Ex-women's rugby boss says colleague made rape comment

A erstwhile brag astatine Welsh women's rugby said she considered termination due to the fact that of what she claimed was a "toxic culture" of sexism astatine the Welsh Rugby Union.

Charlotte Wathan besides said a antheral workfellow said successful beforehand of others successful an bureau that helium wanted to "rape" her.

Another erstwhile pistillate WRU employee, a mum of one, said she wrote a manual for her hubby successful lawsuit she killed herself.

The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) said that some cases were investigated and due procedures were followed.

One MP, besides a erstwhile Wales player, warned the allegations against a large UK sporting organisation were "on a level" with the racism ungraded that rocked Yorkshire Cricket Club.

Tonia Antoniazzi has written to the Prince of Wales arsenic patron of the WRU for a gathering to "create a amended aboriginal for women and girls successful rugby successful Wales"

Ms Wathan, the erstwhile wide manager of Welsh women's rugby, said she cried aft the alleged rape remark was made towards her astatine the WRU's Vale of Glamorgan grooming basal successful 2019.

"Someone referring astir maine successful an bureau situation that they wanted to rape me," she told the BBC Wales Investigates programme.

"Take maine backmost to the hotel, necktie maine to the furniture and rape me. I retrieve feeling sick, similar a punch to the stomach. I retrieve lasting successful daze thinking, 'did I conscionable perceive that?'

"And everyone's laughing, and determination was a elder subordinate of unit there. I near the country and I burst into tears. I thought 'crikey, is this what it's travel to?'"

The remark was yet investigated by an outer lawyer aft Ms Wathan raised it with the WRU arsenic portion of a wider grievance, but the BBC has discovered a fig of cardinal witnesses, who she said could corroborate her allegation, were not spoken to arsenic portion of that investigation.

The antheral who allegedly made the remark besides was not spoken to arsenic portion of the grievance. He inactive works astatine the WRU.

Ms Wathan, hired to assistance alteration its struggling women's crippled successful 2018, aboriginal started ineligible proceedings against the WRU.

The WRU told the BBC Ms Wathan's allegations remained unsubstantiated pursuing a thorough autarkic ineligible probe and that it could not remark further due to the fact that her lawsuit had been settled since her interrogation with the BBC.

But it added it took immoderate allegations from unit regarding behaviour, cognition and connection earnestly and if immoderate allegations were substantiated it would enactment swiftly. It said specified behaviour had nary spot successful the WRU oregon Welsh rugby.

Ms Wathan said she told the WRU successful 2021 the civilization was "toxic" and she was excessively sick to instrumentality to enactment owed to the interaction connected her intelligence health.

"They'd bushed maine down. They'd won," she said.

"You just, astatine that point, deliberation there's nary hope. And cipher wants to instrumentality this seriously.

"This was astir apt 1 of the worst experiences of my beingness and it was dark. It was grim. And it could person outgo maine my life.

"I could person near my children without a mum, conscionable due to the fact that I was trying to make the women's game."

Another pistillate erstwhile WRU employee, who wants to stay anonymous, besides alleged she suffered sexism and bullying by a manager wrong the organisation and near successful 2018.

The 2nd pistillate described her clip astatine the organisation arsenic "an unfastened wound" and said she wrote a manual for her hubby successful lawsuit she killed herself.

"This wasn't astir an incidental present and an incidental there," she said.

"It was changeless undermining of maine oregon my sex by nit-picking astatine irrelevant stuff.

"It takes you to a precise dark, acheronian spot erstwhile you tin genuinely look astatine your hubby and deliberation 'you're young capable to conscionable idiosyncratic other and my girl is young capable to get different mother'.

"I went arsenic acold arsenic to commencement drafting a manual for my hubby and what to bash successful the lawsuit that I died."

She said she told HR that bullying and sexism astatine enactment had near her feeling suicidal and was advised to enactment successful a grievance against the manager acrophobic and was told she could determination to different bureau successful the aforesaid building.

But she feared that complaining would marque beingness her beingness much hard truthful ended up leaving the WRU without raising a grievance.

She said she did springiness the sanction of the accused manager to HR and considered taking the WRU to an employment tribunal but the organisation argued she had near it excessively precocious to marque a assertion and determination were nary grounds.

"They bullied maine by saying they would enactment successful a costs bid against me," she added.

"On the equilibrium of what was astir important for that clip - my household and livelihood, oregon trying to hole an organisation I nary longer enactment for? I chose my household and my livelihood."

The WRU told the BBC her lawsuit was investigated and due procedures were followed.

New WRU main enforcement Steve Phillips said successful December the national would "never beryllium complacent" connected warring favoritism and said "the expectations are precise precocious and rightly so, connected everybody successful the WRU - and we volition support those standards."

Ms Antoniazzi, a erstwhile Wales rugby international, has said women from wrong the WRU had besides raised concerns with her.

She said she wanted the Welsh authorities to acceptable up an autarkic assemblage to oversee complaints astir Wales' sports governing bodies.

"This is connected a level of what's happened successful cricket," said the Labour MP for Gower.

"I person great, large concerns astir the aboriginal of women's rugby successful Wales.

"Unless you are a pistillate and, excuse the expression, but with balls and heavy pockets, however connected Earth bash you instrumentality connected idiosyncratic similar the WRU and basal up to them without determination being fiscal detriment, reputational detriment?

"Nobody holds them to account. They clasp themselves to account, but they're marking their ain homework. So what is the point? How bash we cognize that this ungraded present volition [not] beryllium resolved?"

It was not conscionable sexism claims against the WRU but the BBC has spoken to 2 radical who accidental they witnessed the "P-word" being utilized successful an online unit gathering attended by a elder manager.

"A workfellow was watching cricket successful his surviving country connected soundless portion connected his laptop and the elder manager connected the telephone asked what the people was," recalled witnesser Marc Roberts, a erstwhile manager successful Welsh rugby's assemblage game.

"That idiosyncratic utilized a racist word to picture who was successful the pb of that cricket game.

"The speech was betwixt the manager and the idiosyncratic who utilized that word. And thing was said. I really brought it up and said that word was unacceptable and inappropriate.

"At nary signifier did a elder manager, halt and say, 'you cannot usage that word that's not an due term'."

Mr Roberts worked for the WRU for 20 years and said the civilization had got worse successful the past 5 years and helium had warned bosses astir what helium had seen and heard from a fig of women successful the organisation.

He yet discontinue the WRU this month.

He said: "I person seen nary alteration successful our culture. It's not a civilization that likes to beryllium challenged."

The WRU said however bittersweet it was to perceive however individuals successful this programme felt and it would proceed to enactment with unit to guarantee they consciousness valued and listened to.

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