. In December 2021, she resigned, claiming she felt like a “pariah.” The tribunal has upheld almost twenty of Professor Phoenix's claims.

Jo claimed her mental health and good working relationships failed as a result.

This experience caused Jo to suffer from a 'post-traumatic fracture'. She wrote a letter of complaint to the university to complain about the lack of academic freedom and the “hostile campaign” she faced. Jo said she is still waiting for an answer.

The professor described the past six years as the “hardest” of her life and that the state of her mental health entered a “very dark place.”

Employment judge Jennifer Young said: '[The OU] failed to protect [her] because they did not want to be seen as giving any form of support to academics with gender-critical beliefs.”

Despite the tribunal ruling in her favour, Jo compared the experience to the impact of her rape case.

Jo, who was raped at the age of 15 by two boys, one from her school, said: “It blew away my ability to do anything,” she said.

She compared the process of asking her employer to believe her statements about the “terrible” treatment she received to surviving a rape and the trial that followed.

She concluded the interview by saying that she is a strong supporter of people's right to identify themselves as they wish.

Her compensation will be decided at a later date. Professor Tim Blackman, Vice-Chancellor of the OU, said: 'We are deeply concerned for the welfare of everyone involved in the case and recognize the significant impact it has had on the claimant, witnesses and many other colleagues. Our priority is to protect freedom of expression, while respecting legal rights and protections.”