Manchester pro-life students were reportedly ‘spat on’ and told they ‘should be r*ped’

Students from the Pro-Life Society at University of Manchester were allegedly “spat on” and told they “should be raped” during a protest about the societies formation.

The comment was reportedly made during the Stop Manchester Pro-life Society protest, which took place on the University of Manchester’s campus during a Pro-Life Society meeting on Thursday 29th February.

Protesters shouted “stay in there and die” as well as “you should be aborted” at the society committee members, reports The Christian Institute.

Inge-Maria, a member of the pro-life societies committee, said that some students “said they hoped I’d get raped.”

Inge-Maria was a later addition to the pro-life society committee, amid backlash that the society originally contained only two male committee members.

Pro-life students at the Uni of Manchester also claimed they were being “spat on” and “egged” during the protest.

Inge-Maria continued by saying it was “unthinkable” that “at a university, where we are meant to debate important ideas, my peers and I have been spat on, barricaded and wished death upon, simply for our peaceful beliefs.”

The treasurer of the Manchester Pro-life Society, Jacob Karinatan, said he “felt intimidated and threatened.”

“I was genuinely scared I was going to get hurt physically,” he told The Catholic Herald.

According to UK charity Right To Life, the Pro-Life Society members were “subject to a torrent of verbal abuse and threats.”

Hannah, a third year politics and international relations student, who started the Stop Manchester Pro-life Instagram account, told The Manchester Tab: “These comments seem to highlight the few people who have taken things to extreme against the pro-life group without acknowledging harm they have caused.”

She continued: “The society and their supporters have sent torrents of abuse, including images of dead toddlers and blood and gore and foetuses. The only physical violence came from member[s] of the public. The only egging was against a building, none of the members were egged.

“We shouldn’t equate the pain of thousands with the bad actions of a few.”

The Manchester Pro-Life Society has come under scrutiny since its approval from the SU earlier this year.  Since then, there has been an anonymous petition set up against the society, which has now garnered over 19,000 signatures.

The protest on the last day of February came after the Students’ Union released a statement saying that the Pro-Life Society was officially affiliated on 11th January 2024, following society registration guidelines, as well as quoting legislation that requires Students’ Unions to comply with new freedom of speech.

Following the SU announcement, the anonymous student who created the petition posted an update, thanking people for their support. They also wrote that the petition is “in no way calling for any harassment or intimidation of the members/committee of the Pro-Life Society personally.”

If are a student at the University of Manchester and feel you have been affected by any of the issues discussed, you can find support here.

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