A “culture of fear” is how many academics describe the climate on U.K. campuses, such as Oxford University, pictured here.

Where Thoughts Go to Die

Professors from Britain’s top universities tell of the death threats and abuse they face at conferences and on campus

By Sian Griffiths

Dr Shereen Benjamin, a senior lecturer in primary education at the University of Edinburgh, has been compared to a eugenicist and a white supremacist. Complaints have been made about her classes. A speaker at a panel debate she organized was attacked by a protester.

Benjamin, in her late fifties, has spoken about the need to protect women-only spaces such as refuges, prisons and hospital wards. Her views brought her into conflict with students and staff who saw her opinions as transphobic.