Rape Crisis Alliance Condemns MSP Q Manivannan’s ‘Spectrum’ Remarks

Key Points

• Green MSP Q Manivannan has been criticised by the Scottish Rape Crisis Alliance (SRCA) for using the term ‘spectrum’ to refer to rape.
• Four rape crisis centres in Scotland’s SRCA have issued an open letter to warn that there is “no hierarchy of rape”.
• Manivannan’s remarks were posted last year on The Subjective Space podcast and quickly came to light online over the weekend, leading to further furore.
• There is a demand from the Scottish Conservatives for Scottish Greens co-leaders Ross Greer and Gillian Mackay to withdraw the whip from Manivannan.
• The minister for children in Scotland has joined in condemning the MSP’s comments, as have Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
• They/he/they is a non-binary individual as well and talked about the different modes of consent during the podcast.
• The MSP said the notion that a rapist was a ‘big, big, burly man’ was not ‘necessarily unfounded’ but was ‘misconstrued’.
• All political representatives have been called upon to “not minimise rape” or “not create hierarchies of harm” by the SRCA.

Glasgow (Britain Today News) August 10, 2026 – The Scottish Rape Crisis Alliance has issued a strongly worded rebuke of Green MSP Q Manivannan, condemning remarks made during a podcast appearance in which the politician described rape as existing on a “spectrum” and spoke of the “demonisation of rape” in modern discourse. The alliance, which represents four rape crisis centres across Scotland, published an open letter warning that “there is no hierarchy of rape” and cautioning politicians against minimising sexual violence for the sake of political comfort.

What Did Q Manivannan Say About Rape Being a ‘Spectrum’?

The controversy centres on comments made by Manivannan during a nearly hour-long appearance on The Subjective Space podcast last year. During the conversation, the MSP argued that there was a “demonisation of rape” taking place in public discourse. Manivannan told listeners, “It is a spectrum,” before going on to describe rape as “a spectrum of things that constitute that one homogenised word, rape.”

The remarks attracted little attention when they were first broadcast, but re-emerged online over the weekend, triggering a fresh wave of criticism from survivors’ organisations, opposition politicians and members of the public. Manivannan, who is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, has not issued a fresh public statement addressing the renewed backlash at the time of writing.

Why Has the Scottish Rape Crisis Alliance Condemned the Remarks?

The Scottish Rape Crisis Alliance, an umbrella body representing four dedicated rape crisis centres in Scotland, said it “fundamentally rejects” the suggestion that society is somehow demonising rape as a crime. In its open letter, the organisation argued that acknowledging the seriousness of sexual violence does not require exaggeration, nor does it require perpetrators to be cast as “mythical monsters”.

Instead, the alliance said, society should be able to state plainly that rape causes profound and lasting trauma, and that responsibility for that harm rests solely with the person who chose to commit the offence. The SRCA’s intervention reflects long-standing concerns among survivor support organisations that any public rhetoric suggesting gradations of seriousness in sexual offences risks discouraging victims from coming forward or having their experiences taken seriously by the justice system.

What Did the Open Letter From Rape Crisis Centres Say?

The letter, addressed to the Scottish Greens and to political representatives more broadly, argued that recognising the complexity of sexual violence “does not require us to make rape itself ambiguous”. It stated firmly that there is “no hierarchy of rape” and that survivors should never have to justify or measure the severity of what happened to them before their experience is treated as legitimate.

The alliance wrote that the question “was my rape serious enough?” should never be one a survivor has to ask themselves. It called on the Scottish Green Party and all political representatives to be “unequivocal” in refusing to minimise rape, normalise sexual violence, or construct hierarchies of harm between different survivors’ experiences.

The letter closed with a pointed reminder that the debate should not lose sight of the person at the centre of it, stating that survivors are “not a theoretical concept”, “not a statistic” and “not a political pawn” – and that, more often than not, that person is a woman or girl.

How Has the Political Backlash Against Manivannan Unfolded?

The resurfacing of Manivannan’s comments has prompted a rapid and largely unified political response at Holyrood. Beyond the Scottish Conservatives, criticism has come from Scotland’s children’s minister as well as from Labour and the Liberal Democrats, all of whom have condemned the remarks as inappropriate for an elected representative. While each party has framed its criticism slightly differently, there is broad consensus among opposition figures that language suggesting a “spectrum” of rape risks undermining public confidence in how seriously sexual offences are treated by those in positions of political responsibility.

The Scottish Greens, as a party, had not issued a formal response addressing calls for disciplinary action against Manivannan by the time this article was published. The party’s co-leadership, Ross Greer and Gillian Mackay, have faced direct pressure from opposition benches to act.

What Has Meghan Gallacher and the Scottish Conservatives Said?

The Scottish Conservatives have been among the most vocal critics of Manivannan’s comments, describing them as “appalling and beyond the pale”. Meghan Gallacher, speaking for the party, said it was “deeply alarming” for a sitting MSP to suggest there is a spectrum of offences within the crime of rape.

Gallacher went further, arguing that the comments were serious enough to warrant the removal of the whip from Manivannan by the Scottish Greens’ co-leaders, Ross Greer and Gillian Mackay. She warned that failing to take action would send an unacceptable message to victims of rape – namely, that Manivannan’s comments were in some way defensible – and risked emboldening similar remarks being made within the Holyrood chamber itself.

Are the Scottish Greens Facing Calls to Suspend Manivannan?

Yes. The Scottish Conservatives have explicitly called for the Scottish Greens to suspend Manivannan pending further consideration of the remarks, with Gallacher directly naming co-leaders Ross Greer and Gillian Mackay as the individuals responsible for making that decision. As of publication, there has been no confirmation from the Scottish Greens as to whether any internal disciplinary process has been initiated, nor whether the whip has been suspended or withdrawn.

The pressure placed on the Greens’ leadership illustrates the wider political sensitivity surrounding language used to discuss sexual violence, particularly for smaller parties that rely on maintaining public trust on social issues central to their platform.

What Did Manivannan Say About Consent and Rape Myths?

Beyond the “spectrum” comment, Manivannan also addressed common misconceptions around who commits sexual offences. The MSP suggested that the stereotype of a rapist being a “big, big, burly man” was “not necessarily unfounded”, but argued that this image was “misconstrued” because, in Manivannan’s words, “any individual is capable” of rape.

The MSP additionally referenced what were described as “different modes” of consent and rape during the same podcast exchange, though the full context of those remarks has not been independently verified beyond the excerpts that have circulated online since the weekend. Critics have argued that discussing consent and sexual offending in these terms risks blurring legal and moral distinctions that survivor organisations say must remain unambiguous.

How Have Labour and the Liberal Democrats Reacted?

Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats have joined the Scottish Conservatives and Scotland’s children’s minister in criticising Manivannan’s remarks, contributing to what has become a cross-party rebuke rarely seen united so swiftly at Holyrood. While neither party has been reported as going as far as explicitly demanding Manivannan’s suspension from the Scottish Greens, their public criticism adds further pressure on the party’s co-leadership to respond formally to the controversy.

The scale of cross-party condemnation reflects the seriousness with which Holyrood as an institution treats public commentary on sexual violence, an issue that has repeatedly featured in Scottish political and legal debate in recent years, including discussions around the corroboration requirement in rape prosecutions and conviction rates for sexual offences in the Scottish courts.
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What Support Is Available for Survivors of Sexual Violence in Scotland?

Rape Crisis centres operate across Scotland to provide free and confidential support to survivors of sexual violence, regardless of when the assault took place or whether it has been reported to the police. Services typically include helplines, one-to-one support, advocacy through the criminal justice process, and group support sessions. The Scottish Rape Crisis Alliance’s intervention in this controversy underscores the frontline role these centres play, not only in supporting individual survivors but in shaping public and political discourse around how sexual violence is discussed.

Organisations such as those represented by the SRCA have consistently argued that language matters in this context – that public figures, particularly elected politicians, carry a responsibility to avoid rhetoric that could be interpreted as minimising the severity of sexual offences, given the potential impact on survivors’ willingness to seek support or report crimes.

What Happens Next for Q Manivannan and the Scottish Greens?

The immediate question facing the Scottish Greens is whether co-leaders Ross Greer and Gillian Mackay will take formal action against Manivannan, as demanded by the Scottish Conservatives, or whether the party will allow the MSP to continue without sanction. Given the scale of cross-party criticism, including from Scotland’s children’s minister, Labour and the Liberal Democrats, pressure on the Greens’ leadership to respond publicly is likely to intensify in the coming days.

For the Scottish Rape Crisis Alliance, the priority remains ensuring that political discourse around sexual violence does not drift towards language that could be perceived as creating hierarchies among survivors’ experiences. The alliance’s open letter was addressed not only to the Scottish Greens but to “all political representatives”, suggesting its concerns extend beyond this single controversy to the broader tone of political debate on the issue. Whether Manivannan issues a further public statement, and how the Scottish Greens choose to respond internally, will likely determine how long this controversy continues to dominate discussion at Holyrood.