We spoke to London feminists about what they’re doing to stop Roosh V

He has advocated “legal rape”


Earlier this week we reported that a notorious rape advocate and “pickup artist” called Roosh V had organised two meetups in London on Saturday. Roosh (real name Daryush Valizadeh) said that only straight men were invited: so no women, gay men or transgender people. Last year, Roosh caused international outrage after he published a blog post supporting “legal rape.”

According to his website, Valizadeh has set up meeting spots at Green Park station and outside Bank next to the Royal Exchange.

The city’s feminists are unhappy. They’re trying to get Valizadeh banned from the country and all of his scheduled events cancelled. Julian Norman from Feminism in London told us:

“The UK does not need woman-hating attention tourists. We’ve asked Theresa May to direct that the exclusion of Daryush Valizadeh is conducive to the public good. Valizadeh and his organisation “Return of Kings” are a collective of men who engage in misogynist rhetoric and glorify rape and sexual assault. Valizadeh has called for the legalisation of rape. The meetings are intended to gather a number of like-minded men who have made it clear that any women in the vicinity will be filmed and then their details passed around the group so that they can ‘tear them up.’ That level of outright threat is unacceptable.”

This is him

Getting Valizadeh banned from the UK could actually work. Two years ago an American “pick up artist” called Julien Blanc had his visa application refused after he was accused of promoting sexual assault. Feminism in London thinks it could work with Roosh V too, and have published an open letter to the government. Julian added:

“The various petitions to exclude Valizadeh from the UK have been vastly more popular than his organisation is.  This reflects the importance of society demonstrating its disgust at crude threats to women and girls. We would encourage others to join in calling for the exclusion of Valizadeh.”

Feminism in London insisted they were not organising any demonstrations about Roosh, and some are actively warning women against attending, saying men should be doing the protesting instead. Feminist writer Kaagaz Kalam said:

“If you are a woman, do not go. If you are a gay man, do not go. If you are a trans man, do not go. They have barred anyone who isn’t a cis male or straight. Your safety is at risk. So to all my brothers who identify as allies, now is your time to stand up and act.”

The warning hasn’t deterred people in Edinburgh, where the university’s feminist society has planned to meet the all-male gathering straight on. They didn’t not mince their words:

“This advocate of rape has said that only straight men are allowed to attend his event and protesters will be filmed. We will not sit by and let this disgusting behaviour scare us off our streets. We’re going to stand up and show that sexism, misogyny, and most definitely rape are never tolerated.”

Meanwhile a petition to stop the gatherings has picked up 52,000 signatures. Valizadeh himself is believed to be attending a gathering in Washington DC and has been mocking protesters around the world on his Twitter page.