I think a trans women should be able to access a rape crisis centre. Her needs are the same.
I read something very lengthy on how the needs of many women were very different to other women. By that I mean women. There were specialist centres for woman from ethnic backgrounds in London but as funding was cut they were stopped.
Male abuse victims also have very different needs. And the same is true of trans people. I think the idea that all people who have suffered from domestic abuse have the same needs is incredibly misleading and quite frankly bullshit. They are very vulnerable and have very complex needs that need to be treated with great sensitivity.
The figure I saw last week was that 90 women and 90 children have been turned away in a single day from services due to a lack of availability. I have read of women travelling with children 600 miles just to get a place at a shelter. I've seen how women with large numbers of children have been turned away because there is no space. I've seen how woman with mental health problems have been turned away because staff can not cope with them.
One of the arguments I've seen for trans women being allowed in any shelter, is because its close to where they live. The reality in practice is so many women and children (who need to go to school) can not get into local shelters and are being sent across the country to safety.
If thats the case, at this point, the idea of a specialist centre for trans women only, which specialist services and staff can be located starts to look the best option not just for women but trans women too.
To be brutally honest about it, if you base it on need and risk, you would have to generally prioritise women with children. But in reality because shelters are scared of getting sued for discrimination because of examples in Canada, there is a risk that trans people are 'jumping the queue'. That also has a potentially harmful effect on the women lucky enough to get a space in the shelters, because their special needs aren't necessarily being taken into consideration.
I didn't realise any of this, until doing some reading into the realities of whats happening on the ground.
In an ideal world, yes transwomen should be able to get a spot in any shelter - but those shelters would all have the facilities to accomodate that without any chance of it impinging on women. But they don't so the next best option does come down to a special service for the community.
There are trans only services in other areas operating in this country. I think I saw an article on the BBC about something like a student accomodation on those lines (and those living in there, commented on how it was their safe space from others including women).
I think the whole thing of domestic shelters is based on fallacies and an idealised idea of what they are and what they do. Which only smacks of priviledge and a gross level of ignorance by those professing that everyone has the same needs.