Gina Davidson: Men must unite against this evil

They need to say with no hesitancy, no ifs, buts or maybes, that men who believe that rape is ever right, that men who want to inflict violence on women, that men who think women are “lesser”, that men who attend the meetings of so-called “pick up artist” Daryush Valizadeh and support his views, are men who need to have their Neanderthal views challenged.

Brothers, uncles, dads, grandads, husbands, boyfriends all need to show they support women fighting to have the likes of Valizadeh and his ilk consigned to the dustbin of history.

Valizadeh, or Roosh V as he likes to be known, is a 36-year-old American, with a good line in self-promotion to market his self-published books which tell men how to “pick up” women in different countries.

His disdain for women in general is obvious, his hatred for women who are opinionated is bare-faced.

Right now he’s asking his supporters to keep information on any female reporter or “social justice warrior” who writes about him in the run-up to the meetings he had organised to take place in a variety of countries on February 6. (The public meetings have since been cancelled).

He also refuses all requests for interviews by female journalists as he has “no respect” for them.

He claims he is not pro-rape despite having said: “I propose that we make the violent taking of a woman not punishable by law when done off public grounds.” Apparently that’s “satire”. Excuse me while I stop my sides from splitting.

Of course he never planned to be in Edinburgh in person to share his creepy beliefs, but he was encouraging men who believe he’s right to meet up and share their views.

There is of course nothing wrong with men getting together, sharing their experiences of life. It usually happens on the football terraces.

And no doubt there are men who feel left out in a society which is progressive and is putting outmoded ideas of female subjugation behind it – even if women still get paid less, have borne the brunt of the economic policies of austerity, are still fighting for equality in all spheres of life. There will be men who think their route through life is not as straightforward as it maybe once was. Change is always hard to accept.

But this whole Roosh V Return of Kings event is freedom of speech at its most offensive and provocative and the worry is that ultimately this will incite hatred and therefore violence against women.

What good man would want their sister, daughter, wife, friend to be a victim of that? What good man would want their loved one to become another statistic? In Scotland, nearly 1380 rapes and 90 attempted rapes occurred in 2012-13. Almost 7700 sexual assaults were also reported in the same period. We don’t need to add to those figures.

The men of Edinburgh need to make it clear that Roosh V’s debased view of women is not welcome – anywhere. Sign the petitions doing the rounds, tweet at him directly . . . the more you counter his arguments, the more ridiculous they appear.

Roosh V is offensive and provocative for one reason alone: to promote himself. Should there be any criminal fallout from the meeting he’ll wash his hands of his “supporters” and he’ll have made his money. Don’t fall for it.

Store’s fire a sad inconvenience

WHEN Scotmid announced it was moving into a long-vacant slot in Broxburn, it was good news for Main Street which needs a bit of a buck-up.

It wasn’t that long ago that the town was in the running for a carbuncle award.

So it was a real shame to hear that just two days after the new convenience store opened it was shut again after a faulty coffee machine apparently started a fire when the place was closed.

Hopefully it’ll be open for business again sooner than the two months being suggested.

Ticketed driver is parking mad

IT takes a certain arrogance to be able to ignore parking tickets. Or the complete lack of a conscience.

I know that I’m on the phone immediately to pay the lesser amount if I ever get caught out – I don’t want to pay £60, never mind letting them slide to the extent that they mount up

to the grand total of £17,000.

Whoever drives the delivery van for Acanthus in Bruntsfield is either incredibly wealthy or just couldn’t care less.

Parents funding your cheap trips

ANYONE who has booked a holiday during school holidays knows what a racket it is. It’s no surprise that new figures show that even in February when the schools break, flight prices from Edinburgh Airport are hiked by 150 per cent.

Parents are basically being asked to subsidise the low fares the airlines charge the rest of the year when they’re desperate to get people to fly abroad – prices no doubt taken full advantage of by those who don’t have the restrictions of school terms.

So next time you hear complaints from colleagues about “parents having time off” just remind the moaners that you’re probably paying for their holiday flights as well as your own.