Former rape crisis worker ‘harassed’ over gender views demands SNP define ‘woman’
A former rape crisis centre worker who was subjected to a “heresy hunt” over her gender-critical views has demanded SNP ministers provide a “clear definition” of a woman.
Roz Adams won her constructive dismissal action against Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (ERCC), after the tribunal ruled that she had been harassed and discriminated against over her belief that biological sex is “immutable”. She was awarded almost £70,000 and the centre was forced to publicly apologise to her.
Ms Adams had been labelled “transphobic” over her beliefs that victims of sexual violence attending the centre should be able to insist that they speak to someone who was biologically female.
The ruling stated that she had been subjected to an ERCC investigation “somewhat reminiscent of the work of Franz Kafka” that had been overseen by Mridhul Wadhwa, a trans woman who was ERCC chief executive at the time.
Ian McFatridge, the employment judge, said the tribunal agreed with Ms Adams’s claim that “this was a heresy hunt”.
In a statement issued after she was awarded the compensation – around double what was previously anticipated – and a public apology, Ms Adams said she was “grateful” and the money would “enable me as a first priority to take some time to rest”.
She said: “It is more important to me that there is now meaningful change at ERCC, as well as Rape Crisis Scotland and the Scottish Government.
“My priority remains that all victim-survivors of sexual violence can make a genuinely informed choice about the service they seek and have confidence in who will support them.
“To restore that confidence, I urge these organisations to give a clear definition of ‘woman’.”
She expressed delight that ERCC representatives had visited Beira’s Place, a female-only women’s refuge in the city established by JK Rowling. ERCC is an independent body but operates under the Rape Crisis Scotland umbrella.
Ms Adams said she hoped that “this suggests some seedlings of change and the start of bridges being built”.
‘Inherently hateful’
The tribunal ruled in May that the ERCC inquiry into Ms Adams was “clearly motivated by a strong belief amongst the senior management and some of the claimant’s colleagues that the claimant’s views were inherently hateful”.
It noted that Wadhwa, who had no gender recognition certificate, “was the one who selected and contacted who would deal with the various stages of the disciplinary and grievance process”.
Ms Adams also became aware that the centre as a matter of policy would never “refer people to Beira’s Place or even advise them of its existence”.
Wadhwa resigned after the tribunal ruling but Sandy Brindley, the chief executive of Rape Crisis Scotland, has resisted calls to follow suit.
In his remedy ruling, reported by the Times, Mr McFatridge ordered that ERCC apologise publicly to Ms Adams for alleging she was transphobic and acknowledge there was no evidence to support this.
The judge also ordered the centre to admit that the disciplinary action was wrong and to start referring survivors of sexual assault to Beira’s Place. Ms Rowling reacted on social media to this recommendation by stating: “At last.”
Gender ideology
ERCC was also required to acknowledge that Ms Adams “was motivated by a wish to act in the best interests of service users when she questioned how to respond to the service user” and that nothing she did constituted bullying or harassment.
It must accept responsibility for harassing and discriminating against Ms Adams “because of her gender-critical beliefs”, Mr McFatridge said.
However, the judge said it was not the tribunal’s role “to come down on one side of the argument or another” on the wider argument about gender ideology.
Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP government attempted to allow people to self-identify their legal gender with no medical diagnosis but this was blocked by the UK Government over concerns it damaged protections for women.
Humza Yousaf, her successor as first minister, tried unsuccessfully to overturn the veto. John Swinney, the current First Minister, has said he believes there are only two genders.
However, the Telegraph disclosed that his government last month issued official guidance that there are 24 genders that could be recorded by public bodies.
A Rape Crisis Scotland spokesperson said: “Rape Crisis Scotland has accepted the recommendation from the independent review of Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre published in September of this year to facilitate a shared definition of women across all our member centres.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The Scottish Government cannot comment on individual Employment Tribunal decisions.
“The Scottish Government is clear that the needs and safety of survivors of rape and sexual assault must be the utmost priority of support services, including ensuring access to women only spaces.”
The ERCC was approached for comment.