Bullies, Nazis and Perverts

It's not every day the BNP has to remove someone from their election candidates list for being too extreme! Yet that is exactly what has happened to Nick Eriksen, the second on their list for the Greater London Assenbly elections. And boy, is he extreme!

Nick has implied that rape is not a serious crime, stating that 'rape is simply sex' (Searchlight's Stop The BNP article: Public perception was reason for sacking BNP ‘rape lie’ candidate). Rape is not simply sex, it is probably the worst form of sexual abuse. Sex should be consenting and enjoyable by both partners, not forced on one person by another.

Not that sexism is rare among the far right. Indeed, back in the 1930's, the German Nazis also had an appallingly sexist attitude towards women. One of the Nazis' slogans used about women was 'Kinder, Kuche, Kirk" (apologies if I've got the order wrong), which means Children, Cooking and Church. No wonder, then, modern day Nazis have a similar contempt for women's rights!

The BNP have not removed Nick because his comments were offensive, simply because they may have damaged the BNP's public image (as if it had one!) in the run up to the GLA and local council elections. As the Searchlight article states; "An official statement by the party avoided stating that Nick Eriksen’s comments about women in his own Sir John Bull blog were actually offensive and outrageous, but was concerned only about how they would have been perceived." Nick's comments also expose the hypocrisy of the BNP which, only a few years ago, was campaigning on the racist lie that Asian men in Bradford were pimping young white girls (oh, please!), and that Islam is allegedly spread by rape (give me a break!)

As for Nick's comment that calling rape a serious crime "is like suggesting that force feeding a woman chocolate cake is a heinous offence"; well, force-feeding anyone anything is generally an act of abuse. A possible exception to this would be if the woman is having a severe hypo - and, when you consider that diabetic people were among the 'useless eaters' exterminated by the German Nazis in the 1930's, I don't think that was quite what he had in mind!

Sadly, sexism is not confined to Nazis, it is common among the right-wing capitalist Establishment. The epitome is when the Establishment, media and even judges imply that some women deserve to be raped because of their lifestyle and choice of clothing, but it also exists on a more 'background' level. Advertisers use sexism to sell products and newspapers, helping to promote an image of 'beauty' which is unrealistic and leads many young women to develop the potentially fatal anorexia and bulimia. There are frequent attacks on single parents, working women and the right to abortion. Women are expected to share the double-burden of working and bringing up children, and women's average earnings are still lower than those of men.

Yet, as Nick Eriksen's rantings prove, voting for the false alternative of the BNP will not address any of these issues. Only a socialist alternative can improve the rights and working conditions not only of women, but also of men.