Adelaide Uni law professor Joanna Howe lodges ‘stop bullying’ application against employer over abortion and sex work research
A university professor is taking her employer to the Fair Work Commission over her research on abortion and the regulation of sex work.
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An University of Adelaide law professor who has described abortion as “legal murder” is taking her employer to the Fair Work Commission over her research on the medical procedure and regulation of sex work, The Weekend Australian reported.
Joanna Howe lodged a stop bullying application against the university on Monday, taking to social media to announce the move.
“The idea of a university is based on the importance of academic freedom,” Prof Howe wrote on Instagram.
“My freedom to pursue research and public advocacy critical of Australia’s extreme abortion laws that allow abortion up to birth and for any reason is under threat by pro-abortion bullies who are weaponising the University’s complaints system against me and the decision of the University to side with them and subject me to repeated investigation.
“None of these complaints have come from my students based on what I am teaching. Nearly all of them are radical activists and organisations on TikTok who want to silence my voice and get me sacked because they’re threatened by what I’m researching and what I have to say.”
A conciliation hearing is due to take place on July 8.
Prof Howe told The Weekend Australian that the university has launched “relentless” investigations in response to complaints.
She said she refused to attend a “research integrity course” after a recent investigation that found she did not breach the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research.
Prof Howe told The Weekend Australian the independent investigator found there were “minor departures from best practice in my submission because one primary source was not cited and I did not use a qualifying statement for one claim”.
It was the sixth investigation since November 2019.
“I refuse to submit to ‘re-education’ because academic freedom should protect the rights of scholars from being constantly harassed by activists who disagree with their research,” she told The Weekend Australian.
Prof Howe said she has experienced online bullying, harassment, abuse as well as physical threats because of her research.
She has also come under fire for her views and social media posts, where she labelled abortion “legal murder”.
She has previously claimed abortion is “the leading cause of death in Australia” and “the gravest human rights abuse in Australia and our world”.
Prof Howe wants specific orders that would require the university to use powers under its academic freedom policy to dismiss bad-faith complaints made against her and withdraw the imposition of corrective actions, The Weekend Australian reported.
The University of Adelaide did not respond to questions from the publication.
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