Shirley Manson blames women for their rights being "eroded"

The Garbage frontwoman told Australian news show '7.30': "I think it's a result, in some ways, of a generation that followed the '90s, and women took for granted their rights, their human rights.

"[They] thought they were there to stay, not really understanding that human rights get eroded constantly and you always have to be really vigilant to make sure that these rights that women have fought so hard for remain in place."

The 'Stupid Girl' singer likened women's attitudes toward their rights as "living in the Garden of Eden", and said a disassociation from the word "feminism" has caused problems for the progression of women's rights.

She added: "We got a whole generation of young women who maybe thought they were living in the Garden of Eden. I'm not entirely sure what went wrong or what's happened but they divorced themselves from the idea of feminism.

"Why any woman would want to divorce themselves from the idea of equality is beyond my understanding."

And the 'I Think I'm Paranoid' musician also blamed the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in September 2001 for making the world more "conservative", which she believes affected women.

She said: "With September 11 I think the world got really conservative. And whenever the world gets conservative, women get affected.

"There's definitely a global movement towards eradicating women's rights. You'll see it in Poland, you'll see it in Argentina, you're seeing it in the States. I mean, it's just everywhere."