The comments have been widely criticised by survivors groups and political opponents who said they downplayed the seriousness and lasting trauma of rape.

The SCRA, which comprises support groups in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and the Western Isles, said the impacts of rape can last a lifetime, and the crime should never be reduced to a theoretical debate.

In an open letter the alliance said: "We are not demonising rape. We are naming it."

The authors strongly opposed the idea of rape existing on a "spectrum", insisting "there is no hierarchy of rape" and that no survivor should feel compelled to ask whether their experience was serious enough."

The letter urged politicians "not to normalise" rape or sexual violence, and "not create hierarchies of harm".

While not naming Manivannan, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls, Reem Alsalem, posted on X that rape should never be spoken about in terms of it being a spectrum.

Scotland's Children's Minister Siobhan Brown told the BBC's Sunday Show Manivannan's words were misjudged.

Scottish Labour and the Scottish Liberal Democrats have also been critical, while the Scottish Conservatives called on the Scottish Greens to suspend the MSP.

Meghan Gallacher, the party's equalities spokeswoman, said: "It is deeply alarming that anyone, but especially an elected representative, would ever seek to minimise the seriousness of rape and suggest that there is a spectrum of offences."