Imagine my surprise to wake up this morning to be told that Readings book store in Melbourne had posted an abject apology on its blog yesterday about hosting an event with me back in 2018:

‘Readings prides itself on ensuring everyone in our community feels safe, respected and considered. We apologise for any hurt caused by highlighting the work of an author whose current stance is to divide our community.

To that end, Readings regrets programming Julie Bindel in 2018 and thank our community for opening the dialogue with us. Readings is committed to considering the work of all authors to ensure our future program of events, reviews and discussions remain relevant and diverse.’

The kerfuffle has come about because the trans-author Juno Dawson is booked to do an online event hosted by the bookstore later this month. Juno, who once said ‘a lot of gay men are gay men as a consolation prize because they couldn’t be women’ is clearly a better bet than a feminist who has spent her entire adult life campaigning to end male violence.

Whoever persuaded Readings to grovel to the Trans Taliban has obviously trawled its previous events until falling upon my name. I wonder if any other heretics have appeared at the store in the past? Maybe the shelves need to be rid of all feminist tomes that do not state on the jacket that ‘trans women are women’? Certainly, the store’s many copies of Mein Kampf will be available so that visitors can check the definition of ‘Nazi’ and ensure it is applied to us uppity women that campaign to retain our hard won rights.

I was very proud when my book on the global sex trade was published in Australia but did hesitate about whether I should travel there to promote it. Campaigners against male violence constantly come up against the blue-fringed kidz picketing and disrupting feminist events. I had seen it during my previous visit in 2016 when the very first conference on the harms of prostitution, held at the University of Melbourne, was disrupted by pro-prostitution activists who were shouting and screaming at delegates. I was a speaker, as were a number of sex trade survivors, some of whom were from indigenous communities.

These women are given no support from the Australian government, because the sex trade has been legalised across many states, and is therefore completely normalised. Indigenous women and girls are particularly vulnerable to being targeted by pimps and traffickers, and I was massively inspired by the women that had escaped prostitution and who now campaign for its abolition.

Ironically, one of the most enjoyable events during the book tour was at Readings. I was greeted warmly by the staff, and the event was oversubscribed. We had an amazing Q&A session with discussions about violence against women in prostitution, and how only men benefit from the sex trade. I was roundly applauded at the end, including by the staff and volunteers, and a load of my books were sold. Afterwards I had lengthy and fascinating conversations with women (in the bar, of course, it being Australia) about feminism. In particular, we discussed how solidarity between women when it comes to the one thing that unites us all – male violence – is the bedrock of the movement. Such solidarity is under serious threat today as trans activists and their woman-hating allies drive a wedge between women in the name of ‘trans rights’.

Just when we thought things couldn’t get any worse for women, retrospective de-platforming is now officially a thing. It is not enough to denounce and burn all the witches – i.e. women that refuse to bow down to kiss the lady-boots of extreme trans-activists. The McCarthyites now demand that any past alliances with us be purged and apologised for, or they too will become targets of the bullies. The solution? Speak out and denounce this appalling state of affairs. If you are a man who claims to be pro-feminist, denounce this misogynistic witch-hunt. Anyone who can speak out should do so, because you could well be the next target.