Jon Baily writes:

On the 24th May, I decided to attend the J4MB talk at Cambridge University Mill Lane with my 16-year-old son. When I arrived at the venue, a number of protesters were already protesting the event by blocking the entrance to stop delegates from attending.

This didn’t stop us from attending. During the various talks, the protesters unsuccessfully attempted to disrupt the event by making noise outside of the event. The talk itself covered the history of feminism and the attack on men’s rights.

On leaving the event we followed directions from the security staff which resulted in my son and I walking past a large crowd of protesters. A male protester decided to jump around my son verbally harassing him swearing and waving both hands in my son’s face whilst making an offensive “V” symbol. I approached this protester to ask why he thought it was acceptable to harass a minor. The protester decided to harass me instead – I then decided it would be best to walk away at which point I was surrounded by a group of protesters.

Whilst I was surrounded a liquid was thrown over me. I then tried to push my way out of the crowd as I was now concerned about my safety. The protesters grabbed me from behind and I was restrained by both arms and an arm around my neck. I was kicked and punched multiple times. It was only when a passer by pulled me from the crowd that I was able to escape.

During my assault my son tried to get back to me. It was at this time that another protester challenged Matthew asking him if he was a hard man. This protester was 6’4” and well built – he pushed is forehead into my son’s face, he used his head to push Matthew back. He also used his size to intimidate Matthew.

We also saw protesters waving signs saying “milkshake the misogynists”. I take that as an incitement to commit violence; which is exactly what happened to my son and I simply because we attended a talk – at no point did we express any feelings on the subject of the talk one way or the other.