Mridul Wadhwa: Forth Valley Rape Crisis

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

I believe this individual has been discussed previously.

They are a transwomen. They recently disclosed on twitter (now deleted) that when they applied for the job to run the centre they did not disclose their sex. (It is likely, though unconfirmed that this position would have been advertised as a female only post). Archive here: archive.ph/UErrk

They have also discussed their role here where they describe how they are a wife and mother, and how important it is that the rape crisis centre is women only.

Surely any decent human being would realise that this is a role that should go to a women and not apply in the first place? The motivation of a transwoman deciding that this is the sort of area they want to to work in concerns me.

I've had a great idea. Rape Crisis has consistently lost central funding from the Scottish government for years.

Trans issues have consistently had great funding.

If we insist that the staff have to be trans we could get funding for women's services. And we could have a really nice staff room for Mridul and colleagues to sit in and woman away to their hearts content while the rest of us got on wth supporting women in need

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3597742-Forth-Valley-Rape-Crisis-Centre?pg=2&order=

Previous thread

The newspaper article that seems to have disappeared has been archived here

Thanks for saving from the memory hole... I wonder what the reason was for removal?

All our staff are women and are fully trained to support anyone affected by sexual violence

www.forthvalleyrapecrisis.org.uk/support-expect/

Our centre is women-led

All rape crisis centres and the RCS Helpline are staffed by fully-trained paid and unpaid women workers.

www.forthvalleyrapecrisis.org.uk/about-who/

So definitely not being open about their trans status, which in this circumstance they definitely should be.

Insight is the right word. Although I suspect not the kind of insight MW was hoping for.

They seemed to have got the post for personal validation reasons rather than to help the young women of Forth Valley

^^

This

Transcript from the youtube clip above, where Wadhwa explains what she finds important in the work and why she wants to work in the field of Women's Aid:

Interviewer: ‘Is there a personal reason for getting into this line of work?’
WADHWA: ‘staying on has beeen personal because it was pretty clear to me that I was the only transwoman in the woman’s aid movement [laughs] and I wasn’t even sure whether I would have been hired if they had known that I was trans’

‘when I came out individually to various colleagues there was this disbelief - “Oh, you can’t be trans” like, you know, what does a trans person look like? What does a cis woman look like? How do we know?

‘Over a period of time it became more and more important within my work [and?in?] this movement to be a trans woman. My activism wasn’t around transactivism because really what mattered to me more was my status as an immigrant woman, and the women I worked with who came from different backgrounds means I had the opportunity to deliver training across this country, so invariably I would come out in all of my trainings. Not just for people to change their perception of what an immigrant woman looks like or is or who she is, but also what a trans person looks like, you know. ‘

I mean, I would have expected at least one word, thought or comment on the women Wadhwa is ostensibly there to help, but hey, I suppose I'm just naive.

Is it just me or does anyone else think of the "oh you can't be trans" comment came from colleagues who were being polite and kind and who perhaps had suspicions of WM status for some time.

So this person is cleaning up this persons timeline and sm.

Why would that be ?

Ffs what is going on in Scotland

So let me get this right, the person running this organization has openly declared their lack of interest in helping the majority of the victims who will be applying to their organization for help? And somehow this is progressive rather than a reason that they should be sacked?

Archived twitter thread twitter.com/mridul_wadhwa/status/1213191190822174725

I saw yesterday that this person is an active director for Equality Network, and they fund Scottish Trans Alliance, who are heavily campaigning for GRA reform (Self ID) in Scotland.

Interesting. And ironic.

Surely any decent human being would realise that this is a role that should go to a women and not apply in the first place?

Yes. Any decent human being would.

I know it's not the main point but how many women listing their descriptors in such a role would pick 'boss'? That says so much about them.

And I say that as someone who has been in senior management positions. I would never have used the word 'boss' and particularly not for a role that is supposed to be about providing support to abused women.

And 'mother' can't say what I think about that

Imagine the double trauma a victim of sexual assault faces on discovering the truth about this person. How very cruel to deceive and traumatize vulnerable women in this way. And the State is complicit in this.

WADHWA: ‘staying on has beeen personal because it was pretty clear to me that I was the only transwoman in the woman’s aid movement [laughs] and I wasn’t even sure whether I would have been hired if they had known that I was trans’

The issue isnt that Wadhwa is trans.
Wadhwa wouldnt have been hired for this role if the organisation had known Wadhwa was male.

This illustrates a Safeguarding loophole as males may have self identified female documents eg driving licence & passport. DBS checks enable people who identify as trans to protect this information from the employer so could mislead a potential employer.

How does a women's service, allowed under The Equality Act to have single sex workers, ensure that staff are not male & deliberately hiding their sex?

Transwomen like this are why I was scared to phone Rape Crisis when suicidal about my sexual assault. If a male voice had answered I would have stepped under the next express train.

bd67th I'm so sorry.

Rowantrees, exactly. It's quite a clever tactic, shift focus away from the issue, which is that female rape survivors/victims will often want a female-only space, and are legally entitled to one, as explicitly detailed in the legislation.

Yes and a worrying failure of a number parts of the Safeguarding framework.
It will have implications in a number of areas, not just female only services but services which provide 1:1 intimate care to girls & women.
If male support staff can obscure their sex then vulnerable females will be put at risk.
Im shocked that Forth Valley Rape Crisis havent realised the serious Safeguarding loophole in recruitment / identity checking policies. Other women's services would be exposed to the same systemic failing should a male choose to pursue a position.

AFAIK, Forth Valley RC knew Wadhwa was male. The job referred to up thread in the transcript was a different one, most likely Shakti Women's Aid.

I do not understand how MW has managed to remain in post given some of MW's last interactions on Twitter. Just dropped the truth bomb then ghosted everyone.

Thanks for clarification, Charlie.