Devon Rape Crisis advertising for "self identified' women

[SunsetBeetch]

Oh God. Oh fuck this!!!

Are you a self-identified woman?
Are able to commit 3 evenings a month to volunteering?
Are you passionate about gender equality & ending violence?
If you’ve answered yes to all of the above we want to hear from you.
Full details; t.co/wdu0gtsNm5 t.co/HjdfybH1Gd

twitter.com/DevonRapeCrisis/status/1164568521336115200?s=19

This absolute sheroe in the replies though:

You guys really helped me a few years ago. My handle is my real name - I’m sure someone there will remember me and the work we did together in Torquay. My rapist now identifies as a woman and would fucking love this job. He’s still in Devon so it would be a perfect fit.

I agree with Cakey about this:

There is a large literature about trauma and the brain. Some good and some bad. But all life experiences affect how our brain processes new experiences. This is not quackery, just meeting the human need to understand what's happening to us on many levels, including a biological one

It's been invaluable to me on a personal and professional level to understand how the brain is structured and that some of the damage takes place at an emotional / neurological level that is not easily changed through cognitive processes. Women are so often blamed for behaving "badly," e.g. self-soothing or medicating through self harm or alcohol or drugs, or being aggressive, "manipulative" or withdrawn and criticised for not being able to make "rational" choices to help ourselves, but once we understand that this distress is being driven by a different part of our brain than our thoughts control it allows greater understanding and also for us to forgive ourselves that we have haven't been able to think our way out of our distress - it's actually not possible. Many mental health professionals still don't understand this, I often hear them say they don't know why women don't help themselves, but an understanding of how the brain works would help them to understand what is and isn't within women's conscious control. The crucial factor is relationships with people who have good emotional regulation, this is mainly how therapy works. Which comes back to women needing to feel safe through women-only space and not on constant alert for danger as many women feel with men around.

No longer able to read responses to the original Tweet; have they been hidden?

Lots of people can no longer read the replies, some still can, must be the new feature to hide replies. How progressive. I see they are being praised by Morgane Ogre who helped to defund a rape crisis centre in Canada. If that doesn't ring any alarm bells for them, it should.

I can see the replies. I just replied myself. I'm just beyond angry.

I posted on that thread saying that I had been raped by a man who now identifies as a woman. I am now getting absolutely hundreds of messages telling me that I’m a liar and a bigot.

Men's Privilege Activists:

• accuse women of lying about rape claim that rape prevalence stats from multiple sources* are fake and use bogus stats to "show that women are just as violent"
• try to gain entry to, shut down, and disrupt women's services

Trans Privilege Activists:

• accuse women of lying about rape
• claim that rape stats showing that transwomen are the safest of the gender demographics in the UK and use bogus stats from other countries to claim to be the most at-risk
• try to gain entry to, shut down, and disrupt women's services.

Not seeing the difference between the two movements here.

vegetable

claim that rape stats showing that transwomen are the safest of the gender demographics in the UK

"claim as fake the stats showing that transwomen are the safest of the gender demographics in the UK"

I shouldn't be allowed a keyboard after 8pm.

@Cakeytea

I just want to say that I am so pleased that you have posted your own experiences and thoughts here.

While we may not agree on whether certain therapies are quackery or evidence based this forum provides an opportunity where we can explore these issues respectfully and thoughtfully together.

I regard all of my thoughts and beliefs to be provisional and I am not perfect and sometimes make mistakes. I am always willing to change my mind in the face of compelling evidence, and I hope that you are similarly open minded and open to reflecting on evidence.

I have an insanely busy day today but am very much looking forward to thinking about these important issues with you over the next few days.

:)

I’m just waiting to see my first man wearing a ‘Baby on Board’ badge.

I keep seeing this advert.

On what planet would anyone - least of all a rape centre - word an advert that way? Am I a "self-identified woman"? No fucking idea.

Who ever phrases things like that unless compelled (or dangerously woke)?

Devon Rape Crisis, blink twice if you want us to call the police.

I don't know if any users outside of Canada are able to do this yet but Twitter has given some, if not all, Canadian accounts a tool which allows them to select and hide replies to they don't like.

Other Twitter users can read these hidden replies but only if they know to look, and only if they know how; (Twitter has made little effort to publicise this info).

How to see replies hidden by Twitter users: See the dropdown menu of options by clicking the "v" shape symbol in top right corner of the original tweet. Under list including -Embed, Follow, Mute, Block etc select option to "View hidden replies".

Also, regarding the artwork used by Devon Rape Crisis- Am I the only one uncomfortable with the pic used by DRC? As a woman who's lived the fairly typical female experience of being sexually harassed, grabbed, groped, and worse, since childhood, I find those all those reaching, graspy hands quite unnerving. It's really not the graphic I would've chosen, if given that responsibility as worker or client of a rape crisis centre.

The thing is - if this is a real potion that they need to fill there won’t be all that many applicants. So picking from a low base. Not exactly what’s best for the clients eh?

Maybe someone can self ID as a man self IDing as a woman

I’ve always felt like a woman trapped inside a man trapped inside of a woman’s body. I’m actually certain I did read something by someone along those lines 🤯🤯🤯

Who ever phrases things like that unless compelled (or dangerously woke)?

It's a very good question. Who came up with the wording?

Some fool

From twitter. Someone emailed them their questions - all reasonable ones - this is the ‘my fingers are in my ears I can’t hear you lalalala’ response (as a lawyer might say).

That's not just a "lalala" response, that's passive-aggressive stonewalling with a subtext of DARVO. The between-the-lines implication is "you are distracting us from supporting survivors by asking questions".

Passive-aggressive behaviour. Stonewalling women's legitimate concerns. Possible DARVO. From Rape Crisis. Let that sink in.

Can the stats be requested as to how many trans women and trans men for that matter (hang on won’t they be excluded?) use the facility and how many work there? Where is they finding coming from and how much has been spent on advice from pressure groups? Is there a ‘person of interest’ on the board then?

I reckon they are telling voice callers what they think said voice caller wants to hear and are stonewalling by email so nothing's in writing.

A statement, online would sort this out. Transparency ought to be any rape centre's watchword.

They've discovered the rock and the hard place. Tell women that they're centering and prioritising the desires of male staff over raped women - obviously a PR disaster, indefensible and an utter betrayal of everything they stand for. Assure women they will centre women - the TRA lobby will unleash hell on them.

This is why someone should have done some serious thinking a lot, lot earlier.

Fekko I was shocked by how rude that reply is. If they want to focus on helping survivors, adding men to the staff isn't it.

That's not just a "lalala" response, that's passive-aggressive stonewalling with a subtext of DARVO.

Isn't it just and that's pretty much what I said in my email to them when I received that shit response to my original email. I also pointed out it was a shocking tactic for an organisation well versed in the nature of abusive behaviour. I'll wait to see what response I get this time.

Perhaps the Devon residents on here should organise ourselves to campaign for this service remaining single sex.

If only students were a bit better these days... in my day there would have been protests and boycotts by women, y’know the actual ones who actually centre women. And can tell the difference between men and woman.

My contact at DRC a few years ago was an absolute saint - terrifyingly smart and took no shit from anyone. I am no longer in contact with her but I can’t imagine her putting up with this bullshit. If they’re losing volunteers like that due to this madness then it’s even more outrageous.

Well, they’re getting themselves in s right old pickle aren’t they.
I don’t know what the original email was but that reply reads as fuck you to me, with a holier than thou subtext.

Vegetables
Some of those replies on twitter are unbelievably arrogant and some ignorant. They should be ashamed of themselfs.
But there are so so many replies in support of you.
Please don't feel you have to delete your social media.
I would think the TRAs arranged that dog pile on you and the replies to DRC. I'm so sorry that you have to put up with this.
Solidarity Vegetables

There seems to be a complete failure to understand how some predatory men work and why it's inappropriate to have males volunteering in these services. That response suggests that it's a more deep-rooted problem than someone just trying to formulate an 'inclusive' sounding recruitment advertisement.
I find this very worrying. Rape crisis services shouldn't be led by women who concern themselves with the latest trends in queer theory. What happened to the ethos of by women, for women?