Sexist Jeers in Kirkcaldy Toward Women Marching Against Rape and Sexual Violence

Women protesting against rape and male violence in Kirkcaldy last night, faced jeers and ridicule from groups of men.

It happened during the first ever 'Reclaim the Night' march in the Fife town, which attracted around 200 demonstrators. The event is part of the annual '16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence', which takes place between 25th November - 10th December, comprising demos and rallies across the country.

But Thursday's event - the first of its kind in Kirkcaldy - was marred by sexist remarks and jeers from male bystanders on Kirkcaldy High Street. Responding to a chant of "our streets", one man shouted from a window, "they're not your streets, they're our streets", whilst another shouted towards anti-rape protesters "maybe you shouldn't be so f***ing sexy".

Sandy Brindley is Chief Executive at Rape Crisis Scotland, she said the scenes were "disappointing":

"Violence against women is never a joke, or amusing. It's really time that we saw men stepping up and speaking out, and challenging a culture that tolerates violence against women or sees it as in any way something to joke about"

Hannah McGlaughlan was one of the speakers at the event, and a survivor of sexual violence, she said it's still "far too common a problem":

"Just this year my abuser and rapist was sentenced to jail, so I'm just doing everything I can to try and advocate for changes within the system for the treatment of survivors"

Lisa McKenzie, from Fife Women's Aid said "Violence against women and children is absolutely unacceptable in any way shape or form, and I think that it's really good to have these events to raise awareness, cause it is such a taboo subject, and I think a lot of people are quite ignorant in fact, to how often that it does actually happen"

"It's not just about educating the women, it's about educating men as well, and the part they play, and it shouldn't be that women need to change their behaviour".