Are women in Scotland aware of how bad things have got?

[Leafstamp]

I hang out on the Feminism board a lot, and I know not all MNetters care for that section. Which is fine. But I am continually appalled at how bad things are for women in Scotland - compared to England.

For example, this, from Feminism thread:

www.spiked-online.com/2022/02/01/the-thought-police-are-here/

To briefly summarise:

• Mridul was born male

• Mridul is legally male with no GRC

• Mridul is the CEO of Edinburgh Rape crisis

• Mridul claims women who want female only rape crisis services are bigoted and should 'reframe their trauma'

• The CEO of a domestic violence charity Nicola Murray stopped referring women to Mridul's rape crisis service due to Mridul's misogyny

• Mridul reported Nicola Murray to the police for committing a hate crime

• The police actually visited Nicola Murray to question her thinking

Please can any not-particularly-feminist women share how you feel about this?

Yes we know, it's being discussed on some of the long running threads so might not be immediately obvious.

I'm not sure how any woman can continue to support or vote for the SNP regardless of their views on independence.

I'm with you, I look more in that section than I used to, some very intelligent and capable women post in there.

I was form filling, online for HR today and was asked how "do you describe your gender". The options were

1. Woman, including trans woman
2. Man including trans man
3. Prefer not to say
4. Other (I think it said non binary, and some other terms)

I ticked "other" and added a comment "Woman/Female . Not a description, a fact ". Not very eloquent I'm sure but I felt I had to say something.

I'm in Scotland and worried for young women who might feel they have to go along with things for fear that a disagreement could result in being accused of a hate crime.

Politically Correct nonsense but the police feel they have to act or end up being smeared themselves. They have a duty to investigate every complaint (apparently) but tell that to a vulnerable person living alone in close vicinity to an asb gang (anti social behaviour). Those who make the most noise get the most attention. Exactly HOW is a woman supposed to "reframe" having been raped ?

The police are already heavily under fire for investigating so called "thought crimes"
I would suggest that if the police cannot come up with a valid reason to interview you, you are well within your rights to tell them to remove themselves from your properrty

@tkwal

Politically Correct nonsense but the police feel they have to act or end up being smeared themselves. They have a duty to investigate every complaint (apparently) but tell that to a vulnerable person living alone in close vicinity to an asb gang (anti social behaviour). Those who make the most noise get the most attention. Exactly HOW is a woman supposed to "reframe" having been raped ?

When it gets to the point when a woman who has been raped by a "person with a penis" can get in trouble for saying that person was a man, the game is really up. What a world to be a girl and woman in.

Honestly, my eyes have been open to this for a while and I'm deeply uncomfortable with the direction Scotland is taking. I genuinely don't understand how any woman could look at someone telling rape victims that wanting a female counsellor is 'bigoted', setting the police on people who disagree, and the police actually going along with this (and even if they didn't arrest the person, being questioned is scary enough) and not be appalled and terrified. The Scottish government, who seem to have absolute power and be beyond challenge because of the complete absence of the usual checks and balances, are absolutely complicit in this madness, and in fact are leading it from the front! When their consultations don't go their way they just explain that the majority are wrong and they're going ahead anyway. On one of the rare occasions when this was actually debated in parliament MSPs who voiced concerns for women were branded bigots by other MSPs (and what a farce that was - the SNP leadership can basically do whatever they like as they don't allow dissent, whether it's in the interests of the people or not. Why even bother with 'votes'). I really don't like the country Scotland is becoming, and more than once I have thought of moving to England, where you are at least allowed to voice alternative views, the government has opposition (often from its own benches), has to get past the Lords (who aren't subject to populist whims and can vote with their conscience), and has an independent judiciary.

Thanks all, this is interesting and I'm glad Scottish MNetters are aware of it. Apologies for not searching other threads etc. Full disclosure: I'm not in Scotland but have family there.

I follow ForWomenScot on Twitter and they seem absolutely awesome.
forwomen.scot/

Sturgeon is digging her heels in on this issue. She ain't shifting and with The Greens in tow we are living in truly depressing times. Not sure what's going to happen but there's plenty of women's organisations working hard to get this out in the open and properly debated rather than having legislation snuck in on the sly. Just got to hope there's a shift in approach from the government. Transparency needed.

I heard the advert on the radio, encouraging "people with a cervix" to come for a smear test - WTF!!

What's wrong with the word "woman".

The needs/rights of 99.9% of women are being trampled by a minority

I’m growing increasingly concerned, but I’m also a cantankerous menopausal woman so I’m more likely to voice my opinion no compared with when I was younger

*now

I particularly liked the following bits from that article:

"The SNP continue to set a low bar for themselves and fail to meet it every time"

"Why should the Scottish people continue to pay for the hare-brained schemes of talentless politicians and their token, ill-thought-out policies?"

Sick to my stomach.

But I don’t vote for them. Never have, never will.

@ElephantOfRisk

I particularly liked the following bits from that article:

"The SNP continue to set a low bar for themselves and fail to meet it every time"

"Why should the Scottish people continue to pay for the hare-brained schemes of talentless politicians and their token, ill-thought-out policies?"

sorry wrong thread! (same sentiment!)

Being a woman in Scotland is terrifying at the moment

Lots of unfamiliar names on this thread, you should pop over to the railing threads and join some like minded folk.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/scotsnet/4458549-Guilt-Free-Railing-18

Aye whatevs....

So do you think it's okay that a rape victim is not allowed to say that her rapist was a man? I mean do you? It's people continuing to support this absolute dangerous tripe that have us in this position, so you know what?, if we want to have a joke now and then then we will. It's not yet against the law to have a sense of humour. You should try it.

No of course I don't.

Making snidey comments like yours however helps to validate the unfair view that anyone who discusses sex or gender on MN is an ill informed bigot.

It's not helpful.

Surely the NS transitionning comment was a joke? Not sure why you've taken it seriously @alicesfavouritepen?

I'm also curious about why you think those on MN are 'constantly shut down'? Shut down by who?

Did you actually have a point to make on the thread or did you just come on to moan about my posts? again. If you are unhappy with what I've said then feel free to report.

And honestly I have no idea what you are talking about so feel free to elaborate. I don't think everyone who discusses sex or gender on MN is an ill informed bigot, that's a pretty broad brush to sweep over everyone and doesn't actually allow for the fact that people have different opinions.

Being anti this legislation does not mean in any way that someone is "anti trans" as those who are pushing it would like to think. It's possible to be supportive of individuals and believe in fairness without it meaning that the rights of women and girls are trampled on by aggressive lobby groups.