The radical climate protest group Just Stop Oil (JSO) is facing internal chaos after a whistleblower accused its leaders of covering up sexual assault allegations, describing the organization as consumed by a “toxic culture of shame and silence,” The i Paper, a British outlet, reported Monday.

The claims, first circulated in an email sent Sept. 28 to more than 100,000 members, alleged that JSO’s HR department was aware of accusations against two male activists — including “grooming, coercion, sexual assault and rape” — dating back to 2022 but failed to act, according to the outlet. The message, sent by a whistleblower from the group’s official account, claimed that protecting the movement’s image was prioritized over the allegations.

“Our well-intentioned culture of radical trust proved inadequate, and in its place, a toxic culture of shame and silence was allowed to develop — one that protected the abusers, not the victims,” the message read, according to The i Paper.

Founded in 2022, JSO has made international headlines for blockading roads, vandalizing iconic artworks and landmarks, and storming major sporting events. Behind the activism, however, the whistleblower says the group fostered an environment that shielded alleged predators and discouraged women from reporting abuse.

“By the time organizers started to understand how bad things were, the story was so painful that it presented an impossible dilemma. Do you blow the whistle and wound the campaign while supporters were serving multi-year prison sentences?” one whistleblower told The i Paper, adding that many victims were young female volunteers who feared going to the police after being arrested in protests themselves.

Former members told The i Paper that at least three other men within the group have faced similar accusations.

“So a bizarre sort of moral justification is created in which speaking up about these allegations is bad for the campaign, and bad for the climate,” one current JSO member told the outlet, adding that “warning a young, vulnerable woman that the man she is doing activism with poses a serious risk to her is seen as the wrong thing to do.”

“There’s this idea of restorative justice, so a lot of people distrust the police and are prison abolitionists — I am, too,” an ex-member told the outlet. “I think there is just a culture of brushing it under the carpet to protect the reputation of the men at the expense of victims.”

A leaked recording from an internal HR meeting revealed JSO staff brushing off one activist’s past admission of sexual assault, saying he had been “very young” and deserved “a place to grow and better themselves,” according to The i Paper.

One day after the mass email was sent, JSO’s leadership disavowed it, saying it was “not an authorized communication by the campaign” and did not “reflect how we generally engage with safeguarding issues, which we believe should be handled in a way that is sensitive to the needs of survivors,” according to The i Paper.

JSO did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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