Rape Crisis has contacted the police after its services were disrupted by abuse that was “of an overtly racist nature”.
Last week far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson used his Facebook page to highlight one of the charity’s leaflets, which advertised dedicated services for black, Asian and ethnic minority women.
He captioned the image: “I guess it’s ok to rape white women then?”
The leaflet also offered support in different languages to women in danger of domestic violence, including in Punjabi and Hindi.
A local Rape Crisis centre received a “significant volume” of calls as a result, to a line which should only be used by people in danger.
Many calls were “of an overtly racist nature,” according to the charity. It has contacted the police about the abuse.
'Commitment to accessibility and inclusion'
In a statement, the charity said: “Rape Crisis (Wycombe, Chiltern and South Bucks) recognises that some groups of women who have survived sexual violence and abuse can face additional barriers to accessing services, including related to language and to the fear and/or past or current experience of racism and racial discrimination.
“As part of its commitment to accessibility and inclusion, it therefore offers a specialist service for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic women aimed at overcoming some of these barriers.
“An image of a leaflet advertising this specialist BAME service was recently posted on social media with a misleading caption. Since then, Rape Crisis (Wycombe, Chiltern and South Bucks) has received a significant volume of abusive phone calls, messages and emails, many of which are of an overtly racist nature, and the police have been informed.
“These activities have disrupted much-needed service provision for victims and survivors of sexual violence and abuse of all ethnicities and backgrounds.”
Robinson told the Metro newspaper: “I asked a question. It was not a call to action and I did not ask anyone to contact the organisation.
“If anyone has harassed the organisation then that is 100 per cent wrong.”
Part of a wider problem
Lisa Johnson, manager of direct services at Women’s Aid, said: “The National Domestic Violence Helpline, which Women’s Aid runs in partnership with Refuge, regularly receives abusive calls from perpetrators of domestic abuse and sexually deviant callers. This is simply unacceptable. Domestic abuse and sexual violence services are already struggling to cope with demand from survivors for their vital support.
“These abusive calls take up our helpline workers’ valuable time and ultimately prevent genuine callers from getting the help and support they so desperately need. We know that it takes survivors a lot of courage to pick up the phone and reach out for help. It is therefore critical that she can get through the first time she reaches out for help. Our helpline workers are trained in how to swiftly deal with bogus calls.”
|
Related articles
