Staff revolt as 'non-feminist' weapons firm CEO hired to run Refuge

Someone has posted these on facebook from a group that allows employees to rate their employer!

Charity in crisis thanks to useless trustees New chair Mrs Barkworth-Nanton and rest of the trustees are out of touch with what we do. Chair held staff meetings and rubbished us being a feminist organisation. Bragged we were lucky to have her as chair. Boasted as CEO of a company that makes technology sold for use in armed conflict around the world, instead of entire villages being bombed out, only part were now. Well, that's ok then isn't it? We are a non violent charity. We support women and children some have been raped and tortured in conflict. Deranged board. Advice to Management Please help staff - this board is a nightmare. - Tragically, new chair Hetti-Barkworth Nanton does not describe herself as feminist, one of our core values. Equally disturbing, she is CEO of Ploughshare Innovations, a company that profits from the weapons industry. Asked last week how that squares with being chair of an anti-violence charity, she said she didn’t particularly like the weapons side of Ploughshare’s work, but nowadays, instead of blowing up whole villages, they had new technology that only blows up some of the village! Advice to Management A corporate, privileged board has taken control of Refuge - arrogant, patronising, blindly confident they will ‘fix us’ – it’s like being in the grip of an occupying force. They should go.

Me and many of my team are really worried about the new chair. Most of us are in this work as we are feminists committed to gender equality, and have strong ethical principals. The fact that she has said that it is not important that she or the board are feminists, and her background as a CEO in the weapons industry are really troubling for me. Having met her I get the feeling that she really wants to make her mark, and given her values I do fear for the future of the organisation now. I would have really recommended this as a place to work, but now I would say maybe wait and see.
Advice to Management
Refuge needs to have a strong board and leadership that has feminism and anti violence at it's heart.
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I was totally blind-sighted by the newly appointed chair - Hetti-Barkworth Nanton of Ploughshare Innovations Limited. This in itself seems to directly oppose the very ethos of Refuge on a number of levels; primarily any connection to the weapons industry is not compatible when we know that the biggest victims in any war / conflict is always women and children … women and children, the group that Refuge has fought to support so passionately since the 1970’s. Hetti-Barkworth Nanton has publicly stated that she is not a feminist; Refuge has a solid behaviours framework in place which strongly reinforces the necessity of having a feminist ethos at the heart of the organisation.

Refuge is a unique organisation, many of the staff like myself are survivors of abuse and to hear comments such as 'Refuge will be obsolete in 10 years and she has come to 'fix us' is deeply upsetting and insulting. Please do not allow the very heart and soul to be torn from the organisation ... Stand together, stand firm, stand in unity like all brave women have done throughout feminist history to support each other, support our CEO Sandra Horley and get back to what we are amazing at ... empowering each other !!

I’m shocked by the appointment of chair Hetti Barkworth-Nanton on 1 June. She is CEO of Ploughshare Innovations – which develops weaponry. At an all staff meeting she told us that nowadays weapons were less destructive – instead of ‘blowing up an entire village the weapons would only blow up part of it’. Refuge is about anti-violence! And the consequences of war go far beyond weapons – much sexual violence against women is associated with conflict. Many of us are survivors – what about the impact on us and our clients? Hetti also openly says she isn’t a feminist – a core value of Refuge’s. If you’re thinking about joining Refuge be warned as this seems to have been brushed under the carpet.

it is heartbreaking to hear the newly appointed chair Hetti is a non feminist and is CEO of company that sells weapon. i feel this is unforgivable which is exist to end violence against women, girls and children to have a chair who is CEO of organisation acknowledges that her company bombs the villages but justifies that bombs half the village. it is insulting to hear that she says Refuge will be Obsolete in 10 years and she has come to change the organisation . Refuge is a great organisation with feminist values of equality and empowerment provides high quality service . the organisation has grown year on year and is the largest provider in this flied as a result of having fantastic team and strong leadership to hear new chair wanting to change the organisation is very worrying for staff and service users and donors
Advice to Management
Refuge is an organisation to end violence against women and girls and children how is it possible to have a chair who is CEO of company selling weapon ? she in non feminist and wants to change organisation ! this can not be happening ,

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Comment pre appointment of new chair:

your views, your experience don't matter. you are a cog in Sandra Horley's money and fame mongering machine, you are here to be exploited and treated with utter contempt. they will exploit you because you are a woman and because you care about protecting women and children. this is misogyny. expect this treatment amplified by 100 if you are BAME.

www.glassdoor.co.uk/Reviews/Refuge-Reviews-E743837_P2.htm

Give me a break - all sorts of people are moved by personally experiences and are usually the worst people to set up a professional service.

Some individual's idea of what the best sort of response to someone facing domestic violence is not informed by professional practice, which is what refuge gets it money for. Not some individual wearing her heart of her sleeve.

She is not qualified.

Defending feminist principles and actions are the exact opposite of being woke.

The staff have said she is a problem to their work practice.

If she is alienating the staff something is really wrong.

And not to support them it getting this sorted is working against the women who need the actual workers not some do gooder building up her good works CV to counteract her paid work.

It would be nice to think that on a FWR board women would support women on the frontline.

Its not a "pile on". This is about feminist practice and trying to keep it intact. Not about individuals women who have worked with the system.

It is about the women who need to know the organisation they go to will act on principle and not on some clever financial twist.

If the staff are raising concerns that's enough for me.

If a FWR board cant support women at the bottom end of the pecking order sticking their necks out on a matter of feminist principle what is the point of it.

This isn't an episode of Dragons Den.

Though of course these types of comments illustrate why mission drift in support services happen so easily.

I am genuinely shocked that some on this thread seem to think not being a feminist isn't an issue if you are part of an organisation like Refuge.

Its fundamental to providing a service that is centred on women's experience of secondary in a society where there are 2 sex classes and one has power and the other doesn't.

Not to be bothered about the underlying ethics that guide how the service is run is a daft (or quite honestly dismissive of women) as the funders who said they didn't need to bother with Eaves and its specialised services for trafficked and prostituted women because the Salvation Army could do it cheaper (and include a christian message).

Are you kidding me?

I think since Erin Pizzey moved on they are no longer promoting the idea that domestic violence is as much the women suffering violence as it is the perpetrators.

What does it say about mumsnet FWR that some think you can just contract out services. This is the race to the bottom in service provision that allows young children to be sent to non certified care homes and have no protection, or a housing body to allow an ALMO to run housing provision despite having no housing experience - think Grenfell.

Binterested - maybe its a generational thing ie my experience now out of date, but when Blair and Cameron were all about the "Third Sector" a lot of political wannabes crashed in charities.

But now maybe it is reversed those who have some history with the charity are having to fight to keep its purpose in face of SJW and woke graduates.

This is the only other thread I can find re WAFE and Refuge - I thought there was another one www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3634009-Womens-Aid-England-loses-funding-for-National-Helpline

First of all I couldn't access the full article so if anyone can there may be more info there.

Second it is well know that in areas of conflict not on sexual violence but domestic violence increase.

Stella Rimington and in fact this new Chair may both be very nice women who have empathy with DV. However charities and especially women's projects have a different ethos in terms of how they are run. So this may be more what is going on for instance (speculation) a business practice (zero hours contracts?) approach, rather than a cooperative approach based on the feminist analysis of DV.

(Stella Rimington as someone involved with surveillance, tracking etc., maybe the best or worst placed person to have in an organisation that also tries to protect women from being tracked by abusive partners through communication devices.)

re Refuge - formerly Chiswick Women's Aid - and WAFE this is a very long and old history which I think is covered in another thread which I will try and find. The founder of Chiswick WA was Erin Pizzey who became a media darling, but actually thought women were partly responsible for suffering domestic violence because of the choices they made, and that feminism was a communist plot and turned women lesbian! WAFE is the federation of Women's Refuges based on a feminist analysis of DV, ie male violence and sex class power imbalance. They conceived and developed the work practices in refuges and set up the National Helpline. This was then funded by Government but insisted that it was then put out to tender and gave the work to Refuge. This may just have been economic as Refuge has a huge income parlty because the media have always promoted Refuge as THE if not the only domestic violence service in England.

One of the biggest reasons for mission drift in charities and voluntary sector groups are Trustees who may have expertise as say accountants but have not skill or understanding of work practice. They often judge things in a business way eg if we offer services to men, trans people or ... we will get a bigger income. Rather than thinking it is better to stay small a specialised. eg Women's Pioneer Housing decided not to expand as they felt they wouldn't be able to maintian core values. Housing Associations are the best / worst exmple of how a pursuit for income generating over prioritising specialised service leads to near total illimination of original aims, even when the needs exists.