MP Mark Field grabs female protester by throat

This clip really upset me when I saw it this morning. Then I came on here and read two threads where lots and lots of women defended him and shamed her and said well what did she expect.

I really despair at the socialisation of many women who view violence against women as an understandable consequence of "upsetting" men.

Perhaps these women have been raised in homes where this was the norm, perhaps they have been made to feel like this by society but really we need to have a long hard look at why women jump in to defend a man who assaults a woman.

The twitter clip shows alarms going off before the assault with many women being ushered out. You can hear on camera men saying, “yep- you’ve made your point you’ve made your point..” it’s a bit chaotic but not violent. Then they announce Phillip Hammond is about to speak, no way would they have done this if this woman was a threat.
She should have been ushered out like the other women who were not assaulted. I hope she presses charges.

Field saying "many guests understandably felt threatened."

Really?

Firstly, I've watched the video several times and none of them looked 'threatened' to me. Certainly, none of them felt the need to take action. They seemed to be thinking that ignoring her was the best policy, which is wise. Secondly, what gave him the right to act and speak on behalf of everyone else? Did they appoint him their defender or what?

People are making too much of this, trying to make it into something it is not.

Looks to be pretty much what any bouncer would do to any trespasser.

Thank you @MNHQ, feel free to remove my comment quoting her. That last one was particularly vile.

Security would have been at the event. I walked past Philip Hammond last week and he had at least two security guards with him. That was randomly on the street, why anyone would think an event with many MPs wouldn’t have security is beyond me. The security didn’t see them as a threat.... I think that tells you everything about his reaction.

Thank you for deleting the troll MNHQ

JessicaWakefieldSV - Going back to your point, I remember my parents discussing this case when I was a child: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Joy_Gardner
Their attitude was "who cares, she shouldn't have been in the country?" . She was part of a group of people that had been thoroughly dehumanized by the media, so "nice" middle-class people (one of whom was a teacher) were perfectly happy that she'd died after being subjected to horrific violence.

Not to go off topic, but Italian TV is horrible in its portryal of women. You still see the type of stuff that went out of fashion here in the 1970s. And "Montalbano" is a frequent user of that beloved feature in TV crime dramas - the dead bodies of attractive young women

Yes, I agree - a lot of sexually explicit and sex based violence - but only recently has Camillieri started writing in such explicit scenes of extreme sexual violence. He says his intention is to confront the violence against women in Sicilian society and show it for what it is - but anything, once televised in such ways can seem horribly gratuitous.

"there are always people, including women, willing to find any and every excuse for a man to use violence against women, or anyone society deems inferior and deserving of abuse- like protestors."

This. I hate the way that non-violent protest has been reframed as "anti-democratic" (instead of part of the Democratic process) and accordingly a reason to see protesters as non-humans.

MP's come into contact with protesters all the time. People are allowed to protest - it isn't illegal.

Ah, but you might make the poor babies 'scared and angry'. And we can't have that.

Maybe if she was taken out in a choke hold it may deter these morons

What, you mean climate change protestors? Have you never felt passionately enough about something to protest?

Then in recent episodes ofInspector Montalbano - the painfully long focus on women being choked and strangled ( along with references to to current fashions in sex 'play' or words to that effect.

Not to go off topic, but Italian TV is horrible in its portryal of women. You still see the type of stuff that went out of fashion here in the 1970s. And "Montalbano" is a frequent user of that beloved feature in TV crime dramas - the dead bodies of attractive young women.

Mind you, "Montalbano" is hardly alone in this. See also, "The Fall".

It was the back of her neck. Not her throat

No, he was also constricting her throat.

I have fucking zero sympathy for this idiot.
He watched her come down the row behind him.
He knew it was part of a protest, there were others in the room.
He waited until she got almost past him, and jumped up and grabbed her.
At no point does he look remotely worried he looks fuming.
His hand would have been easily big enough to to get a nice grip with his finger tips near her throat from behind- try it yourself- my own fingers on my own neck get well past what people are calling the scruff of her neck. Apply a bit of pressure see what it’s like. Now imagine that’s a fucking big angry pink faced prick twice your size.
He had no need.
He could have stood up raised arms and just blocked her path.
That really is the only acceptable response.
Or should we all go around grabbing women now who have an unpleasant look?
Walk with purpose past the back of us?
Want to peacefully if annoyingly protest.?
This is purely male violence.i hope he gets sacked. The only reason he has reported himself is to get ahead of this the cheeky fucker.

MP's come into contact with protesters all the time. People are allowed to protest - it isn't illegal.

There was a male MP stabbed by a female some years ago.

And? So because of something that happened 'some years ago' every male MP is entitled to manhandle a woman?

At the time, the people present may have been scared and angry.

And yet.... none of the other men - or women - at the table seemed that bothered by her. In any case, being 'scared and angry' doesn't give you carte blanche to do what you like.

If he knew FOR SURE that she was unarmed then he could be seen to be disproportionate

Huh? So one has to prove oneself FOR SURE to be unarmed or else you're fair game?

What is the record of climate change activists in the UK being armed, such that one would have a reasonable fear of this enough to warrent such behaviour from Field?

That's horrifying to watch. That woman was powerless to get away from him, and she really tried. The look in his eyes and the way he handled her says to me that he's done that before. And everyone just watched it happen, not a single person helped her

Yes, he's done that before...... & not one other person was on their feet, except for one female guest who was clearly distressed by what she witnessed.

One woman, who was sat very close to him at the table - even looked the other way at one point. Chilling!

Yes Justhadathought, my home country NZ had recently introduced new specific domestic violence laws around strangulation, as it’s the most popular form of violence against women. I believe it’s also the number 1 method used to kill female partners in the UK? The fact he did that, as a first instinct, is very triggering for those of us with first hand experience.

This thread is a good reminder to feminists that there are always people, including women, willing to find any and every excuse for a man to use violence against women, or anyone society deems inferior and deserving of abuse- like protestors. My mother was racially abused by a group of white women when we were peacefully protesting once. I was young but it was an important lesson to me.

The likelihood of her or anyone in there having a gun is slim to none. This isn’t America.

The likelihood of a small woman attacking a politician, also slim to none.

The fact she was attempting to walk past him, as she had already done to several other politicians without incident, is reason enough to condemn his actions. She was not going for him, it cannot be self defence.

What we are seeing on this thread is exactly what every women who is a victim of male violence gets if she speaks out. Remember the recent case of a woman who filmed her rape only for him to get off? They will always question you. There will always be excuses. Even if they see it with their own eyes.

Have to say I've been really disturbed by the increasing tendency, on TV, to show or view women having their neck's constricted/being choked/syrangled.

In one recent episode of Killing Eve, Villanelle three times was choked for, what seemed like, a gratuitously long period of time, by three separate men. I know she is supposed to be a psychopathic serial killer herself, but that particular episode did seem unnecessarily gratuitous.

Then in Gentleman Jack, the main character, Anne Lister was choked by a man.

Then in recent episodes ofInspector Montalbano - the painfully long focus on women being choked and strangled ( along with references to to current fashions in sex 'play' or words to that effect.

All of this is on fairly prime time, main stream TV.

I really do despair at the way the world is going - on so many fronts. Such degradation and regression everywhere.

Is this along the lines of “ooh, I could see some of her boobs, therefore she CLEARLY wanted me to drag her down and alleyway and have sex with her violently”?