Mridul Wadhwa

[PostingForTheFirstTime]

thecritic.co.uk/unclean/

"Feminist women were, therefore, keen to hear what would be said at this latest talk before women’s sector professionals working with victims and survivors of sexual and domestic abuse.

I hadn’t expected the content to be so blatantly aggressive towards the decades of work of feminist women in the field of male violence against women. After a wandering preamble about intersectionality, Wadhwa announced that Rape Crisis history was unclean."

@andyoldlabour

So, to sum up. MW is a narcissistic person who totally lacks any empathy with female victims, and has been enabled by other people/organisations who are putting woke points above women's feelings and safety.

And, as someone else said either up thread or on another thread, MW is hiding in plain sight.

I've certainly made that comment about MW on threads, yes.

Sorry, Spring, I couldn't remember who had said it or where, thank you. I also couldn't agree more. It's utterly astounding that nobody who is in a position to do something is doing anything.

I’ve said this on a previous thread - Mridhul Wadhwa is answerable to absolutely no one in Scotland and knows it. The only people who could remove Mridul from office are the board, who I looked at before they took the page down. They are almost all woke young handmaidens, including a couple of actual students at Edinburgh University. I have a connection to one of them and they (the board) are not listening to an open mind to women. Every criticism is met with a fresh wave of self pity, evidence of bigotry and sympathy for poor Mridul. If any of them regret their decision they aren’t saying. Mridul knows this, which is why are we seeing this absolutely unfettered misogyny now unleashed. There is no one to stop him.

@Virginiarivers

I’ve said this on a previous thread - Mridhul Wadhwa is answerable to absolutely no one in Scotland and knows it. The only people who could remove Mridul from office are the board, who I looked at before they took the page down. They are almost all woke young handmaidens, including a couple of actual students at Edinburgh University. I have a connection to one of them and they (the board) are not listening to an open mind to women. Every criticism is met with a fresh wave of self pity, evidence of bigotry and sympathy for poor Mridul. If any of them regret their decision they aren’t saying. Mridul knows this, which is why are we seeing this absolutely unfettered misogyny now unleashed. There is no one to stop him.

Yes and the OSCR are in dereliction of duty.

MW has connections everywhere, I presume that includes OSCR. It is their job to hold ERCC to account for contravening the equality act and they are choosing to look the other way.

Their numbers are not going down, Fariha31. Their waiting list was over a year when they closed it last year.

Genuine question: what services are victims waiting for specifically?

From their website, they focus on sexual violence. Domestic violence isn't mentioned.

Do they provide emergency support? If so how? The phone number on ERCC seems to go directly to Rape Crisis Scotland.

Do they provide counselling? If so, are any of the staff qualified or trained to do this? Are they just a referral service?

Do they provide someone to support the victim's interaction with the police and legal system?

I think Grellbunt has a good point: It seems that this isn't really functioning as a real rape crisis centre anymore - it's just a fig leaf, to be held up to the international gaze as proof of Scotland's progressiveness...

@toomanytrees

Their numbers are not going down, Fariha31. Their waiting list was over a year when they closed it last year.

Genuine question: what services are victims waiting for specifically?

From their website, they focus on sexual violence. Domestic violence isn't mentioned.

Do they provide emergency support? If so how? The phone number on ERCC seems to go directly to Rape Crisis Scotland.

Do they provide counselling? If so, are any of the staff qualified or trained to do this? Are they just a referral service?

Do they provide someone to support the victim's interaction with the police and legal system?

I think Grellbunt has a good point: It seems that this isn't really functioning as a real rape crisis centre anymore - it's just a fig leaf, to be held up to the international gaze as proof of Scotland's progressiveness...

Rape Crisis Scotland is the umbrella organisation. They operate the National Helpline, but offer no other direct services to survivors. Their main remit is political advocacy for victims, funding and organisational issues.

Across Scotland, there are 17 local rape crisis centres, of which Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (where MW is CEO) is the second biggest (in terms of people supported). Glasgow Rape Crisis Centre is the biggest in Scotland.

The local centres provide counselling and group sessions as well as victim support for those who report to the police and go through trial. They employ fully qualified counsellors and deliver an excellent service for victims generally speaking.

Please don't let the debate around their trans-inclusion policies mislead you into thinking that the local centres and frontline staff are not delivering a functioning service. They are.

Oh that's VERY interesting.

My deleted post was one where I asked the big question WHY did ERC hire mw. And I listed out the things they knew would be a consequence. Many of them either unrelated to supporting rape victims and/ or actively undermining their own remit.

Why would that be deleted?

Thanks CharlieParley I appreciate the clarification.

Does anyone know how one becomes a member of the board of directors?

Forgive me - I didn't really mean it literally. I am sure there are many dedicated frontline staff. It's just that it seems to be being used as a political tool...

Normally you are invited, or more likely nowadays they advertise and people apply in the normal way - these posts can be good for the CV as a stepping stone / building connections and experience for the public sector gravy train.

You couldn't really get in if they didn't want you there

@Grellbunt

You couldn't really get in if they didn't want you there

You could pretend to be something you're not, that seems to go down well.

Trojan Horse til you're in...

It seems there were already trojan horses who changed the objectives of the charity to no longer centre women. There don't appear to be any consequences or recourse as long as the objectives remain charitable.

How the hell did it come to this? 😡 How did institutional capture on this scale go SO unnoticed?
(rhetorical question, I DO know about Dentons etc, but I'm, even now, gobsmacked that TRAs have managed to do this)

Institutions never seem to learn anything, this is what makes me so angry.

And, as someone else said either up thread or on another thread, MW is hiding in plain sight.

This could have been said about any high level abuser from Saville to Bill Cosby to what happened in the Catholic Church, grooming gangs, county lines etc etc etc.

They tell you who they are, they flaunt who they are and every time we hear "lessons will be learned", but who learns the lessons? The next predator / abuser learns how the previous one got caught and how to refine their game, and victims and survivors learn that they're expendable, and the cycle keeps turning and new victims are created and it fucking kills me because the people in power just don't care because what do they lose? Nothing.

@TheWeeDonkey

Institutions never seem to learn anything, this is what makes me so angry.

And, as someone else said either up thread or on another thread, MW is hiding in plain sight.

This could have been said about any high level abuser from Saville to Bill Cosby to what happened in the Catholic Church, grooming gangs, county lines etc etc etc.

They tell you who they are, they flaunt who they are and every time we hear "lessons will be learned", but who learns the lessons? The next predator / abuser learns how the previous one got caught and how to refine their game, and victims and survivors learn that they're expendable, and the cycle keeps turning and new victims are created and it fucking kills me because the people in power just don't care because what do they lose? Nothing.

This is something worth reading twice.

It is spot on.

@NiceGerbil

Oh that's VERY interesting.

My deleted post was one where I asked the big question WHY did ERC hire mw. And I listed out the things they knew would be a consequence. Many of them either unrelated to supporting rape victims and/ or actively undermining their own remit.

Why would that be deleted?

Why indeed. And who reported it and what did they give as their reason? What was their motive?

Hmmm.

They tell you who they are, they flaunt who they are and every time we hear "lessons will be learned", but who learns the lessons? The next predator / abuser learns how the previous one got caught and how to refine their game, and victims and survivors learn that they're expendable, and the cycle keeps turning and new victims are created and it fucking kills me because the people in power just don't care because what do they lose? Nothing.
This is absolutely it. I’d never actually thought about it but it’s blindingly obvious.

This needs staying every time that phrase is used.

Oh that's interesting. I've been wondering if/when the deletions would start on this thread.

I'd actually thought that MN were allowing us to talk because MW has so clearly said such vile, damaging, misogynist things about the women they purport to help.

@Jaysmith71

Can't help seeing the religious dimension to all this talk of cleaning and purifying, particularly in a Hindu context.

The whole thing is a "religious" movement - it's the newest religion in town.

it's the newest religion in town.

and Wadhwa's heirarchy of deservingness has more than a whiff of caste about it.

Doesn't it just? I couldn't help thinking about that either.