Crisis centres condemn Green MSP’s rape ‘spectrum’ comments

The Scottish Rape Crisis Alliance has written to the Edinburgh and Lothians East MSP saying there needs to be a focus on the survivors of rape rather than political theory, and that parliamentarians cannot use women and girls as political pawns.

Manivannan made the comments in an interview with The Subjective Space podcast last year, and said rapists are often thought as “monsters” or a “big burly man”, but that “any individual is capable of rape”.

The MSP added there “definitely is a demonisation of rape” and said it was “a spectrum, as much as I don’t seek to lighten any form of rape”.

Manivannan said: “It is a spectrum, none of which is any less, or more, worse, but it is a spectrum of things that constitute that one homogenised word, rape.

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“And I think it’s also, there’s also different modes of, well, not just consent, but also ideas, but also contexts and conditions under which rape is, well, rape.”

The MSP said: “Beginning with contending with those harder facts and beginning to ask what are those conditions that could lead individuals like ourselves, for instance, to be in that position and commit such an act is the kind of question that would lead one to be sufficient carers towards even perpetrators of crimes like rape.”

The comments have been widely criticised since being shared over the weekend, including calls for the MSP to retract the comments and for the Scottish Greens’ co-leaders Ross Greer MSP and Gillian Mackay MSP to make public statements.

In a letter to Manivannan, the Scottish Rape Crisis Alliance said: “For survivors, rape is not a theoretical discussion.

“It is not an abstract concept to be intellectually deconstructed.

“It is something that can fundamentally alter a person’s relationship with their body, their safety, their relationships, their mental health and their ability to move through life and the world, and it does not simply become ‘the past’ because time has passed.

“Similar conversations take place in rape crisis centres across Scotland every day.

“Against that reality, we fundamentally reject the suggestion that society is ‘demonising’ rape.

“We are not demonising rape. We are naming it. We are naming the harm caused by sexual violence. We are naming the fear, humiliation, trauma and loss of control experienced by survivors.

“We are naming the reality that women and girls continue to live with the threat of male violence, and we are naming the fact that rape is a serious sexual offence and one of the most profound violations of another person’s bodily autonomy and consent.”

The group said it was “equally concerned” by the description of rape as “on a spectrum”, and added: “There is no hierarchy of rape.

“There is no level of suffering a survivor must demonstrate before their experience becomes serious enough to matter.”

Reported sexual offences in Scotland have increased by 48 per cent in the past decade, and Police Scotland’s latest figures show a further 10 percent increase in 2025/26.

The letter adds: “Politicians have a responsibility not simply to debate sexual violence, but to help create a society in which it is prevented, survivors are believed and supported, those who commit sexual violence are held accountable, and women and girls do not carry the responsibility for anticipating and managing the risk of violence.

“That responsibility should extend to the language politicians use. Words matter.”

They say the entire Scottish Green Party needs to be “unequivocal” in “not minimising rape” or “normalising sexual violence”.

Manivannan has since issued a statement saying the comments are “clearly misrepresented and taken out of context”.

The politician said: “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.

“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.

“Any suggestion that my statements minimise or excuse rape or sexual assault are deeply false and misleading.”

Tracy Gilbert MP from Scottish Labour said: “I am alarmed by the views expressed by a Scottish Green MSP where they say that rape is a ‘spectrum’.

“I am absolutely clear that there is no spectrum of rape and know that there is certainly no spectrum of suffering from the survivors of rape.”

She added: “The Scottish Greens MSP should fully retract and apologise for their comments and [co-leaders] Gillian Mackay and Ross Greer should make clear that the views shared are not Scottish Green Party policy.”

Rachael Hamilton MSP, deputy leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said: “In any other workplace, expressing views like this would probably end up in mandatory training, but Scottish Greens MSPs seem to relish diminishing women and girls.

“These views are not fit for the 21st century and the Scottish Greens should clarify they do not support a ‘spectrum of rape’ theory.”

Willie Rennie MSP, the Scottish Lib Dems’ chief whip, said: “I am not sure what esoteric point Dr Q is trying to make but it sounds terrible.

“Rape is a hideous crime, that society rightly expects to be treated with the utmost severity.

“The Scottish Greens need to make clear that this is a crime they treat with the appropriate seriousness no matter what form it takes.”

The Scottish Greens have been approached for comment.