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On Tuesday evening, after speaking to a packed room at Edinburgh University about male violence against women, I was attacked in the street by an angry man - although in this case, it was a man wearing a skirt. As if to prove the very point I had been making, this individual, who styles himself Cathy Brennan, came rushing at me, shouting unprintable expletives before lunging and attempting to punch me in the face. Welcome to the world of transgender extremism. Let me say at the outset that refuse to call him by his adopted name, nor will I refer to him as ‘she’. When it comes to male violence against women, all bets are off. Although he was restrained by security guards and, fortunately, no physical harm was caused, the attack was truly frightening. Yet the true blame for the toxic climate of transgender extremism lies elsewhere - with the so-called ‘trans allies’, the people that use any excuse to punish women for being feminists. I’m referring to the liberal academics, the woke activists (‘wokeing class heroes’) and, of course, gay campaign group Stonewall for ignoring vulnerable women. Stonewall’s advisory board includes a man called Alex Drummond, who insists we should all accept that he is a lesbian woman just because he says so. Mr Drummond has a full beard. The event I attended this week, organised by academic staff at the University and attended by a range of distinguished scholars, had been exploring the specific legal rights and protections afforded to women because we suffer discrimination. Those hard-won rights include such things as single-sex hospital wards, changing facilities, and prisons – and, as I argued on Tuesday, they are currently under threat. This is because the transgender lobby wishes to change the law so that any man can ‘identify’ as a woman if he ‘feels like one’. This would mean allowing male-bodied people in every female-only facility in the land. This is nothing short of outrageous - yet it is happening already. Ironically, I had already been fearful in the lead up to the event. For weeks beforehand, trans activists and their woke allies – mostly men, it’s worth pointing out - had been harassing the University to cancel it, claiming that the invitation would cause harm to trans students. They said I would be spouting ‘hate’. Before the event, everyone taking part had to have an hour-long briefing by the University security team. We were told what would happen if the stage was stormed by protesters, or if any disruption meant it was necessary to vacate the venue. By the time the event began, I was anxious and worried. As I arrived at the venue, I was greeted by a protest group, shouting slogans such as, ‘No TERFS on our turf’. TERF stands for ‘trans exclusionary radical feminist’, a nonsense term of abuse aimed at women like me who do not believe that men in skirts should be allowed into female changing rooms or women-only hospital wards. So I was relieved when the talk passed off without incident and I could leave the building in the company of human rights expert Professor Rosa Freedman, another speaker, to take a taxi to the airport. And that’s when this aggressor struck. That I became a victim of male violence, while talking about male violence against women, is an irony which is not lost. In fact, in doing so, he unwittingly proved my point. This campaign of aggression towards me began in 2004 when I wrote an article in a national newspaper about why a male-bodied trans woman was not an appropriate person to be counselling rape victims in a rape crisis centre. Immediately afterwards I was picketed at public events by the LGBTQQI+ lot (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,Transgender, Queer, Questioning and Intersex); I was screamed at in the street by protesters; dis-invited from events at the last minute because the organisers had been threatened; and added to the list of officially no-platformed speakers by the NUS, along with five fascist groups. I have had objects thrown at me when speaking on stage. I’ve been called a Nazi, a bigot, a fascist and, of course, a TERF, and have been told I have caused the deaths (by suicide) of several trans people. Editors at publications I write for have been harassed for daring to publishing my articles. Sponsors of award ceremonies have been persuaded to withdraw their support unless I get de-nominated. Bodies that fund research have been targeted when it emerged that I had been awarded grants to study violence against women. Soon, the smug intelligentsia - a bunch of bearded woke blokes - saw their chance to vilify a well-known feminist while still appearing to be progressive. Certain male journalists, both gay and straight, joined in, egging on the trans activists in the name of ‘inclusivity’. Yet my only crime has been to spend my adult life fighting against male violence, while supporting the victims. Consider the irony of this: women who dare speak out against male brutality in countries such as Pakistan face horrific punishment. In so-called progressive countries, feminists are attacked in name of ‘trans rights’. Most of the main political parties have now caved in to the demands of the trans extremists. The Labour Party, for example, includes trans woman on all-female shortlists, which were originally designed to include more women in politics. The Greens use phrases such as ‘non-men’ so as not to offend trans women. A number of Lib Dems have been disciplined by the party for refusing to capitulate to extreme transgender ideology. The number of trans people and their allies that have attempted to justify the attack on me shows that we have now tipped into dark new territory. The liberal crew either don’t condemn it, or they attempt to argue that I ‘asked for it’ by being such an evil ‘transphobe’. To me, it is a full-blown war on women. The condoning and even encouraging the vilification and hounding of anyone who dares question the transgender agenda has to stop. This is no longer just a fight for women’s rights, it’s a fight for our civilisation, democracy and freedom of speech as we know it. Today I am issuing a challenge to all of the above: will you stand up and condemn all those whose behaviour is a threat to the safety of women? For those who do not – shame on you.