New CEO of Edinburgh Rape Crisis

[TheFleegleHasLanded]

I struggled to even come up with a title for this thread as I am so enraged I know I will get deleted and even banned if I say what I really think.

twitter.com/EdinRapeCrisis/status/1389112490215288832?s=20

Many years ago, I worked for a social services NonProfit here ( not rape shelters, but with homeless and marginalized populations) in the US. The founder and head honcho was a feminist woman and I was warned about the incoming employee who was trans.

The head person did not want to hire her because trans people had not worked out well in community service that requires some personal humility. But she had to because he had had past experience in the field and none of the other candidates at the time did.

The Long Game.

@R0wantrees

Six new directors and a secretary were appointed April 2021. There are only nine members of the board.

Thanks R0 - so presumably that means 6 out of 9 members must have left at around the same time? Is this usual?

OMG,
because SHE had had

My bad.

Also wanted to add that the lovely woman they employed spent an inordinate time in the women's restroom and we had volunteer groups of children going through the facility on the regular.

she joins us at an exciting time

Gawd that is so totally tone deaf - "exciting time" in a rape crisis centre? Well, yes, men are learning that they can pretty much get away with rape (and murder) by saying the woman asked for it.

@AllThatisSolid

she joins us at an exciting time

Gawd that is so totally tone deaf - "exciting time" in a rape crisis centre? Well, yes, men are learning that they can pretty much get away with rape (and murder) by saying the woman asked for it.

Completely appalling use of language-from "excitement in rape crisis" to the blatant racism.

@HerewardTheWoke

At risk of sounding like a broken record, I just want to reiterate how deeply shocked I am at the board's set-up and lack of qualifications. This charity delivers services to children aged 12 upwards who have experienced sexual abuse, and educational programmes for children, and they have nobody with experience in child development, childhood abuse or child safeguarding on the board and no clearly identified trustee who leads on safeguarding.

Financially they are a very small operation (just over £800k income in the last year) but they have nobody on the board who has experience in audit and risk. They have not even rustled up a local accountant

NONE OF THIS IS NORMAL

Oh my god...this makes it just so much worse.

It's not normal (but not totally uncommon) for so many trustees to leave at once, it might normally be up to a third of the board up for re-election. I've not looked in detail but it also looks like they had bit of a jump in their income in 2019/20; not a good time for a new an inexperienced board (unless the old one was worse!)

she joins us at an exciting time

Yes because it is always exciting at a rape crisis centre.

Unbelievable.

Completely agree with @HerewardTheWoke. I’m involved in a smallish Scottish charity in a slightly related field ( works with vulnerable adults and children ).

On our board we have

Chartered accountant
Solicitor
Banker
Local government officer ( social work )
Consultant in public health
Marketing director
2 people who have worked at director level in related charities

All very experienced - I’d guess that all are over 40.

[quote stumbledin]re Rape Crisis England new appointment rapecrisis.org.uk/news/rcew-welcomes-new-ceo/[/quote]
Omg that's awesome, I used to know her. So pleased for her!

Her background is law.

and in the statement about her the word woman is not mentioned once

I can see that's concerning but I'm not sure if it's deliberate in that way.

Around 600 responses to that tweet and only 10% of those are positive. Edinburgh Rape Crisis has really made a statement with this appointment. Their political activism is more important than the vulnerable women they're supposed to help.

Omg that's awesome, I used to know her. So pleased for her!

yeah, great. Shame about all the traumatised women who the service is supposed to protect and care about, but hey ho.

I wouldn’t be gushing over someone who lied to get a job, and ignored the wishes of the people who the resource was set up for. That would sound like a selfish, person with little empathy who puts their own wants before those who desperately need help.

@MammaSchwifty

Omg that's awesome, I used to know her. So pleased for her!

yeah, great. Shame about all the traumatised women who the service is supposed to protect and care about, but hey ho.

I don't follow your point. The comment refers to Jayne Butler, who seems to have an excellent background for the management of Rape Crisis England.

@MammaSchwifty

Omg that's awesome, I used to know her. So pleased for her!

yeah, great. Shame about all the traumatised women who the service is supposed to protect and care about, but hey ho.

You’ve got your appointments mixed up Warrior is please for the well qualified woman newly appointed to rape crisis ENGLAND (not Edinburgh)

From 2017 to 2020 ERCC's income doubled. Interesting - change in the business model? Or maybe a jump in funding due to Covid? Anyway, almost all the income in 2020 (just over £800K) is from grants/SLAs from local or national government or other charities, NOT donations (donations were only £40K. Doesn't seem a great hit rate for donations but don't know what's typical).

The single biggest funder in 2020 is the Scottish Government, naturally - about 40% of their grant income is directly from SG. The single biggest grants by value are from the lottery (£170K) and Comic Relief (£86K). Overall the income splits out as (very roughly) about 50% income from government bodies and 50% from other very big charities.

Interestingly there was a small grant from JKR's charity, the Volant Trust!

Basically, ERCC would not have a hope of continuing to function as the organisation they have become without the government money. The lack of financial independence from government is a huge problem for these kinds of charities I think. From a financial and delivery perspective, it would almost be more accurate to say they are arms' length bodies of government. Which is not necessarily a comfortable place to be for a social charity.

@MammaSchwifty

Omg that's awesome, I used to know her. So pleased for her!

yeah, great. Shame about all the traumatised women who the service is supposed to protect and care about, but hey ho.

The other ceo. However, I've lost touch with her so don't know her actual thoughts on this area. We have mutual friends. Never seen her comment on anything SM wise but I'm sure she's a trained lawyer so she will be careful either way.

She knows female biology though. I knew her through sensible bf groups and mutual friends.

Rape crisis for fucks sake.

Apply this to an all girls school, women’s prison, a social services children’s home. A person that lied to get in has risen to the top and now has influence over all decisions, culture and policy.

If this person can, why not any person with any level of surgery or any style of dress. How can they say no to anyone else.

Kellie-Jay has commented on this appointment and she is bloody angry.

The other ceo.
fair enough, my apologies

The thought processes that go along with this ideology are a malignancy attacking the sex-based rights of women. That this was considered an appropriate decision is absurd beyond words.

MW's qualifications as a counsellor are one thing, but the expectation that a natal male should be the CEO of a rape crisis centre is unacceptable.

Thread in AIBU has 87% of 1124 in three poll agreeing that no male at all should be CEO of a rape crisis centre. I imagine it would be higher in the specific case of MW.