Mridul Wadhwa - Male CEO of Edinburgh Rape Crisis

So the sneering post was addressed to me? I did not make stupid comments, and I have absolutely no obligation to explain to you why I 'bother to come on' here to post.

As far as I am concerned there is no need to 'do a bit of research' either - I am not employing her, and her background is not remotely relevant to this discussion. You are clearly desperate to make a case for her, presumably because she is a transwoman, but I am more concerned with the fact that she lied to get the job, and that she took a senior role that had been ring-fenced as women-only, which is one of the concerns I have about men identifying as women.

As I have said, IMO her life (as opposed to professional) experience is irrelevant in any case, as if someone needs to have experience of a particular way of life to be able to empathise, then someone with such an unusual life is going to be unlikely to find others with a comparable one. Everyone has to learn about others' experiences and their perception of those experiences will vary. The skill of counselling is in allowing the traumatised to frame their experiences in their own way - not to steer or coerce them towards a predetermined point of view, and not to relate their experiences to those of the counsellor.

Thank you for your continuing, principled and accurate responses on this thread Doodledog. It beggars belief that other just don't get the clear points that you have repeatedly made. Makes you wonder!

The reasn I put the link is to show her professional experience Doodledog but as you say you aren't interested. Which as far as I am concerned sums up most of this thread.
Inaccurate, poorly informed prejudice, masquerading as concern for women.
FFS she isn't a counsellor. She's a trainer and manager.

trisher

Doodledog MW is the child of a mixed culture marriage - her mother was a Zorastrian refugee from Iran who settled in India, she was educated in a Catholic all-boys school. She completed a degree inEnglish in India an MSc at Edinborough. She speaks 5 languages.. Isn't it just the tiniest bit possible tht she will understand the obstacles better than most?

No. He will understand the obstacles that he has faced. He certainly won’t understand what it feels like to be a female, raped by a man.
If you do counselling, one of the first things you learn is not to equate your feelings and experiences with those who are seeking help.
Being multilingual has no relevance here. Even if one of his languages would enable him to communicate with victims from other cultures, it will be of no use for those victims whose culture or religion forbid mixing with men outside their family.
He was educated at a boys school! So was I, for reasons that don’t affect this post. What did he learn there? To be raped by older boys? Still not relevant to being a woman.
If he really had learnt anything relevant to this post, he would never have cheated his way into a job ringfenced for women, to help women affected by men who treat them badly.
Isn’t it just the tiniest bit possible that you are wrong, because the whole job is based on a lie and some of his words and actions have backed up why his appointment was wrong.

Aveline

Thank you for your continuing, principled and accurate responses on this thread Doodledog. It beggars belief that other just don't get the clear points that you have repeatedly made. Makes you wonder!

Thank you, Aveline. My belief is beggared too, TBH, and being called stupid by the person who doesn't grasp simple concepts is very galling.

*The reasn I put the link is to show her professional experience Doodledog but as you say you aren't interested. Which as far as I am concerned sums up most of this thread.

No, I am not interested in researching MW's management experience. Why would I be? I am not about to interview her for a job. I have explained my objections to her employment in that role, but you continue to ignore them and attempt to divert the conversation to a discussion of her CV. It is not relevant.

Inaccurate, poorly informed prejudice, masquerading as concern for women.
You are the one defending someone who has behaved dishonestly, and I am the one who is saying that this is not acceptable. How you can reverse this so that I am the one who is 'masquerading' is beyond me.

My concern for women has been constant throughout this and other threads, whereas your increasingly illogical posts show your misogyny and contempt for women when their interests conflict with those of men.

I may be poorly informed about MH's CV, but as far as this thread is concerned, that makes no more difference than my knowledge of her dental records. Your obsession with her is a bit strange, but perhaps not surprising, as you are using your knowledge as a way to divert the thread as usual.

FFS she isn't a counsellor. She's a trainer and manager
(a), she trains and manages counsellors
(b) she makes policies that impact on traumatised women
(c) you keep going on about her 16 years experience of dealing with violence, as though that is relevant. In order to train counsellors, one has to have counselling experience and training oneself.
(d) She is the CEO. She deals with the media in a public-facing role, so her words matter, and her reputation matters.

FFS MW is not a counsellor she is a manager and trainer.
Just as you wouldn't expect the CEO of a company making cars to work on the shop floor because managing is their job, MW is managing not counselling and training not dealing with clients.
As none of you bother to read any proper information about MW and continue to post inaccuracies you really can't expect your views to be taken seriously.

Her training expertise is in minority cultures , forced marriage and FGM Doodledog . She may well have in her 16 years gained experience in rape counselling as well, but if she hasn't I'm sure she can in her role as manager find people who have.

Technically she didn't lie. She's a transwoman, she believes she is a woman. She didn't hide anything, she simply wasn't asked. It seems strange to me that people are accusing her of having influence with the trustees but at the same time saying people wouldn't have known her trans status.

The objections to her seem to be
1. she lied to get the job-no she didn't she wasn't asked.
2. She shouldn' t be counselling rape victims- she isn't.
3. She said women should reframe their trauma during rape counselling- no she didn't she explained that recognising the deep equalities and sexism in society might help as the victim recovered.
So the only real objection is that she is a transwoman, which seems to me putting your prejudice above anything else and certainly does absolutely nothing to improve the lives of any of the women concerned.
I'm not "obsessed" with MW. I would investigate any allegations made about anyone and counter any inaccuracies.

she believes she is a woman sums it up for me Trisher

We are born with XX or XY chromosomes which are unchangeable.

I respect trans people to act as their opposite chromosome gender, but that is all it is acting

A natal man can NEVER truly understand what it is to be a natal woman and vice versa.

As I have said, people training counsellors have to have worked as practitioners themselves. If you bothered to read the proper information you would know that, even if you don't take my word for it.

To be honest I don't expect you to take anything anyone says seriously, as you have a one-track mind which is obsessed with trans rights.

I do't know why, but you appear to be so obsessed with defending any transperson against any woman or group of women that you lose all sense of logic, and you have no respect for anyone who does not share your views.

On this page of this thread alone, I have been called stupid, poorly informed, prejudiced, accused of masquerading, of not bothering to read, of posting inaccuracies and told that I should not expect to be taken seriously. Not a bad insult count for so early on one page, is it? And none of it is true, whether you believe it or not.

I just disagree with you, (oh, and I won't be sent on fool's errands to divert the conversation away from areas that make you uncomfortable). That doesn't make me any of those things, as a rational adult would be able to tell.

Clarity, trisher.

All this furore is bigotry dressed up as 'concern'. Exactly the same bigotry hurled at GA people, in the past.

GagaJo

Clarity, trisher.

All this furore is bigotry dressed up as 'concern'. Exactly the same bigotry hurled at GA people, in the past.

So wrong, being concerned for hard fought for women’s rights is not bigotry.

Inaccurate, poorly informed prejudice
Wrong trisher. There has been a wealth of intelligent, articulate and well researched posts on this thread from the majority of posters. They, and the majority of other natal women who have shown an interest in the subject, do not agree with your minority views. This man:
a) secured his position at ERCS by lying/deception.
b) is, first and foremost, concerned more with trans activism than natal women's rights or needs
c) has confirmed this by swiftly leaving one political party that would not enforce his view of women's rights, immediately joined another that has transgender rights at their forefront

You, on the other hand, have steadfastly refused to answer straightforward questions, you've obfuscated and made many attempts to divert the issue to "transphobia" and "bigotry". Not one single poster, who is against Wadhwa's role, has called anyone stupid, ill informed, bigoted, prejudiced, or unread. I, personally, have been threatened by one poster. We've even had a posters OH rolled on to add a bit of male clout! But all of this is fine because it just confirms the usual narrative: Women, shut up. Don't question a man. Accept that we know what's best for you. Do as we tell you.
No. The appointment of this man, in this role, is utterly wrong and I will join all the other women who are currently campaigning to stop him, and others like him, from causing any more distress to already traumatised women.

Clarity, trisher.
All this furore is bigotry dressed up as 'concern'. Exactly the same bigotry hurled at GA people, in the past.

Is that your opinion or your OH's?

Chewbacca You demonstrate the prejudice perfectly. MW is a transwoman and uses the pronoun "she",
There isn't a single post on this thread that shows MW is either unfit or unsuitable to perform the role she has been appointed to.
Apparently training in minority immigrant cultures, FGM and forced marriage isn't important. Nor is knowledge of minority culture languages which leads me to think that not only are some posters transphobic, by their lack of appreciation of the needs of BAME women (apparently all they need is a woman) they are racist as well.
In fact there isn't a trace of feminism in the posts. Unless you believe feminism uses misinformation, bias and abuse to acheive its aims. Whatever you feel about MW the least you could do is acknowledge her experience and expertise. Had you done so I might have taken your protests that you are solely concerned about women's rights more seriously. As it is all I see is bias and bigotry which refuses to recognise any transwoman's acheivements.

So now, to add to the accusations of being stupid, poorly informed, prejudiced, accused of masquerading, of not bothering to read, of posting inaccuracies and being told that I should not expect to be taken seriously, we have biased, transphobic, racist and bigoted ?.

Is this 'in the spirit of Gransnet'?

It strikes me as the last refuge of the desperate. Insults usually are.

It's a good job I can add 'thick skinned' to that list of attributes, isn't it?

But this time Gaga, the bigotry is being shown towards natal women and is being hurled by you now, evidently supported by your partner since you need backup.

You're entitled to your opinions Doodledog and Mollygo. However, my perspective is entirely different.

Equality for all.

I couldn't agree more. I just wish that those sentiments were echoed in the responses to disagreements on these threads.

I am genuinely interested in discussing the issues, but it is so trying when all the diversions and insults start. It is completely unnecessary.

I quite agree DD. But given that a couple of posters on here engage in online bullying, it is difficult to have a civil discussion.

Read the post above my previous one. So rude. Imagine if I had written that.

It is my belief that everyone is equal. Regardless of biology, gender, ethnicity, physicality, nationality. The ONLY people I don't regard as equal are those who actively seek to deny others rights. Which is what I see gender critical feminists as doing.

I am genuinely interested in discussing the issues, but it is so trying when all the diversions and insults start. It is completely unnecessary.

Exactly this. Once the insults, accusations and threats begin, it's confirmation that their is no credible counter argument.

trisher it is completely your prerogative to refer to Mridul Wadhwa how so ever you wish. I refer to him as he/him because he is a biological male.

Which in itself is rude Chewbacca. That isn't just gender critical, it is a complete denial of trans identity.

It is my belief that everyone is equal. Regardless of biology, gender, ethnicity, physicality, nationality. The ONLY people I don't regard as equal are those who actively seek to deny others rights. Which is what I see gender critical feminists as doing.

Well, that says it all, doesn't it? So I can add 'inferior' to the list above, too?

Well, if you want to I guess. That is your choice. I wouldn't put it that way however.

But any regime that denies others rights is generally seen as extremist.

Believe me Gagajo I can easily live with you thinking that I'm rude for knowing that a biological male is referred to as he/him! I find it significantly harder to live with the fact that men are eroding women's rights via trans activism. Women's rights are not anti-trans. Campaigning to uphold the sex-based rights of women under the Equality Act is not anti-trans. Unless of course you believe that women's rights are anti-trans?

God in heaven, were extremists now!