SWP poorly treat 2 young women member victims of sexist behaviour/rape by CC member. Lessons for ultra/anarchist groups?

http://www.2ndcouncilhouse.co.uk/blog/2013/01/06/misogynists-and-the-lef...

TRIGGER WARNING: sexual harassment

Why I joined the [Black Panther] Party: An Africana womanist reflection - Regina Jennings

A Collection of Essays on Feminism and Sexism in the Anarchist Movement

- various authors, published on International Womens Day, 2011, to commemorate the international day of struggle for womens liberation.

Oh god, that's a lot to take in. Obviously a huge amount of weird shit, but to pick just one - why do they all keep on talking about people being "labelled" or "accused" of being feminists, like that's something you'd need to defend yourself against in a supposedly radical anti-capitalist organisation? And even the people challenging the DC and the process are so keen to say that it's absolutely not an issue about feminism, that's it's nothing to do with feminism? What the actual fuck, I can't think of a subject that's more entwined with feminism ffs.

I know this is off topic, but could you add that to the library?

That was a very distressing read.
It's hard to know where to begin really - even allowing for blind party loyalty this is shocking.

yes, that is very bizarre. Also, having the investigation committee all be long-term friends with the accused, and not knowing the accuser at all is a ridiculous situation. They slag off bourgeois justice - which is of course highly problematic, not least in sexual assault cases - but at least in a capitalist court judge and jury wouldn't all be mates with the accused!

Sympathies and loyalties of the Disputes Committee become completely obvious once you notice that the leading member accused and found not guilty of rape is referred to throughout as "comrade delta" whereas the accuser is just "W". One wonders if "W" stands for "woman".

EDIT: it turns out that this was introduced when Andy Newman redacted the transcript - http://www.socialistunity.com/statement-of-the-swps-democratic-oppositio...

They are pretty open about what their role is:

... presumably dealt with in accordance with the interests of the party.

Also horrendous is them vicitmising one of their own paid staff after she made a complaint about the same guy, making her stay away from work then moving her elsewhere because she would be "disruptive"... That's the kind of shit a normal employer could get burned for, and absolutely shocking behaviour for an employer who is supposed to be a "worker's party". I'm not surprised of course that the SWP as an employer would exempt itself from the critiques it may have of other employers, because it's all for the good of the party and all, but fuck that.

[edit-triple posted cos my cat has decided to help with typing]

That is an error of the transcription apparently.

The process once entered into has obviously been horrendous. I would have thought that the SWP would have other mechanisms for dealing with something so serious than to set up their own investigation into the matter, however. Where do they get off thinking that they can guarantee proletarian justice to their members (regardless of the fact that this case shows that they can't)? I know the politics of the party are awful but I didn't realise they were this detached from reality.

With tragic predictability, the central committee is apparently purging 'feminists' who just won't shut up about how rape is wrong...

Mind you, anarchists can't really get on a high horse here as it's often not dealt with any better (with some laudable exceptions).

This is fucking awful

Do people think they're going to split and disintegrate over this? (That's a real question, I haven't been following this & am not in the UK.)

Best I can tell it's not quite the disintegration of the WRP, but a lot bigger than the Counterfire split. Looks like it'll be the end of the SWP as the biggest Trot group.

A lot of the response to the situation has been fucking horrible, from the barely concealed glee from across lots of the non-SWP left to the CC loyalists "its not true, he's not like that".

They might split, but the toxic organisational form will live on.

I think that has happened already. I would imagine SPEW is bigger, no?

Absolutely. One of the shittier responses I have seen is by a leading member of CPGB arguing that the 'real' issue in this crisis for SWP is not rape/sexual harassment but rather a crisis of SWP perspectives. And that dealing with the former is not something they should do - 'report to police and move on'.

Disintegration a la WRP I can't really see happening, though it is possible I suppose. SWP have already expelled four members of one of the two factions, afaik they are committed to staying in (in the case of the expelled ones, getting back in) SWP no matter what it seems. The other faction is a faction composed of full-timers, middle cadre types. I am quite cynical about aims of this grouping.

If the SWP CC continue with the current behaviour, forcing people out, then maybe there will be splits. I think its more likely that individuals will be forced out and others leave on their own accord, then organised splits occurring.

As the guy who has resigned from the paper and the party has made clear, how can they recruit people if all this is just a google away? And how are they going to relate to people not in the SWP when it is the first thing they will be asked about?

Whatever the outcome for the SWP, they will spend a lot of time fielding this for the foreseeable future.

Which if any of these articles resonate and are worth putting in the library?

A really good, short piece about the issue here: http://imagesfromthefuture.tumblr.com/post/40199221384/for-friends-sexis...

TBH I think that would be worth having in the library. What do people reckon?

all of them.

So that this thread is not just lefty gossip, I'm really interested in this question from the op:

Obviously there are no easy solutions to dealing with sexual assault even just within radical groups, but I think it's really important for groups to have thought out and developed ways to respond to this before it happens. I'd be interested in hearing from people from various groups about what, if any, measures they've taken or discussed do deal with inter-group sexual assault.

Whatever the changes in organisation, cultural and pre-emtive etc., rape and sexual assault will continue to be a problem. Responses where the solution is to set up some alternative judicial process where an organisation investigates itself whether it be trot, anarchist, broadcaster or church, of 'keeping it in the family', however it is justified, is something that is a tad obscene.

Of course there is a diabolical conviction rate for rape and sexual assault, but having a culture of not reporting to the cops is something that potentially plays into the hands of the rapists. The cult like behaviour of trot and anarchist groups in this respect ensures that such behaviour is never met with anything but some crappy process, with loyalty to 'party' and 'comrades' being an inevitable part of the mix when considering what should be done.

it's being reported in the mainstream press now:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ranks-of-the-socialist-wor...
http://www.newstatesman.com/laurie-penny/2013/01/what-does-swps-way-deal...

Lenin's Tomb on the crisis in the SWP:
http://www.leninology.com/2013/01/crisis-in-swp.html

Just read the Lenin's Tomb piece, and I think its quite clear that a big chunk of the SWP finds itself against its own Central Committee, and are not minded to do what they are told. I've no idea of how the dynamics are playing out within the SWP but the reaction to the stitch-up does the ordinary members credit. I can hardly ever remember many SWPers arguing against the Party line, so for people to do it publicly is a new departure.

Of course, aside from the cover-up attempt, there are other political questions relating to the Central Committee that ought to be considered, such as "why have people in this role who are not accountable to you?"

The thing is that the accuser didn't want to go to the police but to make sure this person was no longer in a position/associated with the party. Given the trauma and humiliation that goes with dealing with the police its a perfectly reasonable position. Even if the Committee ignored her request and reported to the police anyway how with that solve the problem of what to do while the case is being investigated- suspend the guy until the police drop the matter and then move on? But I agree 'alternative justice' is cult behavior and the fact that apparently some of the Committee members were involved in activist work with related issues shows that having the 'right ideology' doesn't preclude abuse of authority.

deleted, drunken nonsense

Yes