A SCOTTISH Greens MSP has said their comments have been "clearly misrepresented" by Reform after they were accused of "trivialising the trauma of rape".
Q Manivannan, MSP for the Edinburgh and Lothians East Region, has responded following comments they made in a clip which circulated on social media on Saturday.
In the 23-second clip, which is part of a longer interview with Dr Sindhu Rajasekaran from The Subjective Space, the MSP and sociologist said: "There definitely is a demonisation of rape, in the sense that it is a spectrum".
The clip was shared by an account which called for Manivannan, who is Indian, to be "deported back to India".
Reform have called on the Scottish Greens to suspend the whip from Manivannan and launch an investigation following the comments, which the MSP argues have been taken out of context.
Reform MSP Senga Beresford said: "Rape is not 'over-demonised' – it is met with the full force of the law, as it should be.
"Q Manivannan's words send the completely wrong message to men in this country when he should be standing by a hard-won zero tolerance approach."
Manivannan has now responded in a statement provided to The National, saying that it is "deeply false and misleading" to suggest that their comments were minimising or excusing rape.
The MSP said: “This clip has been clearly misrepresented and taken out of context from a much longer interview. As a survivor of sexual violence, who has spoken openly about my recovery, I am clear that we need to focus on reducing the likelihood of perpetrators of rape reoffending.
“The point I made about demonisation was that not all rapists fit a stereotype, and that all kinds of men can and do commit it.
“The vast majority of sexual violence is from men who the victims know personally. Victims should be believed regardless of who the perpetrator was, and rapists should be punished in the strongest terms.”
Manivannan continued: “If we are to tackle rape and sexual violence we need to tackle wider issues in society, including the ways boys and men are socialised, the communities or lack thereof they’re in, and how they’re raised.
“When talking about a spectrum I was making the point that laws often take a narrow definition of what rape and sexual violence is, which often allows it to continue without consequence. A full viewing of the interview clarifies this.
“In a country where rape has the lowest conviction rates of any crime, and reoffending continues, this is an urgent and important conversation we need to have in Scotland.”
Manivannan added: “Any suggestion that my statements minimise or excuse rape or sexual assault are deeply false and misleading.”
