To Dr Q Manivannan, the Scottish Greens, Scotland’s elected representatives, and the wider public
We are writing in response to recent comments by Scottish Green Party MSP Dr Q Manivannan describing rape as existing on a “spectrum” and referring to the “demonisation of rape”.
We believe these comments require more than political debate. They require us to stop and consider what our language about rape means to the women and girls who live with its consequences every day.
“But it’s never over”. These are the words we hear so often from survivors.
Their words are important.
Because 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.
We do not need to exaggerate its seriousness.
We do not need to turn perpetrators into mythical monsters.
But neither should we be afraid to say plainly that rape is horrific, that it causes profound trauma and harm, and that responsibility for that harm belongs with the person who chose to violate another person.
We are equally concerned by the description of rape as existing “on a spectrum”.
Of course, sexual violence happens in different circumstances.
There are different forms of coercion, manipulation, intimidation and control. Perpetrators may be known or unknown to the survivor. Sexual violence can occur within relationships, friendships, families, workplaces and communities. Survivors may respond in very different ways, and the impact of sexual violence can vary enormously from one person to another.
But recognising complexity does not require us to make rape itself ambiguous.
There is no hierarchy of rape.
There is no level of suffering a survivor must demonstrate before their experience becomes serious enough to matter.
And there is no “right” way to respond to being raped.
For decades, survivors have been asked:
Why didn’t you fight?
What were you wearing?
Why did you drink?
Did you say no?
“Was my rape serious enough?” should never be a question a survivor has to ask themselves.
Rape also cannot be separated from the wider context of violence against women and girls.
It exists alongside misogyny, sexual harassment, stalking, sexual assault, sexual exploitation, domestic abuse and femicide.
Across Scotland, rape crisis centres are supporting increasing numbers of young women and girls, many harmed by perpetrators within their own peer groups.
We are seeing the consequences of a culture in which coercive, degrading and violent sexual behaviour can become normalised. Women and girls tell us about being pressured into sexual acts that are rooted not in mutual intimacy, but in fear, coercion, power and control.
These are not abstract political issues.
They are the realities being brought through the doors of rape crisis services.
They are the realities survivors carry into our helplines, counselling rooms and support services.
And they are the realities that should inform political debate.
Reported sexual offences in Scotland have increased by 48% over the past decade, with Police Scotland’s latest figures showing a further 10% increase in 2025/26.
At the same time, we know that rape, sexual assault and domestic abuse remain significantly underreported.
This should concern every elected representative.
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 matter to the survivor deciding whether to disclose.
They matter to the woman wondering whether what happened to her was “bad enough”.
They matter to the girl learning what society believes she is entitled to expect from relationships and from her own body.
And they matter because political language can either challenge harmful attitudes or reinforce them.
So, we are asking the Scottish Green Party, and all political representatives, to be unequivocal.
Do not minimise rape.
Do not normalise sexual violence.
Do not create hierarchies of harm.
Do not ask survivors to make their experiences smaller so that political conversations can be made more comfortable.
And do not lose sight of the person, more often than not a woman or girl, at the centre of the discussion.
She is not a theoretical concept.
She is not a statistic.
She is not a political pawn.
Let us make sure our politics does not make her burden heavier.
Let us have the difficult conversations about prevention, offending, accountability and the causes of sexual violence.
But let us never become so consumed by political theory that we lose sight of the people whose lives are affected.
Survivors deserve better.
Women and girls deserve better.
And Scotland must do better.
Sincerely,
Claudia Macdonald-Bruce, Glasgow and Clyde Rape Crisis
Isabelle Kerr, The STAR Centre – Rape Crisis Ayrshire
Angela McLennan, Western Isles Rape Crisis Centre
Jacqui O’Rourke, Lanarkshire Rape Crisis Centre
