Rape Crisis Scotland chief offered up phone numbers of survivors who backed her amid calls to quit

Sandy Brindley asked the Sunday Mail if we wanted the phone numbers of women who used the centre to bolster her role.

The head of Rape Crisis Scotland, who claimed the service was being “weaponised” in the trans debate, offered up phone numbers of survivors who backed her when she was facing calls to quit.

Chief exec Sandy Brindley, who refused to resign after a damning report into the scandal surrounding Mridul Wadhwa – the trans woman who ran Edinburgh’s sexual violence support service – asked the Sunday Mail if we wanted the phone numbers of women who used the centre to bolster her role. She said: “If you do want the numbers of some rape survivors let me know.”

It has horrified the mum of a 14-year-old gang rape victim, who would not to let her daughter use the service when it became unclear if it was all-female. She said the only person weaponising the issue was Brindley.

She said: “I am furious and so upset. How dare she try and use rape survivors who support her to keep her in a job? What about the people who feel let down by the service?

"My daughter was raped. To get access to all services she needed we went to the rape crisis centre. I asked if it was all women? The lady wouldn’t give a straight answer so I just left.”

The mum then attended a meeting in 2019 with other survivors who had also self excluded from the service, expecting to be reassured by Rape Crisis Scotland the service was single sex. She said: “Sandy Brindley was there. It was awful. There was lots of silence when we asked about all-female services. It became clear she believed 'all women' and 'all female' meant 'trans-identified male'.

“To make things worse, another person there, who we initially thought was a rape survivor, was a trans activist who started to berate us. I am not sure Sandy Brindley understands how devastated I was.”

In a TV interview, Brindley refused to quit and said the “onus” on her and the movement was to try to “move to a place where Rape Crisis is not being weaponised in the way it has.” Trina Budge from For Women Scotland said: “If there is any ‘weaponising’ being done, it is Sandy Brindley doing the wielding, attacking those survivors who have been harmed by the significant failings in Rape Crisis Scotland and the manipulative use of others by offering up their phone numbers in a misguided attempt to save her own skin.

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"Putting a male trans activist in charge of a rape centre and dismantling women-only services was always going to end in disaster.” Clare Blom from Women Won’t Wheesht said: “It is abhorrent Brindley is using rape survivors to save her job.”

Maya Forstater, CEO of charity Sex Matters said: “It is clear that for years now, she has put her own ideological position ahead of all other considerations, including the wellbeing of survivors. It is shocking she lined up survivors to back her up and was willing to give the media their contact details. RCS’s mistreatment of women in service of a trans activist agenda must end now.”

Tory MSP Sue Webber, who had called for Brindley’s resignation in Holyrood, said: “This raises more questions about Sandy Brindley’s judgment and priorities. If she has orchestrated supportive victims to speak up on her behalf, it’s the very definition of weaponising this controversy. It would make her position even more untenable.”

Brindley has come under fire after an independent probe this month found Wadhwa “did not understand the limits of her authority”, rape survivors were not prioritised and single sex services not protected. Wadhwa – who was backed by Brindley – claimed rape victims who wanted single-sex care were bigoted and “should reframe their trauma”.

Ahead of publication last week, the paper contacted Brindley. She told our reporter: “Are you going to speak to rape survivors, that would be an important voice if you’re talking about me resigning, to include them?” Just 32 minutes later, we received the first email from a survivor backing her. We were sent five separate emails from six survivors over the next 90 minutes, who said they were aware of the story calling for Brindley to resign.

The paper, who had never spoken to any of the six, did not contact them directly. Brindley and Greens MSP Maggie Chapman – ERCC’S chief operating officer from 2020 to 2021 – backed Wadhwa after the centre lost an employment tribunal this year. It is believed she was involved in the recruitment process. We have made repeated attempts to contact Chapman. Rape Crisis Scotland declined to comment.

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