A man who was convicted of domestic abuse has been allowed into a female domestic abuse hostel, it was reported in April.
Mark Addis, who calls himself Melissa, has been allowed to come and go from the East London Women’s Project because he ‘identifies’ as a woman.
Arrested in November 2013 for issuing death threats to the mother of his child, he spent six months in prison before being issued with a restraining order. Despite this, bosses at homeless charity St Mungo’s have allowed him to make daily visits to one of its women-only hostels.
Alarm and distress
Since visiting the hostel, Addis has been accused of causing ‘alarm and distress’ to its female residents.
A whistleblower from the East London Women’s Project said ‘the women were absolutely terrified.’
Stonewall, an organisation which campaigns for the equality of lesbian, gay, bi and trans people across Britain, previously praised St Mungo’s because it is ‘open to women on a self-identifying basis’.
