Shouting ‘SCUM! SCUM! SCUM!’

Woman’s Place UK has a statement on what happened around that meeting in Brighton Monday which they want us to share widely:

On Monday 23rd September, Woman’s Place UK held its 24th public meeting in two years: A Woman’s Place is at Conference. It was timed to coincide with the Labour Party’s annual conference and to publicise our manifesto which contains demands we believe would significantly improve the quality of women’s lives, as well as address the structural oppression and discrimination that we face.

Members of our local organising team liaised closely with the venue and made sure they were fully informed about our campaign, and that previous meetings had been protested.

We also liaised with the local police who assured us they had resources in place to manage any protest should it occur.

At 4.30pm, the original venue cancelled our meeting saying they could not guarantee the security of the building in light of the scale of the planned protest.

Fortunately, we had booked an alternative venue and were able to switch the details before the email with the location went out.

As the organisers arrived at the venue, they were met by a small group of protestors who took photos of them. The only way these protestors could have found the location of the venue is from someone who had purchased a ticket. They must have shared this information despite our clear statement that it is confidential to ticket holders.

The protest grew substantially in size until at least 100 people were outside the building. The security team we had hired was extremely efficient at ensuring the venue itself was secure but ticket holders had to brave a narrow corridor surrounded by aggressive protestors taking photos, shouting ‘SCUM! SCUM! SCUM!’, ‘TERF! TERF! TERF’ and ‘SHAME ON YOU’ in peoples’ faces.

Two women reported water being thrown at them. Others reported being touched or manhandled.

Amongst the audience were survivors of sexual and domestic violence and several women were in tears as they entered the building.

Sheets had to be pinned up at the door to stop protestors taking photos of women within the building.

Read on.

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