Woman tweets that she was raped when employed by independent cinema and rapist is still employed there 5 years later

The cinema called the Police in and they said there was no evidence to support her claim.

Why would they dismiss someone without any evidence?

There isn't much info on other accusers? Did they go to the Police?

They can't get rid of him just because she says he raped her.

OP what do you think should have happened?

Nobody is saying they don't believe her. However if she admitted herself that she didn't want to go to the police because there wouldn't be any evidence then what exactly would you like the cinema to do?

She does say she didn’t want the police called due to there being no evidence but the cinema called them anyway

But she also says

Ami Nisa

When I spoke to Northumbria Police in 2019, they sugggested rigorous sitewide sexual harassment training for the organisation due to the inherent complicity of the manegerial staff in the abuse. Has this been implemented? Was this advice followed?

I'm sceptical that Northumbrian Police would have that sort of discussion with her.

And whilst this has nothing to do with the veracity or otherwise of her allegation

Ami Nisa

Where was this feedback & lesson-learning when in 2017 I put forward a thorough, cost-effective, plan for gender neutral bathrooms for our trans and non-binary customers? It wasn’t even my job lol I just had care for our customers. Nothing has still been done about this

She didn’t ask for a dismissal/sacking

Her twitter post says but my rapist is still employed kind of suggests she thinks he should not be.

I don't subscribe to the idea that if a woman says something we must believe her.

Nobody is saying they don't believe her

I don't. There's nothing on that thread which means I should automatically believe her. She might be telling the truth she might not.

Dido not knowing whether someone is telling the truth or not is different to outright calling them a liar though. Which is what I meant when I said nobody is saying they don't believe her.

She might be telling the truth about being raped. However if there is no evidence of a rape taking place then there isn't a lot the cinema can do

Or she might not be telling the truth. And there is nothing anyone can do about that either if there is no proof either way.

I believe a lot of the other stuff she's tweeting. Especially regarding the relaxed performances for people with autism next door to a screaming kids party booking.

They're close to going under. Personal very happy memories there from long ago when it was smaller. I still wouldn't be surprised about a lot of the stuff she's saying.

Unfortunately the accusation of rape is impossible to judge.

Even if that tweet can't be proven, sheesh, the increasing number of others commenting with terrible experiences is increasing.

Doesn't look good for them 😬

Ah well Paul Smith is on the case now. This will end up being a massive thing locally. If she's made up stories it will be very difficult for her, though I believe all the other stuff. There's a culture of not really doing things by the book in some independent arts venues and orgs in Newcastle, better now but I do look back on things in the past and wonder how things were got away with. If she's telling the truth I hope something comes of it.

That's quite massive as the cinema is quite pivotal in the arts in the city. I'm not surprised by any of it to be honest.

Newcastle has a silent racism issue. The north and Tyneside generally have an issue with sexism and misogyny. I remember someone telling me her southern husband was quite shocked at how men in the north east talked to and about women when he moved up here.

Reading through her list of accusations, I am surprised by all the confident assumptions she is making about the gender of the people involved. How does she know that the people she describes as male members of the public are actually male? I wonder how she knows? Did they state their gender and pronouns before asking female members of staff to take the tickets out of their pockets? How on earth does this trans and non-binary supporting young women dare to assume the gender of her customers?

True, given she's all for gender neutral toilets etc...

There are some clear wider issues to tackle; which is important actually. The other independent cinema in the city is entirely run on volunteers, entirely, but with that comes obvious Orwellian related issues.

The cinema can’t sack him without proof he’s done something wrong. He could sue them for unfair dismissal. He could have falsely been accused of rape, plus lost his job. You can’t ruin people’s lives just over accusations