Parliament just debated whether to ban Roosh V, the 'Return of Kings' founder who suggested rape should be made legal on private property, from entering the country
A UK government minister has attacked notorious men's rights group Return of Kings, and its founder Roosh V, as "absolutely repulsive." Roosh - real name Daryush Valizadeh - had written a "satire" article on the Return of Kings website calling for rape to be made legal on private property. Roosh is currently touring internationally, holding meetings and lectures for men who hate feminism and want to learn how to pick up women.
But the minister dodged a question on whether the Home Office would ban him from entering Britain.
Roosh is a key leader in a larger, loosely-connected movement of men who believe that they are discriminated against by a politically correct, overly feminised society that is biased towards women. The movement includes pick-up artist groups (men who attend classes on how to manipulate women to have sex with them), the "Red Pill" movement (a philosophy of men's rights) and "the manosphere" (a collection of blogs like Return of Kings that discuss men's issues and criticise women and feminism). Typical headlines on Return of Kings include "The myth of date rape drink spiking," "How to turn a feminist into your sex slave" and "How to convince a girl to get an abortion."
On Thursday, Labour MP and Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities Kate Green was granted an urgent question in the House of Commons on a series of events that were planned - and subsequently cancelled - by the group.
Responding, Karen Bradley, parliamentary under-secretary of state for the home department, said that "the comments from this individual and the proposals from this group are absolutely repulsive," and have "no place in British society."
The government, Bradley said, "condemns in the strongest possible terms anyone who condones rape or sexual violence or suggests responsibility for stopping these crimes lies with the victim."
Roosh had organised a series "meet-up" events around the globe this weekend for "heterosexual men only" to discuss his "neomasculinist" ideology.
There were multiple events planned for the UK, including in London, Edinburgh, and Cardiff - as well as other locations around the world. But on February 3, Valizadeh announced that the meetups have been cancelled, because he "can no longer guarantee the safety or privacy of the men who want to attend."
More than 75,000 people have signed a petition calling on Valizadeh to be banned from the UK.
Karen Bradley declined to confirm whether the UK government would ban the pick-up-artist, saying that she "cannot comment on individual cases." But she added: "It is is this home secretary who has excluded more foreign offenders and foreign nationals than any other."
Simon Hoare, a Conservative MP, described Valizadeh as an "embarrassment to all men."
Kevin Foster, MP for Torbay, called his views "vile," while MP Gavin Newland labelled him a "small, small man."
MP Stewart Malcolm McDonald of Glasgow South hailed that "the sick-minded individuals who were planning to attend these events ... are now going to be sitting in their underpants eating ravioli from a tin this weekend."
Greg Mulholland, MP for Leeds North West, said that Return of Kings' supporters follow "a perversion of masculinity, they are cowardly."
In an article from February 2015, Valizadeh said that rape should be legalised on private property.
"If rape becomes legal under my proposal, a girl will protect her body in the same manner that she protects her purse and smartphone. If rape becomes legal, a girl will not enter an impaired state of mind where she can't resist being dragged off to a bedroom with a man who she is unsure of-she'll scream, yell, or kick at his attempt while bystanders are still around," he wrote. "After several months of advertising this law throughout the land, rape would be virtually eliminated on the first day it is applied."
Valizadeh now says the post was "satire."