Chilling thread from Karen Ingala Smith of the Count Dead Women project (who has of course been called a terf numerous times):
twitter.com/K_IngalaSmith/status/1193856015097368576?s=19
There’s a story breaking today about a 28-year-old woman and a man being found dead in a women’s refuge in Moseley, B’ham on Saturday.
Obviously their deaths are the most important thing, but, I am pretty certain that this did not occur in a specialist woman-led refuge.
If the reports are correct that it is accommodation run by Trident Reach, then that isn't a specialist women's refuge provider.
If Trident Reach's website is up to date, there are more men called John in their Senior Management Team than there are women (2/5 v 1/5).
If Trident Reach's website is up to date, 3 out of 9 of their board of trustees are women. None (woman or man) identify specialist knowledge of men's violence against women in their biogs.
Responsibility for domestic homicide lies with the perpetrator and a killing could happen in a specialist refuge.
But if services for women subjected to MVAW are seen as business opps, rather than primarily motivated by wishing to free women of violence, practices are different
I am sick of the specialist expertise of woman-led organisations providing services for women being disregarded.
I'm sick of us being expected to provide lowest cost services for highest numbers.
I'm sick of us being seen as 'the difficult one' in strategic partnerships.
I am most of all sick of women at known risk of men's violence and/or with other vulnerabilities being shoved in accommodation or towards services where we know there are inherent risks.
If ‘violence against women services’ are part of a charity’s business strategy, rather than their strategic aims being about supporting women/children (men even, if you must) and/or ending/reducing domestic and sexual violence, I wish they’d butt out and do something else.