Oxfam’s shame
by Laura Dodsworth, CapX:
When Oxfam aid workers sexually abused girls in refugee camps in Haiti, do you think they asked which gender the girls identified as? Did the Oxfam aid workers, or the prostitutes whom they partied with, wear pronoun badges at the rented house known as ‘the whorehouse’, the site of a ‘full on Caligula orgy’?
This revolting recent history throws into even sharper relief the charity’s Pride video, for which it may yet face a Charity Commission investigation.
For those fortunate enough not to have seen it, the clip features a startling scene of a woman wearing a TERF badge and two men towering over little rainbow-coloured figures, accompanied by text saying that LGBT people are ‘preyed on by hate groups online and offline’. To make matters worse, the ‘TERF’ pictured bears a distinct resemblance to JK Rowling – something for which Oxfam has since apologised.
The charity claims that this was nothing but an unintended coincidence, although if you believe that I have a bridge to sell you. But either way, it doesn’t really matter. Because the ‘TERF’ in their video isn’t just one woman, but an everywoman. Her face is hard, her jowls sag, her hair is unkempt. She wears ‘TERF’ like a badge of shame. These are not incidental details, but a very deliberate combination of sexism and ageism – a warning that women who kick up a fuss, especially those over a certain age, should expect to be shamed and demonised. This is a video which purports to be about supporting one ‘hated’ community, while actively encouraging hatred of another.
This is even more galling when you read Oxfam’s website, which says the charity wants to ‘amplify the power of all women’, to ‘celebrate the power of women everywhere’ and that it supports women ‘speaking out against harmful laws and policies, and standing up for their rights’. The latter claim is particularly staggering when you look at the charity’s record on anything to do with sex and gender.
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