Mridul Wadhwa: Difference between revisions

Mridul Wadhwa
Born	1978
Occupation	Chief Executive Officer of Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre
Known for	Women's rights and anti-violence activism

Mridul Machindra Wadhwa (born 1978) is an Indian-born Scottish women's rights and anti-domestic violence campaigner. She serves as Chief Executive Officer of Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre. She is a member of the Scottish Green Party and was formerly active in the Scottish National Party and a candidate in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

Background

Mridul Wadhwa was born in India in 1978, and transitioned to female in her native country as a teenager. She then emigrated to the United Kingdom, where she earned a master's degree in education from the University of Edinburgh in 2005. She became involved in women's rights activism in Scotland as a student, and has spoken about her focus on giving voice to women from marginalised backgrounds, including migrant and racialised women.

Work

She has worked in the equality and anti-violence sectors in Scotland since leaving university in 2005. She was the information and education officer and children's services team leader at Shakti Women's Aid from 2008 to 2017, a training and volunteer coordinator at Rape Crisis Scotland from 2014 to 2018 and the manager at Forth Valley Rape Crisis Centre from 2018 to 2021. She was also a board member of YWCA Scotland and of the Equality Network from 2017 to 2021. She became Chief Executive Officer of Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre in 2021.

The Scottish Green Party issued a statement in solidarity with Mridul Wadhwa after she faced abuse, stating that "transphobia is at an alarming level in Scottish public life, and it is incumbent on political leaders to challenge the bigotry and hatred being directed at trans people, their families and friends, and the organisations for which they work."

In 2022 Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre was forced into lockdown by anti-trans activists, as part of a campaign that included the hounding of Wadhwa. Adam Ramsay said that "Wadhwa has dedicated the last 14 years of her professional life to supporting women who are victims of sexual violence. But for the last three years, she’s faced torrential abuse including unfounded smears that she’s a sexual predator and numerous threats of violence – all because she is trans."

Awards

She received the "Outstanding Campaigner Award" of the Equality Network in 2022.

Controversies

In 2021, after speaking with The Guilty Feminist Podcast, Wadhwa stated that "Sexual violence happens to bigoted people as well," that rape survivors could not heal without addressing "“unacceptable beliefs” and that if they sought care at the Edinburgh clinic, they should "expect to be challenged on [their] prejudices." She had previously left the Scottish National Party after MSPs backed an amendment to allow survivors of rape and sexual violence to pick the sex rather than the gender of the person examining them.

Wadhwa later released a statement saying that "All support is survivor centred, as it should be," and that conversations about societal prejudices would take place if and when victims were ready, but that "If what we see/hear from someone is clearly prejudiced and we are not responding to their urgent support need it is also part of our role to provide a space to explore and challenge this, in as kind a way as possible."