There can be no doubt that without the Gender Recognition Reform (GRR) Bill’s aggressive promotion by Nicola Sturgeon – remember she claimed GRR critics were using the issue to “cloak” their transphobia, misogyny and racism – it would not have become a witch-hunt and one of the darkest episodes in 25 years of devolution.
It allowed people like Mridul Wadhwa, now thankfully the ex-CEO of the Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (ERCC), to claim rape victims who did not want to be counselled by a biological man were prejudiced, and to preside over the persecution of a worker for simply asking about a counsellor’s gender on a victim’s behalf.
It led the Rape Crisis Scotland CEO Sandy Brindley, who allowed Wadhwa – a man without a gender recognition certificate – to run the Edinburgh centre and to defend him as “one of the most passionate and compassionate woman (sic) I have had the privilege of working with,” as the worker’s victimisation came to light.
Ms Brindley is ultimately accountable for what happened at the ERCC, which a scathing independent report found “did not put survivors first” and last Tuesday in Holyrood I called for her resignation because to her shame she had not already done the decent thing.
It is Ms Brindley’s apparent response which has made her position even more untenable. According to the Sunday Mail Ms Brindley offered the telephone numbers of victims who would speak positively for her, and in the next two hours unsolicited emails from six victims arrived, all saying they were aware of calls for her resignation.
The SNP’s buck-passing on this scandal is completely unacceptable. It is them who have fostered a culture in Scottish Government-funded organisations that puts militant gender ideology before the safety of women and girls.
This inquiry must see a change of culture from the top down – and heads must roll. The SNP must commit to a complete reset of their priorities to ensure a similar scandal never occurs again, instead of pretending this is solely a matter for Rape Crisis Scotland.
