Trans rape crisis centre boss under pressure to resign
Critics claim that Mridul Wadhwa’s position is untenable as two board members step down after losing a tribunal against a ‘gender critical’ former worker
The head of a support service for rape victims is under pressure to quit after the resignation of two board members implicated in a “heresy hunt” against a colleague who held “gender critical” beliefs.
Critics say the position of Mridul Wadhwa, who identifies as a trans woman, as chief executive of Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (ERCC) is now “untenable” after it was found by an employment tribunal to have harassed and discriminated against Roz Adams, a support worker, because of her beliefs.
Before she left her post, Adams,
who won her case for constructive dismissal, had to undergo an internal inquiry at the centre, which is part-funded by the Scottish government.
The tribunal judgment described the investigation as “unfortunately a classic of its kind, somewhat reminiscent of the work of Franz Kafka”.
The two directors understood to have resigned are Miren Sagues, the former chairwoman of the charity’s board, and Katie Horsburgh, a trustee, who dealt with a grievance lodged by Adams about her treatment.
Horsburgh was criticised in the judgment for the “dogmatic” way she gave evidence “perhaps the most hardline of the [centre’s] witnesses in respect of her adherence to gender identity theory”.
Their resignations have prompted calls for the departure of Wadhwa, described by the tribunal as “a trans woman who did not have a gender recognition certificate and … thus legally male”.
Wadhwa was found to be a key figure in an internal investigation into Adams that “should not have been launched in the first place”.
Ian McFatridge, the employment judge, said the inquiry “was clearly motivated by a strong belief among senior management and some of the claimant’s colleagues that the claimant’s views were inherently hateful”.
He added: “It is clear that [Wadhwa] was involved in the process since she was the one who selected and contacted who would deal with the various stages of the disciplinary and grievance process.”
Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at the human rights charity Sex Matters, said the “damning” tribunal judgment made Wadhwa’s position “clearly untenable”. She added: “The unlawful harassment of Roz Adams, and the bizarre and extreme trans-inclusion policies that fuelled that harassment, can all be traced back to Wadhwa.”
Joanna Cherry, the SNP MP, said the tribunal conclusion was “damning”.
For Women Scotland, a women’s rights campaign group, said: “We are delighted for Roz and hope that this damning judgment will finally cause some reflection at ERCC and RCS [Rape Crisis Scotland]. Survivors must be the priority, not the feelings and identities of staff members.”
Meghan Gallacher, a Scottish Conservative MSP, urged the ERCC to ensure that no further women are mistreated following the ruling.
It came as
Nicola Sturgeon said she was “part of the problem” in Scotland’s transgender issues and it was partly why she stood down as first minister.
Appearing at the Charleston literary festival in Sussex on Sunday, Sturgeon doubled down on her view that transgender women are women and said “people should be able to live how they want to be”.
She warned that “it seems like everyone in society is raining down on trans people” and despite forming 0.5 per cent of the population, they were used as “a battering ram”; and that gay people and other marginalised groups were becoming “collateral damage”.
When she joined the rape crisis centre, Adams, 52, had at first welcomed its trans-inclusive policies, believing that everyone who had “suffered sexual assault is entitled to support”, the tribunal heard.
However, in December 2020, after a walk with Maggie Chapman, a Green MSP, who was at the time the centre’s chief operating officer, the judgment states: “This was the first time that [Adams] heard what she described … as the ‘mantra’ that ‘trans women are women’”. She was concerned there was no “real definition or clarification associated with this statement”.
The tribunal, which has yet to decide on a settlement, heard that the dispute began when Adams spoke to colleagues about a rape victim who asked whether her counsellor would be a “man or a woman” because she would feel “uncomfortable talking to a man”. It intensified when a nonbinary member of staff copied Wadhwa into an email chain.
In evidence it was revealed that Wadhwa had told an Edinburgh University event that the “best way” to get staff to support trans-inclusion policies was to “fire them”. During the event “there was considerable cursing from Mridul Wadhwa and a lot of mention of ‘terfs’ [trans exclusionary radical feminists] and transphobes in a disparaging way,” according to the tribunal report.
It added: “Mridul Wadhwa referred to those who inquired about whether or not she had a GRC [gender recognition certificate] and stated that this was a transphobic question; and Mridul Wadhwa said ‘f*** them’ and described these people as terfs.”
Adams said the judgment was a huge relief. “This is a victory for all people who have been subjected to sexual violence who need a choice of worker and group support on the basis of sex in order to feel safe. For me it validates and makes worthwhile three years of struggle.
She added: “It is tragic to me that this ended in tribunal. For three years I consistently offered to enable discussion and I firmly believe that we will only find solutions that work for everyone through
fearless, respectful, well-informed dialogue. I hope this ruling supports that to happen wherever it
is needed.”
Adams now works at Beira’s Place, a centre funded by JK Rowling, the author, which offers a “sexual violence support service for women run by women”.
Sandy Brindley, chief executive of Rape Crisis Scotland, said: “An independent review into the practices and procedures at Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre has been commissioned. We are also working with Rape Crisis England and Wales on a planned review and refresh of the national service standards.”
NOT A WOMAN
