Last night, JK Rowling called for taxpayers’ money to be “withheld” from a charity dedicated to rape victims after a trans woman resigned as head of a victim support service.
Mridul Wadhwa resigned after a damning investigation found that the Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (ERCC), which she headed, had hindered victims’ access to biologically female counsellors.
A report commissioned by Rape Crisis Scotland (RCS) condemned the centre for insisting that traumatised rape victims, who can be as young as 12, must specify if they do not want support from someone born male.
Activists had called for Wadhwa, who is biologically male but identifies as a woman, to be removed from office and he resigned yesterday after three years in the post.
Writing about X, Ms Rowling said “government funding for Rape Crisis Scotland should be withheld if a single-sex service cannot be guaranteed, because that is what the overwhelming majority of female survivors want and need”.
JK Rowling last night called for taxpayers’ money to be “withheld” from a charity for rape victims after a trans woman resigned as head of a victim support service
Mridul Wadhwa resigned after a damning investigation found that the Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (ERCC), which she headed, had hindered victims’ access to biologically female counsellors.
She added: “This problem starts at government level. Scotland’s ruling party, the SNP (for which Mridul Wadhwa stood for council), has embraced gender ideology wholeheartedly, dismissing any evidence that the most vulnerable women are suffering as a result.”
The author questioned why RCS director Sandy Brindley – who once called Wadhwa an “amazing sister” – refuses to resign. Rowling said: “The government continues to fund a service dominated by ideologues; vulnerable women have been denied help; and Brindley and Wadhwa continue to collect their salaries.”
Ms Wadhwa resigned after a report by charity consultant Vicky Ling found her domineering and said she “did not understand the limits of her role’s authority (or) when to defer decisions to trustees”. She was described as incompetent, leading an organisation with systemic failings.
Yesterday, the ERCC board said it and Ms Wadhwa had “decided that the time is right for a change in leadership”.
The review was launched after an employment tribunal found that former ERCC employee Roz Adams had been constructively dismissed due to her “gender-critical beliefs”.
Although rape crisis centres are autonomous, they adhere to RCS standards.
RCS said it was “extremely concerned” that for about 16 months, ERCC “failed to provide women-only spaces, as required by national service standards.” ERCC’s board said: “We are committed to correcting the situation and implementing the report’s recommendations.”
The Scottish Government has awarded £6m in funding to RCS for the period 2022-25.
In an article about X, Rowling said that “government funding for Rape Crisis Scotland should be withheld if a single-sex service cannot be guaranteed, because that is what the overwhelming majority of female survivors want and need.”
Scottish Government Equalities Minister Kaukab Stewart (pictured) said: “We continue to fund ERCC to support survivors of rape and sexual assault, as we do with rape crisis centres across the country.”
Ms Brindley was asked yesterday if she would resign. On her behalf, a spokesman said: “RCS takes any concerns about poor practice in survivor services very seriously.
“We will now work with ERCC to ensure that the review’s recommendations are implemented.”
Ms Wadhwa has been contacted for comment.
Equality Minister Kaukab Stewart said: “We continue to fund the ERCC to support survivors of rape and sexual assault, as we do with rape crisis centres across the country.”
In 2024-25, ERCC received £405,899 through the government’s Delivering Equally Safe fund and £384,200 from Covid emergency funding to reduce waiting lists.
