Asda is accused of ‘disgusting’ treatment of a homeless woman, but the truth may be more complex [VIDEO]

Social media users have been sharing a video of Asda staff apparently banning a woman from its Rochdale branch. In it, they appear to bar her for defending a homeless woman. But there are two sides to this story.

A victim

On Tuesday 21 February, social media accounts began posting the video on Facebook.

Watch:

In the video, the customer says the security guard’s treatment of the homeless woman was “absolutely disgusting”:

It was minus two outside. The girl didn’t have any shoes on her feet. It was absolutely freezing.

The Asda staff imply they are banning her because of the way she spoke to the security guard. But she accuses the security guard of “playing the racist card”. And she then goes on to say:

Shall we recap, then, how you spoke to that girl? ‘Get back to drunk land’?

Another victim

She also says she was not racist to the security guard, and that she has footage of the alleged incident. But then she says of the security guard’s attitude to the homeless woman:

A man spoke to a woman like that. He might be able to get away with it in his culture, but he can’t get away with it in my culture.

The Canary contacted Asda for a response but none was received by the time of publication. The Canary was unable to contact the woman in the video.

We’re all victims

The security guard’s alleged treatment of the homeless woman was, if true, appalling. But the customer who tried to help her was little better. Assuming all homeless people are drunks, and assuming all men who might possibly be from a different culture are misogynistic, is merely playing into politicians’ divide and conquer tactics. We need to all start getting along. And quickly.

Get Involved

– Support homelessness campaign group Streets Kitchen.

Featured image via screengrab