The head of Rape Crisis Scotland has apologised “unreservedly" for failings at a support centre in Edinburgh. 

Sandy Brindley said she found out the Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (ERCC)  was not following national standards last October and paused referrals 11 months later when the review said safeguarding was a problem. 

ERCC came under fire when a review found it had failed to provide women-only spaces for 16 months, and laid the blame at the door of its CEO - trans woman Mridul Wadhwa. 

Ms Wadhwa stepped down last week after a damning report found she failed to behave professionally. 

The investigation, carried out by an independent consultant, found Ms Wadhwa “did not understand the limits of her authority” and the needs of survivors were not prioritised.   

Speaking to BBC Scotland's Drivetime programme on Thursday, Ms Brindley said there was no reason why transgender people could not work in rape support centres, but that services must also provide women-only spaces. 

Ms Brindley stressed that Rape Crisis Scotland, which is the national charity that sets service standards for member centres, had no involvement in hiring Ms Wadhwa. 

However she said there had been "no reason" not to agree with the appointment at the time as Ms Wadhwa had significant experience of working in the sector. 

Mridul WadhwaMridul Wadhwa (Image: NQ)

The role Ms Wadhwa had is reserved for women only – which under recent guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, includes trans women who have a gender recognition certificate. 

Ms Wadhwa took over the ERCC in 2021 - before this guidance was updated. 

Acknowledging that Ms Wadhwa's appointment had been controversial, Ms Brindley said: "I was not involved in that appointment or that decision. But what I would say is that most rape crisis centres in Scotland provide support to men, women, trans people and non-binary people. 

"There is no inherent reason within that, that you could not have a trans person working within a rape crisis centre. 

"I think what is crucial however, is that if you do have a rape crisis service, that is supporting all survivors is that there's dedicated women-only spaces within that." 

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Ms Brindley added she "absolutely recognised" that women-only spaces were a priority for many women using rape support services. 

Ms Wadhwa sparked controversy when she suggested “bigoted” rape survivors should be re-educated about transgender rights as part of recovering from their trauma.  

Wadhwa also said that rape survivors could “reframe” their trauma and have “a more positive relationship with it”.   

However, the review which led to her standing down was brought about after an employment tribunal found a counsellor at ERCC who held gender-critical views had been unfairly dismissed.  

Former worker Roz Adams believed that those using the service should be able to know the sex of the staff that deal with their case.  

Ms Adams' view was that people using the centre should have a choice over who they received support from on the basis of sex, and that sex was binary and "everyone is either male or female at that level".  

The tribunal found that an investigation into Ms Adams' conduct should not have been launched and “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".  

Ms Adams has since gone on to work for Beira's Place - a women-only support service for victims of sexual violence, partly funded by JK Rowling.  

The review found an investigation into Roz Adams' conduct should never have happened.

Roz Adams Roz Adams (Image: NQ)  

The BBC reports that Ms Brindley has the full support of Rape Crisis Scotland's board to stay in post despite Conservative MSP Sue Webber calling for her to quit. 

Ms Brindley said the controversy had led to rape survivors who supported the charity experiencing "horrendous" abuse online, including being told that they "must be lying" about being raped. 

"It is absolutely astonishing to me that this is the position we're in where rape survivors can be treated in this way in the name of women's rights supposedly," said Ms Brindley. 

"I think the onus is on me as chief executive of Rape Crisis Scotland and on the rape crisis movement to try and move to a place where Rape Crisis is not being weaponised in the way it has."