To think that a Rape Crisis centre should not have a transwoman CEO?

[ArabellaScott]

Mridhul Wadhwa has just been appointed CEO of Edinburgh Rape Crisis. The job was advertised as for women only. Mridhul is a transwoman (born male) without a Gender Recognition Certificate.

AIBU to think that women survivors of rape and sexual violence should be able to have a female only space?

theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2021/05/new-boss-for-edinburgh-rape-crisis-centre/

d have more respect if a biological male had applied who presented as a male, and who said that they felt that they had the right skills to be the CEO and explained why, and also agreed that access for women to biological women counsellors would be protected.

I agree, I'd like my male candidates for manager of a rape crisis centre to demonstrate that they actually have some fucking empathy for raped women and girls. And the female ones, for that matter.

I'd like them all to acknowledge that single sex spaces are very important to many women and not handwave that away because it doesn't suit their agenda.

Was this job specifically advertised as such? Are you allowed to do that?

Yes and yes.

@JammyGem

Oh give over.

She is a woman, she'll be perfectly fine at the job.

What exactly is it that makes them a woman?

And they chose to ignore this and apply anyway. Those who interviews and made the job offer also chose to ignore this. I suppose further appointments will also follow this trend - how could they otherwise?

@OwlBeThere

Do you have to be a woman to be a good ceo? No Does it matter then? No

Simple as that.

I would expect a CEO of Toyota to know a great deal about cars. I would expect a CEO of a rape crisis centre serving women to know what it is to be a woman. Just saying ‘I’m a woman’ isn’t enough.

And by the way, @Graffitiqueen, sometimes people do orgasm during rape and sexual assault. It doesn't invalidated them, their experience or what they do after. People who have been raped are not inappropriate.

But for a man, who identifies as a women, to say that does not sit right with me.

There is nothing wrong with a woman wanting to talk to another biological born woman about their assault.

@mindutopia

You do realise that boys and men get raped too? I have an ex who is lovely (he's a regular old cis man) who used to volunteer as a rape crisis counselor and used to provide peer support to men and boys in hospital who were undergoing forensic exams. You'd be surprised how little support there is for male rape survivors of rape, never mind trans people. Trans men and women also get raped.

Maybe theres no support because men dont care about men getting raped? I dont see how I as a woman am supposed to fix this, I'm busy doing other things, if men want, men can provide their own services for anything men related.

@Potteringshed

YABU to post here and not FWR which is really the proper place for yet another trans debate.

Last time I looked I’m sure it wasn’t only feminists that got raped.

@Ereshkigalangcleg

Was this job specifically advertised as such? Are you allowed to do that?

Yes and yes.

Was just about to give the exact same answer!

The job could not be advertised on the basis of gender, as that is not a protected characteristic.

The biological reality is, as would be a GRC, but the appointee has neither of those things and therefore was ineligible to apply, never mind be successful.

Thank you for clarifying, @NavigatingAdolescence. That is as I thought, but I wasn't certain.

If the role was advertised as being open to women only on the basis of sex being a protected characteristic, then I cannot see how they can legally appoint a biological male to the role. Presumably, being of the female sex was deemed not to be a genuine occupational requirement after all, in which case, the role must have been advertised unlawfully?

FWIW, I see no absolute reason why the CEO of a rape crisis centre couldn't be male (trans or otherwise), as I would not necessarily anticipate that the CEO would be directly involved in the delivery of frontline services anyway. However, it seems that this organisation did conclude that it wasn't appropriate to employ a male person in this role, so I question this appointment on the basis of their own logic.

About that "counselling" Wadhwa has done, from FWR, R0wantrees posted a quote from a poster, Sunflowergirl03 who said she had experienced it:

From thread above, Sunflowergirl03 wrote, Thu 01-Apr-21

"I know this is an old thread, but having my own negative experiences with this person has led me here. I think some of the main questions that should be asked are: what experience do they have of managing and managing charities specifically? What experience do they have of the VAWG sector? What qualifications do they have? Because I believe they are actually inexperienced for the role which begs the question why were they hired? When MW did “counselling” with me, she had no qualifications for this. And not only that, but she was poor at it anyway, she regularly yawned and looked at her phone. She is not a professional person. She has a huge following and support base but when you scratch the surface there is little substance to her knowledge or experience. How she got a job as a manager when she has never been a manager is bizarre."

@BetterKateThanNever

I think she was an excellent choice for CEO, best of luck to her.

And by the way, @Graffitiqueen, sometimes people do orgasm during rape and sexual assault. It doesn't invalidated them, their experience or what they do after. People who have been raped are not inappropriate.

Are you for real? In who’s sick mind do people think that the most brutal, violent assault a woman can be subjected to would cause her to have an orgasm? Such a sick, sick thought.

Horrifying.

I would expect a CEO of Toyota to know a great deal about cars.

Actually, I wouldn’t necessarily expect this. I would expect them to know about the process of designing, manufacturing and selling a product. Ideally in a similar industry but not necessarily.

I have a question?

Assuming that anyone who works in such a sensitive position is dbs checked are they checked under there dead name or just the name they gave at interview 🤔

I will refrain from judgement until I see the impact will they change focus towards the trans community or will they continue with a women only remit

Quote from.twitter today, which alleges that MW does not have a service-user-centred approach.

The new CEO of Edinburgh Rape Crisis, a transwoman, laughed at a survivor while she stood up in a meeting at the Scottish Parliament to talk about how she needed single-sex spaces; this mockery is abusive & was witnessed by MSPs. Today, @ChristinaSNP congratulated that abuser.

twitter.com/Leyanelle/status/1389176879035342850?s=19

Last time I looked I’m sure it wasn’t only feminists that got raped

Indeed! Ditto victims of sexual abuse.

It's quite interesting if you read the original job description (linked earlier in this thread). The first part reads-

'Established in 1978, Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (ERCC) provides a specialist support, information and advocacy service for women, non-binary people, members of the trans community and young people aged 12 and over in Edinburgh, East and Midlothian who have experienced recent or historic sexual violence, including rape, sexual assault, childhood sexual abuse and commercial sexual exploitation. We also work in schools and with young people across Edinburgh and the Lothians, and strategically with multi-agency partners, towards preventing sexual violence.'

And if they 'provide women, non-binary people, members of the trans community and young people aged 12 and over', then it seems reasonable that a trans person might be considered for the post.

However, later in the job description it is stated that only women may apply, citing Schedule 9, Part 1, Paragraph 1 of the Equality Act 2010 , which is based on a protected characteristic (in this case sex) which means that the person who was the successful candidate in this case does not meet the criteria.

Or a woman-centred approach, having posted tweets with images suggesting violence towards women MW doesn't agree with on trans issues.

@Potteringshed

YABU to post here and not FWR which is really the proper place for yet another trans debate.

So, are rape victims not allowed here then? Just on the fwr board?

Noted 🙄

shared outrage as it became clear that men who self-identify as transgender women would not be entitled to conduct intimate medical examinations on rape victims

Sorry, @HecatesCatsInFancyHats is that an actual quote from MW? I wasn’t sure from your post if it was something they had personally said/written?
If it is, IMO that disqualifies them more than anything else. No one is “entitled” to that, and to use that word in this context is gross.

In what way is this person a woman? Chromosomes? Biology? No, I didn’t think so.

I’m so sick of this shit.

Sorry, that second paragraph reads badly. It should read 'provide services for...'.

@TruelyWonder

I get that women of course need their own space but surely the organisation should be providing help and a space (separately) for men too.

But why should this organisation be the one that has to do that? If it were some sort of publicly funded government organisation, that would be one thing. But a group set up to help women with a specific issue - why should they be told they ought to help everyone with that issue? Or maybe they should be told that they shouldn't just support people who have been raped - why shouldn't they also have to support domestic violence, say, or people affected by other crimes? And if you can say 'well this is a more specialised service to deal with the aftermath of a specific crime', then why can't that apply to the people that they support as well - rape of women needs specific services.

Yes absolutely someone could set up those services for other users, or other crimes - go for it, I'd support it if someone did - but not telling one group that they have to expand when that wasn't their purpose or intention to start with.

@Ereshkigalangcleg

think she was an excellent choice for CEO, best of luck to her.

Why?

Her experience, background and ethnicity sets her apart from the usual CEOs appointed for similar roles. Good to see some diversity that will benefit the women she's trying to help. Finally we get to see a real feminist who really cares about all women's rights and strives to support all women.