Sarah Summers wins Single Sex provision for r*pe support in Brighton & Hove

[Lolapusht]

https://x.com/sarahsurviving/status/1949828457518473361?s=61&t=_cKTNp_TyAyzDViEOCJDFQ]]

https://sarahsurviving.substack.com/p/sarah-surviving-and-survivors-network sarahsurviving.substack.com/p/sarah-surviving-and-survivors-network]]]]

@IAmSarah well done!❤

Thanks. Sisters Heal includes women with a trans identity as sometimes transitioning is linked with trauma and childhood sexual abuse. We felt there needs to be safe, single sex place to explore that.

We will probably get some shit at some point from TRAs but at the moment they seem focussed on protesting FiLia.

Given what they did to the Vancouver rape crisis centre, & what Mridul Whatshisname did, I don’t think they have any compassion for women even if they are rape survivors.

I was shocked anew on the thread yesterday where a poster was totally upfront that they rejected that female people felt distress when male people with transgender identities were in spaces that the female people thought to be single sex only. They upfront rejected that women and girls felt distress.

Whatever, the motivation, I wonder just how many extreme transgender activists also reject women's and girls' distress. If they reject it, they never have to acknowledge they contributed to that distress in any way. They can confidently say they support women and girls, can't they?

Absolutely Helle, absolutely
Definitely sitting on my hands next time as nothing, but nothing anyone said, even posters with severe trauma failed to make an impact on that extreme TRA
Depressing isn't it?

Best wishes with Sisters Heal, Sarah

I’m sadly not shocked, until very recently these activists were running women’s rape crisis services. Mridul Wadwha prime example but also the women who enforced mixed-sex women’s support groups.

I have noticed that transgender people behave very typically for their sex when it comes to accessing women’s rape crisis services.

Trans men are sensitive to women’s trauma and worry their presence may be triggering if they pass as male.

Decent trans women wouldn’t dream of accessing them.

The trans women who feel entitled to be in women’s spaces feel it’s their role to educate women survivors on their bigotry. No amount of transitioning removes the mansplaining gene.

Women TRAs are tricky ones. Sometimes they genuinely believe men have gendered souls, sometimes it’s a fawn trauma response, sometimes they haven’t thought about it deeply enough.

There is definitely a way to include trans people in single sex spaces but it involves acknowledging biological sex is real and immutable.

Well done. Anything that helps women without biological men is great. And let’s not knock initiatives being developed by women. I’ve never really thought that yoga is middle class. Especially since my class is held in a scruffy state school hall smelling of boiled potatoes. But hey us women do like to knock other women down. I’m supportive of all types of support whether it’s yoga, group sessions, coffee, a week on a Greek island, etc. we all have different needs. Good luck Sarah and thank you for everything you have done so far.

Aw thank you! Your post made laugh but also I think it’s important for survivors to feel they are worthy. I think it does make a difference to give women the chance to heal in nice surroundings. Not everything has to be scruffy and smell like old potatoes.

The April Greece retreat is part-funded for everyone, but there will be some fully funded places in the future for women who need it.

Hi @IamSarah what's happening with the crowdfunder? There 's no update on your gardening site since January 2025. I stopped planting when Sussex settled but not clear if that's the right thing to do, do you still need seeds for your legal team?

Thanks for checking! All the legal fees are paid and no more gardening needed. I’ll ask my lawyers to update the page. Thank you so much to everyone for the gardening, I couldn’t have done it without you and such a weight off my mind

Thank you @IamSarah I am so grateful for what you did. Your case was the first that made me realise something had gone very, very wrong. And I am very happy that you kept going and Sussex settled at last and you're finding a way through this that works for women.

Thank for the kind words and encouragement @AmaryllisNightAndDay you have been a great support these last few years.

I’ve just had a meeting with some of the volunteers and we are getting so many enquiries we’re going to have to run some more courses and retreats, potentially in the north. I thought there may be some therapists on here who might like to be involved. If so you can get in touch with the office: https://sistersheal.co.uk/contact/

What makes me sad is I know a victim of rape who also doesn't accept this distress! I'm so truly pleased for her that she has been able to process her rape so well, but I can't cope with her not accepting that another victim will be distressed, possibly forever. Her words were "I just got on with it".

@ByjimminyI think some women have had their boundaries violated so often they just ‘get on with it’ and don’t even realise their boundaries are being violated. Is she quite young? I know I was much more likely to just get on with it in my 20s and 30s.

This is why it’s so important for rape crisis services to set the single sex boundary so women don’t have to.

Brilliant news!

Quite the opposite age group, she's in her 70s now. But I guess more from the generation when "just getting on with it" was pretty mainstream in response to any trauma. Just doesn't work like that for some though, and the body holds the score sadly.

I don't see how they can object when you include trans-identified females but I suppose any reference to trauma as a factor is unacceptable and not including males in whichever guise they wish to present themselves. Sorry you're getting criticism for your efforts. You are volunteers offering a service in the most inclusive way you can, you should be proud. Never possible to please all the people all the time as they say!

Sarah has posted this on X 🙁

Ffs! Poor Sarah - what bloody awful ppl the trustees are :(

I was just coming to post that X message.

Does this mean that Sarah is going to have to take further legal action to enforce the settlement agreement

I guess so :(

Sounds like it. It is awful she is being put in this position. Hopefully if this gets some media attention it will put the Survivors Network under pressure to deliver what they promised.

One if the trustees is a trans man which I assume is a significant factor in their latest arseholery

What absolute fuckers. Can't believe they did that.