Well, I have to say my experience of FiLiA today is that the protestors have had very very little impact on us. It’s all faux PR. I said hello cheerily as I went in - there were maybe about a dozen of them at the start, mostly men, a few transwomen. They were just standing round talking to each other. One said hello back but his mate wasn’t happy about that.
In Julie Bindel’s session, I was vaguely aware of a little noise outside but nothing distinct or disruptive. Julie Bindel gave the floor to an Eritrean activist talking about the impact of the genocide in Tigray on women, as well as giving her own testimony of abuse and rape - I felt the contrast then, between the sheer narcissism of the small group of dimwits outside, and the massive sense of solidarity and sisterhood inside.
During lunch break when I went to my hotel and back, the TRAs were also just talking to themselves. No organisation at all was visible, and there were more (Amnesty branded!) placards piled up than there were protestors to hold them.
At 5.30pm we all came out into the square together, hundreds of us, and held a vigil for women killed by men. We heard their names and stories. We sang and cried. I didn’t see or hear any TRAs at that point, they had left some childish chalk scrawls on the pavement but they were mostly illegible gibberish, and no one took any notice of them.
Anyway I’ve just come back to the hotel to gather myself before going back to the party. It’s been a rollercoaster of a day. I got retweeted by Julie Bindel and then also just fangirled Joanna Cherry in the street (and cried, the shame, I was fragile after the vigil! I just wanted to tell her Thankyou!)
Definitely need a drink now!