Trans activist quits role as head of rape centre after sparking outrage
Mridul Wadhwa has quit her role after a damning report revealed the service 'damaged' survivors
SNP
A trans activist who led a rape crisis centre has quit her role after a damning report revealed the service “damaged” survivors and failed to protect women and girls in its care.
Mridul Wadhwa left the Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (ERCC) after the chief executive “failed to set professional standards of behaviour” and “did not understand the limits on her role’s authority”.
An independent investigation into the services provided by the centre found that it failed to “put survivors first” or protect women-only spaces, with many victims’ needs not prioritised.
The ERCC has said it will be following the review’s guidance, and stated that it was now the right time for a “change of leadership”, confirming Wadhwa's resignation.
Mridul Wadhwa has quit her role after a damning report revealed the service 'damaged' survivors SNPThey added in a statement: “We are committed to delivering excellence while taking on board the recommendations from the independent review to ensure we place survivors' voices at the heart of our strategy.
“We are in daily communication with Rape Crisis Scotland, have met their urgent demands, and are currently implementing the recommendations in the report.
“We will continue to work alongside RCS to ensure our services not only meet but exceed the National Service Standards.”
The probe was sparked after a tribunal found that former worker at the ERCC, Roz Adams, was unfairly dismissed from her position after she expressed gender-critical views.
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Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (ERCC) said they would follow the review's recommendations
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Adams said that those using the services should be able to know the sex of the staff that deals with their cases, after an abuse survivor asked whether her non-binary support worker was a man or a woman.
She subsequently suffered harassment and discrimination after she expressed her gender-critical opinions, and an employment tribunal judge found that Adams was subjected to a “heresy hunt” after not “fully subscribing to the gender ideology” championed by the ERCC's bosses.
In recommendations from legal specialist Vicky Ling, the review said: “In the light of the debate between those holding gender identity/affirmative and gender critical beliefs and the developing context of litigation, ERCC must take advice from RCS concerning the definition of 'woman' within its service.
“Women-only spaces and times must be protected and clearly publicised.”
Mridul Wadhwa has quit her role
Edinburgh Rape Crisi
In response to the report, the ERCC board stated: “We recognise that we got things wrong. We are sorry.
“We are committed to putting things right and implementing the recommendations in the report.”
The campaigning organisation For Women Scotland said on X that Wadhwa’s resignation was “not good enough”.
It added: “This is the very least that they can do. It seems the board is intent on ignoring their own culpability.”
Scottish Conservative MSP Sue Webber accused the charity of “imposing a militant gender ideology” under Wadhwa's rule.
She said that if the organisation wanted to regain women’s trust, it needed a “change of ethos” rather than a change in leadership.