Rape crisis charity drops promise to define ‘woman' after transgender row

Yahoo

28-01-2025

A rape crisis charity embroiled in a transgender row has dropped a pledge to issue a definition of women, The Telegraph can reveal.
Rape Crisis Scotland (RCS) admitted it was no longer planning to publish a definition, despite previously promising to do so, following the recommendations of independent expert review.
Vicky Ling was commissioned to investigate Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (ERCC) after a damning tribunal ruling found it was operating an 'extreme' version of gender identity theory under the leadership of Mridul Wadhwa, a biological male who identifies as female.
Her report found that the centre had failed to properly protect women-only spaces and had 'caused damage to some survivors'.
Ms Ling called on RCS to devise and publish a 'shared definition of woman/female' to be adopted across its network.
The charity, which receives more than £3 million in annual funding from the SNP government, had previously accepted Ms Ling's recommendations in full. Sandy Brindley, its chief executive, claimed last September that work on a definition had been going on for nearly a year.
However, the charity is now understood to be focusing on ensuring 'dedicated spaces' in rape crisis centres are provided for 'women born as women', rather than drawing up a definition.
It said that, because the Supreme Court was considering a case that concerned the legal definition of women, it would not be 'helpful or appropriate' to issue its own wording.
However, Tess White, the Scottish Tory shadow equalities minister, claimed the 'shocking U-turn' showed RCS 'haven't learned any lessons' from a series of scandals.
'Once again women have been badly let down by an organisation that is supposed to support them, but which is failing to show any common sense,' she said.
'It is unacceptable that RCS still cannot give women reassurance that they will be able to access single-sex spaces at these centres.
'Ultimately, the SNP's reckless self-ID policies are to blame for this betrayal of women and girls.'
Activists such as Wadhwa, who left ERCC last year after Ms Ling's report was published, insist that any biological male who identifies as female is a woman.
Opponents of this view insist that sex is immutable and that biological men have no place accessing services such as rape crisis centres which are intended for women.
A clear definition of women was intended to ensure survivors would understand whether they could expect to encounter biological men when accessing services described as female-only.
Senior insiders at RCS said that while new rules were being consulted upon, it would be made explicitly clear to survivors which 'spaces' might include trans women.
The Ling Review was ordered last year after it was found that Roz Adams, a former worker at ERCC, had been hounded out of her job. Ms Adams had pushed for clarity about how to respond to women who asked about the sex of a female staff member who 'came out' as non-binary and adopted a typically male name.
Staff were instructed to simply insist there were no men working at the centre, despite Wadhwa, who came to view Ms Adams as a 'bigot and a transphobe' and orchestrated a 'heresy hunt' against her, being chief executive.
Wadhwa had publicly claimed in 2021 that 'bigoted' rape survivors who might fear biological men should expect to be 'challenged on [their] prejudices' at ERCC.
Ms Brindley, who had previously described Wadhwa as an 'amazing sister' and 'champion for women's rights', has refused calls from figures including JK Rowling to quit.
The Sunday Post reported at the weekend that in an internal consultation document about new rules, RCS stated that a woman can be 'anyone who self-identifies as a woman'.
An RCS spokesman said it was in discussions with survivors to ensure 'any terminology used to describe different spaces within rape crisis services is accessible and easily understandable'.
They added: 'The independent review of ERCC published last September identified that although the national service standards for rape crisis centres require centres to provide women-only spaces, they do not define what this means.
'The Supreme Court is currently considering the legal definition of women, and we don't feel it would be helpful or appropriate to pre-empt this by issuing a definition of women.
'Irrespective of the outcome of this case, however, it is clear that rape crisis centres can ensure survivors of sexual violence are able to access dedicated spaces for women born women if this is what they need.
'We are currently consulting with our independent member centres on the provision of protected spaces within centres, to ensure survivors are able access the services they need.'
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.