The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Bin man accused of shouting vile abuse outside rape centre
Council to look into conduct of staff
Dundee City Council is investigating an allegation that one of its bin men shouted a sexually aggressive remark outside a rape help centre during highlevel discussions about violence against women.
AngusMSPMairiGougeonwasmeeting journalists and women’s charity representatives outside the Dundee Rape and Sexual Abuse centre on Arthur Street yesterday for the announcement of a new Bill to help victims of stalking.
As the interviews were being conducted, a local authority bin lorry drove past and a man’s voice was heard shouting “f*** them in the p **** ”.
A TV interview with Ms Gougeon had to be stopped as a result.
The incident, which took place some time between 10.30am and 11am, was witnessed and confirmed by at least six people.
The centre’s manager, Sinead Daly, said she would be drafting a complaint to the local authority and hoped the matter would be “dealt with seriously”.
She said: “As an organisation we are taking forward a complaint to Dundee City Council, which we are sure will be taken very seriously.
“It’s exactly these kinds of comments that are shouted out to women in the streets regularly and are hugely problematic for them. The fact that this remark was targeted at a rape crisis centre was very worrying and it is something that should be taken seriously.”
Ms Gougeon described the incident as “shocking” and “not acceptable”.
The SNP MSP added: “I could hear something being shouted as the vehicle went past though I didn’t quite catch what was said at the time.
“But I was absolutely disgusted when one of the reporters told me what had actually been said. It was especially shocking given the context and the building we were standing in front of.
“There were a number of women outside at the time, including me, and we were discussing providing greater protection to victims of stalking.
“Gender-based abuse is the kind of thing that women put up with day after day and it’s shocking that people still feel it’s acceptable to shout that abuse at women – not just any abuse – but abuse of a vile and sexual nature.”
A council spokesperson said they would be “fully investigating these allegations”.
It could be argued that awareness of equality issues and the need to respect our fellow human beings has never been greater. Movements such as “Me Too” and high profile sexual abuse cases have ensured the issue has barely been out of the headlines in recent months.
And yet, extraordinarily, there are still some people –far too many people – who simply don’t get it.
That point was made in grotesque, depressing fashion in Dundee yesterday.
At the launch of proposals for a new law to protect victims of stalking, a disparaging, disgraceful comment was shouted out.
One could describe it as juvenile, but frankly it was far worse than that. Efforts to stamp out sexism could hardly have a higher profile, so the questions facing society are uncomfortable to say the least.
An official complaint is to be made about yesterday’s incident and one hopes the perpetrator will, in time, be forced to answer for his shameful behaviour.
Sadly, despite all the publicity, such occurrences remain all too common. Education is the key and work clearly remains to be done. Changing attitudes takes time and while we may hope a good dose of common sense and decency would be enough, the truth remains – rather depressingly – somewhat different.