Mridul Wadhwa - Male CEO of Edinburgh Rape Crisis

She has along and succesful history of working in the field of women and violence. I would imagine if she had actually upset or in any way dealt badly with women having counselling she would at some point have been reported and disciplined. It seems to me that a lot of people on here are posting because of their personal opinions about transwomen-particularly the OP which misgenders her quite deliberately. Those people should ask themselves if their prejudice should prevent someone being appointed who has the experience and skills to do the job.
As for the remark, what I believe she is saying is that women surviving violence have to live in the real world where they will encounter all sorts of people and their counselling should make them able to do that and confront their fears and prejudices.

MaizieD you are totally right. I have been reading other things she has written or said and it is a shocking viewpoint to have as CEO of a Rape Crisis organisation for women. These women have been traumatised for god’s sake. They are not bigots.

That anyone would suggest that others should ‘re-frame their trauma’ shows a terrible lack of empathy and a lack of understanding of what trauma actually is.

For the CEO of a rape crisis centre to say it just beggars belief.

MaizieD you’ve put into words what my ‘grrrr’ meant.
Thank you

What is even more mind boggling is that you're asking us to be sensitive to 'her' feelings when she has demonstrated not just oblivion to, but intolerance of natal women's feelings.

She should not have said what she did! That was completely inappropriate.

Can you not see, Shelflife that it instantly disbars her from the position she holds? Apologies, excuses, are useless. She thought it and said it. In some work places that would generate some training on an awareness course of some sort. But that would not be adequate for someone who is actually CEO of an incredibly sensitive organisation.

Shelflife

MaizieD, thankyou for your comment , I respect your point. Of course female rape victims want and are entitled to a female counsellor, I fully understand and support the reasons for that. She should not have said what she did! That was completely inappropriate. However , yes ,that was a mistake and I hope she rethinks. Rape is a very complex and distressing attack and one I know needs very expert counselling. I think the reason for my original message was to show support for the trans community. Like being gay this is not a life choice it is a fact. This rape counsellor has indeed said the wrong thing , I hope she regrets it, however I stand by my conviction that this woman is a woman , she has no doubt endured prejudice and certainly massive surgery , people do not go through that on a whim !

A mistake, ? the biggest one out of her mouth , absolutely disgusting. Who would want to talk to someone with those views. Should be removed from post immediately, and cannot understand why they are not. Well yes I can, called minority rules, ok. Having worked with Women who have been raped absolutely disgusted .

we all know that sadly 40 weeks in the womb does not always produce a baby without complications

sadly my baby who was born this way and is by law allowed to request female only personal care and I'd prefer it to stay that way thank you

Tg's not this

Only a very small proportion of this go through any form of surgery. Last figure I heard was 12%.
And it's not good enough to hope that they will reconsider. This person should not be in this position

I whole heartedly agree Aveline

MaizieD, thankyou for your comment , I respect your point. Of course female rape victims want and are entitled to a female counsellor, I fully understand and support the reasons for that. She should not have said what she did! That was completely inappropriate. However , yes ,that was a mistake and I hope she rethinks. Rape is a very complex and distressing attack and one I know needs very expert counselling. I think the reason for my original message was to show support for the trans community. Like being gay this is not a life choice it is a fact. This rape counsellor has indeed said the wrong thing , I hope she regrets it, however I stand by my conviction that this woman is a woman , she has no doubt endured prejudice and certainly massive surgery , people do not go through that on a whim !

It's not about how this person feels. What matters is how the poor traumatised women feel. I've read some heartbreaking posts from women who have needed this service. If this CEO had an ounce of humanity far less integrity s/he would resign at once.

Shelflife

This something I know many GN s will find disturbing . Having watched the video I can’t help feeling she is sincere and doing a good job. Is’nt that the most important thing.? I recognise that rape victims need a woman counsellor, this woman is a woman! Obviously it is not possible to determine whether or not she is doing a good job by simply watching a short video. However the proof will be in the pudding!
Far North, please stop and rethink. , we all know that sadly 40 weeks in the womb does not always produce a baby without complications. Why should trans people be any different. I like most people find the trans issue very difficult to get my head round, but it is here and always has been . The trauma involved in transitioning is massive , please let us be a little more compassionate and remember ‘ there by the grace of god’ anything can happen to anyone and to those we love. We are all hidebound by prejudice of one sort or another . If people are fortunate to have ‘ perfect’ lives they should stop and consider how they would feel if they or a close relative came out as trans . It could happen , so please stop and think.

She has been quoted as saying that if a female rape victim objects to being counselled by a man she is a bigot who needs to ‘re-frame her trauma’.

Sorry, Shelflife. No woman would ever say that.

If I'm wrong in asserting that, then a woman who thinks like that should be nowhere near an organisation which caters for women who have experienced probably the most traumatic male inflicted violation of their physical and mental personas possible.

A further issues is that (in Scotland), Scottish Women’s Aid who historically provide refuges for women and children are being passed over for funding because they are safe spaces for WOMEN and therefore seen as not being inclusive. Some local authorities here have awarded the tender to SERCO instead. SWA have historically been “doing a good job” however SERCO haven’t been doing a good job in other services they run. It feels like a downgrading of already underfunded services for women, it’s not a huge leap to feel that Women are being downgraded. We all need to keep our eye on the ball here.

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Grrrr

This something I know many GN s will find disturbing . Having watched the video I can’t help feeling she is sincere and doing a good job. Is’nt that the most important thing.? I recognise that rape victims need a woman counsellor, this woman is a woman! Obviously it is not possible to determine whether or not she is doing a good job by simply watching a short video. However the proof will be in the pudding!
Far North, please stop and rethink. , we all know that sadly 40 weeks in the womb does not always produce a baby without complications. Why should trans people be any different. I like most people find the trans issue very difficult to get my head round, but it is here and always has been . The trauma involved in transitioning is massive , please let us be a little more compassionate and remember ‘ there by the grace of god’ anything can happen to anyone and to those we love. We are all hidebound by prejudice of one sort or another . If people are fortunate to have ‘ perfect’ lives they should stop and consider how they would feel if they or a close relative came out as trans . It could happen , so please stop and think.

More on this in the link.

forwomen.scot/10/08/2021/the-real-crisis-at-rape-crisis-scotland/

Ann I can’t even put into words how diabolical it is.
And what sort of person must Wadhwa be to think that they can (should) do the job properly?
If that quote is true, well…

It would be Fanny if it wasn’t so serious and troubling.

It’s an effing joke, isn’t it

No, I’m pretty sure that the new CEO is a transwoman, and in my opinion she is not doing a great job.

She has been quoted as saying that if a female rape victim objects to being counselled by a man she is a bigot who needs to ‘re-frame her trauma’.

The person is male MawBe.

The bottom line for me is- is she doing a good job?
(And it’s presumably “she” - not “he”)