Rape prevention start-up under fire for far-right links

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A start-up that says it wants to "end rape" at UK universities has shared a stage with figures linked to the far right.

New reporting from openDemocracy reveals that ambassadors from the tech not-for-profit Enough — already under scrutiny from survivors and experts — addressed a London rally praised by Tommy Robinson, where other speakers called for "re-migration".

This follows our earlier investigation into Enough's controversial use of DNA swab kits on campuses.

Read the full story below.

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FEATURED STORY

Tech start-up aiming to 'end rape' at UK universities spoke at far-right rally

Sian Norris

Atech start-up that wants to "end rape" at UK universities addressed a far-right rally praised by Tommy Robinson, where other speakers called for "re-migration", openDemocracy can reveal.

An openDemocracy investigation published last week revealed the concerns that rape survivors, the authorities and sexual violence experts have with Enough, a controversial not-for-profit that claims to deter rape at universities in Bristol via DNA self-swab kits.

Now, we have found that Enough's ambassadors last month took to the stage at the Together for the Children rally, which was organised by figures linked to the far-right Democratic Football Lads Alliance in protest at authorities' handling of the grooming gangs scandal.

Beaver Meadow, a sexologist whose LinkedIn says she is an "Enough recovery coach", was the final speaker at the rally, which took place in London on 28 June. She addressed the crowd straight after podcast host Danny Roscoe, who had been introduced to the audience as "a very, very good friend of Tommy Robinson".

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In video footage of the event shared on social media and seen by openDemocracy, Meadow, who is wearing an Enough-branded T-shirt, appears on stage alongside two of the company's volunteer ambassadors who are holding an Enough banner.

Meadow tells attendees that she is "representing Enough" as the company's founders, Katie White and Tom Allchurch, "can't be here today". Waving Enough's DIY rape kit in the air, she continues: 'We want every family in the country to have one of these kits at home.

"Who doesn't want these kits? I'll tell you who. It's a government that sanctions, its state-sanctioned gaslighting of victims and survivors to shut us up, keep us quiet, keep us disempowered, so that they can perpetuate their own political agendas."

"All you football fans, all you men, get a kit and give it to one of your loved ones," she adds in the footage. Kits can be purchased online for £20, although they are free to students in Bristol and from selected venues in the city.

Meadow fronts many of the videos shared on Enough's social media channels, offering advice on how to heal from sexual trauma and how to use anger in recovery. Enough kits feature prominently on her LinkedIn page.

She later posted on her personal Instagram and LinkedIn accounts about her presence at the rally. In a LinkedIn post "liked" by Enough co-founder Tom Allchurch, Meadow said: "#EnoughToEndRape asked for the mic and made our voices heard [...] Thank you @TogetherForTheChildren for giving us a last-minute slot at the London protest rally."

In the video footage from the rally, people wearing Enough T-shirts and holding Enough's banner can be seen waiting at the side of the stage as Roscoe demands "the end of multiculturalism as a policy", the "re-migration of anyone who refuses to adopt British principles" and "the end of Islamic supremacy in British life". He adds: "We demand Britain back."

Meadow told openDemocracy, via Enough: "I am a survivor of rape and I was there to support survivors. This is not about race, ethnicity, religion or politics, this is about justice for people who have been silenced. My perpetrator is white and Christian. I couldn't be further from the far right."

Promotional materials shared on social media ahead of the rally said it was "hosted by Together for the Children campaign, supported by the football lads".

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Together for the Children is run by Phil Hickin of the Democratic Football Lads Alliance (DFLA), a far-right movement with a history of hooliganism that was formed out of the Football Lads Alliance, another far-right organisation, in 2018.

According to a 2019 report by anti-fascist campaigning organisation Hope Not Hate, in some parts of England, the DFLA has "strong cross-over" with the now-defunct English Defence League, a far-right group that was once led by Robinson. In 2018, the Premier League was forced to issue a warning to football clubs after a Times investigation found the Football Lads Alliance was using fans and stadiums to push an anti-Muslim agenda.

The 28 June rally saw protesters march through central London to Whitehall, where a stage was set up and nine speakers addressed the crowd for more than an hour. Some speakers celebrated tech billionaire Elon Musk, whose X has become a platform for far-right disinformation and abuse of women. Others roused the audience to cheer "Tommy, Tommy, Tommy" in support of Robinson.

Reading a statement out to the audience, Hickin demanded a "total exoneration and apology" to Robinson for his 18-month prison sentence for contempt of court over the screening of a documentary about his libel case against a Syrian teenager. "Let's not let ourselves be distracted away from the fact that Tommy Robinson was incarcerated for airing a documentary," Hickin said.

While Robinson himself was not present at the event (the MC, the DFLA's Justin Smith, told the crowd that he was unwell), he later praised the march as "the best of British" in a post on X. The rally was also endorsed online by Liam Tuffs, whom Hope Not Hate describes as Robinson's "close confidant", and by anti-migration campaigner Brian Stovell.

In other social media footage of the event reviewed by openDemocracy, march attendees claimed that Labour is a "Satanic" party and that prime minister Keir Starmer is a "traitor" who should be "locked up" for his complicity in a "rape plague."

Such comments are based on a far-right conspiracy theory that Starmer helped to "cover up" crimes committed by grooming gangs. In fact, Starmer – along with Nazir Afzal, the former chief crown prosecutor in north-west England – helped to prosecute members of the gangs and led reforms to support victims.

At least one man carried a placard stating "I am Tommy Robinson". Others held UKIP flags, a flag saying "deport them", all while singing "Rule Britannia".

In a statement, Enough told openDemocracy: "The march was organised by Together for the Children. We abhor racism and are not aligned with the far right. Beaver was there and made an unplanned speech."

Lucy Hobday Watson, who founded Enough of Enough, an Instagram account that gives students a platform to air concerns about the organisation, told openDemocracy: "Enough's careless attitude is on full display here. Rape survivors deserve better than a company rubbing shoulders with the far right."

The far right has increasingly weaponised the issue of violence against women and girls in order to win mainstream support. It focuses overwhelmingly on attacks by migrant men, and incidents of grooming gang violence where the perpetrators are British-Pakistani men, and ignores or denies sexual violence allegations made against its allies.

In 2023, the End Violence Against Women (EVAW) Coalition, in partnership with Hope Not Hate, produced a guide for the women's sector, warning against collaborating with the far right.

EVAW's director Andrea Simon told openDemocracy: "The far right has a long history of cynically exploiting concerns about sexual violence to promote a racist, white supremacist agenda. Along with our sisters working in frontline services supporting victims of violence against women and girls, we have consistently rejected this co-option of our movement and weaponisation of survivors' trauma.

"Violence against women and girls is a national emergency that doesn't have a quick fix, but requires a sustained, whole-society response rooted in access to our rights and freedoms, holding perpetrators accountable, meeting the support needs of all survivors and making prevention the priority."

In 2019, more than 40 women and charities, including EVAW, signed a letter refusing to accept donations from Robinson, saying his offer of money was a "profound insult" to survivors of sexual violence.