Robert/Robyn Woof
Robert/Robyn Woof, a male who identifies as a transgender woman, was charged with assault in February 2023. Woof, 35, is a trans and non-binary liberation officer at the University of Edinburgh Students Association.
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “A 35-year-old woman has been charged in connection with an alleged assault which occurred at a demonstration in George Square, Edinburgh on Wednesday, December 14, 2022. A report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.”
The arrest followed a violent confrontation at the University of Edinburgh in December 2022, where trans activists prevented women watching a feminist documentary film examining the clash between women’s rights and trans ideology – the documentary can be watched online here. The Scottish Sun reports that a video posted to social media recorded outside the University of Edinburgh lecture theatre appears to show Woof and includes allegations that women were spat at.
On the same day as news of Woof’s arrest and charge appeared in the media, a newspaper produced by students at the University of Edinburgh quoted Woof making defamatory allegations about Beira’s Place, the Edinburgh sexual violence support service for women that is run by and for women only, which was set up by JK Rowling in 2022. In the article, Woof – a male – dares to presume what kind of support female survivors of men’s sexual violence need, and rails against the university’s decision to recommend the service to female students. Predictably, Woof describes Beira’s Place as “a transphobic organisation” and even describes the decision to recommend it as “shockingly dangerous”. Woof’s comments have since been edited but the archived version remains.
News of Woof’s arrest was first announced by Wings Over Scotland on 8 February 2023. In a later post, the discrepancy in how offences allegedly committed by trans-identified males are reported by the police and media is examined, noting that the Scottish Sun described child abduction suspect Andrew Miller/Amy George as a man, but Robyn Woof as a “woman” in the same week .
At the end of February, the University of Edinburgh banned Woof from attending or being within 200 feet of any protest on any subject on the university’s campus as a precaution while Woof is under criminal investigation.
Media reports
The Scottish Sun https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/10196892/uni-trans-activist-charged-alleged-assault-at-protest/ archive
The Student https://studentnewspaper.org/breaking-university-bans-trans-and-non-binary-liberation-officer-from-protesting-on-campus/ archive
Wings Over Scotland https://wingsoverscotland.com/a-tale-of-two-men/#more-135243 archive
Reduxx https://reduxx.info/uk-trans-activist-charged-with-assault-after-spitting-on-woman-at-edinburgh-university/ archive
Scottish Daily Express https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/edinburgh-trans-activist-charged-after-29181804 archive
The Student – this archive version of the article contains defamatory statements about Beira’s Place made by Robyn Woof (e.g. calling it a “transphobic organisation”), now removed from the version online at https://studentnewspaper.org/exclusive-edinburgh-university-recommends-controversial-resource-to-survivors-of-sexual-assault/ without acknowledging (as is customary for reputable media outlets) what has been edited
Daily Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/12/15/trans-rights-activists-university-edinburgh-force-cancellation/ archive
The Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/film-screening-called-off-after-trans-protest-lv0xv9zjv archive
The Glinner Update https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/a-week-in-the-war-on-women-monday-999 archive
Mancunian Matters https://www.mancunianmatters.co.uk/life/19062015-evans-above-66-of-mancunians-slam-chris-5m-top-gear-salary/ archive