Julien Blanc: Ministers urged to ban US 'dating guru' who 'promotes choking women' from entering UK, as 86,000 sign protest petition
Julien Blanc’s tour is scheduled to arrive in London this month
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May faces increasing pressure to prevent ‘pick-up artist’ Julien Blanc from acquiring a UK visa, after an online petition gains growing support.
The Change.org appeal to the Home Office has been signed by over 86,000, ahead of Blanc’s UK tour starting later this month. He has one date scheduled in London on 27 November and will return to the capital again in March and April 2015.
The controversial US figure has sparked international criticism over his ‘dating seminars’, which suggest that men deploy harassment and abuse tactics to attract women, using the hashtag #ChokingGirlsAroundTheWorld.
Earlier this month, he was forced to exit Australia after his visa was cancelled, following widespread protests.
Caroline Charles - who is using a pseudonym following online vitriol after having launched the petition - said that “to allow this man into the UK legitimises sexual assault and predation, and sends a message that women are playthings or objects without agency”.
“He and his association - Real Social Dynamics - promote sexist, racist and criminal approaches to women,” reads the petition statement.
“Please help British women stand with the women of Australia, the women of America, and women everywhere, and do not let the UK play host to events where men are being taught how to violate and harass women under the guise of 'dating advice'.”
In a video of him at a Japanese event he tells an audience: “At least in Tokyo, if you're a white male, you can do what you want. I'm just romping through the streets, just grabbing girls' heads, just like, head, pfft on the dick. Head, on the d**k, yelling, 'pikachu.’” He then demonstrates with a female member of the public.
A Home Office spokesperson said that they could not comment on individual cases, but said:
“All visa applications are considered on their individual merits in line with the immigration rules.
“The Home Secretary has the power to exclude an individual if she considers that his or her presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good.”
The opening statement on Blanc’s website reads: “Make girls beg to sleep with you after short-circuiting their emotional and logical mind into a million reasons why they should…”
Canada is also campaigning to stop him from undertaking another leg of his tour there, with social media users adopting the hashtag #KeepJulienBlancOutofCanada.
Canadian Citizen and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander has said that Blanc’s content is “completely counter to Canadian values and common decency”, adding that it was his job to ensure that the country’s “immigration system does not facilitate violence against anyone in Canada and ensure women are protected from all forms of such.”
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