Activist ‘sacked by Khan’s administration after expressing concerns about transwomen in refuges’
Women’s campaigner ‘was sacked by Sadiq Khan’s administration after expressing concerns about trans women being allowed into refuges for rape victims’
- Campaigner ‘was sacked by City Hall after expressing concerns about trans women being allowed into refuges for rape victims’
- Joan Smith had raised the problem on behalf of charities funded by Sadiq Khan
- She wrote to London Mayor to say female rape victims should not have to share refuges with ‘individuals who have male bodies’
- The Mayor did not respond – and his administration wrote to say her position would be taken over by a City Hall official
A campaigner on violence against women has claimed she was sacked by Sadiq Khan‘s administration after expressing concerns about transgender women being allowed into refuges for rape victims.
Joan Smith, a member of the Labour Party, said she was fired by City Hall after raising the problem on behalf of charities funded by the London Mayor that were said to be concerned about the proposal.
Ms Smith wrote to Mr Khan to say that though trans women should have access to services they need, female victims of male violence should not have to share refuges with ‘individuals who have male bodies’.
Joan Smith, a member of the Labour Party, said she was fired by City Hall after raising the problem on behalf of charities funded by the London Mayor that were said to be concerned about the proposal
The Mayor did not respond, the Times reports. Instead, his administration wrote to say her position as co-chairwoman of the Violence Against Women and Girls board would be taken over by a City Hall official.
Ms Smith believes that she fell out of favour after calling for improvements in the way Scotland Yard identifies sexual predators in its ranks, and for highlighting so-called ‘endemic misogyny’.
MailOnline has contacted City Hall for comment.
A campaigner on violence against women has claimed she was sacked by Sadiq Khan’s administration after expressing concerns about transgender women being allowed into refuges for rape victims
Left-wing campaigner Ms Smith has written six books, including Home Grown: How Domestic Violence Turns Men Into Terrorists.
Her website states that she chaired Labour Humanists from 2016 to 2018 and is an honorary associate of the National Secular Society and a patron of Humanists UK.
Ms Smith also supports Republic, the campaign for an elected head of state, and delivered the John Campbell memorial lecture in 2017.
Advertisement
