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  • I thought Vicky was great. Brendan O'Neill was right I suppose when he said that attempting to legislate against any form of speech becomes an attack on liberty, but I don't think that he made a serious attempt at empathy at all, which must be part of this issue.

    When my wife was shouted at recently from a car (which slowed down in order to do it) by a couple of men recently on the way home from the station near our house it really shook her up. After dark now she'll take a bus in between the two, instead of what should be a pleasant 10 minute walk along a well lit big suburban road. Watching her weigh up the options, worrying about the what might happen/might not happen is difficult. That's the bit that makes me upset about it on her behalf, the feeling vulnerable after the event not just the event itself.

    To describe a campaign to discuss this issue as promoting fear by mapping the locations of incidents was uncalled for. I don't think he was listening enough to the experiences of women who are upset by this- that has to change in a debate like that one if it's to change at large. Legislating might well be fraught with difficulty and ultimately un-doable, but listening sensitively is not.

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