Violence against women? Blame it on how they dress. Word of Imran Khan, Pakistani premier. The prime minister has ended up at the center of controversy for arguing that the increase in rapes is due to the way women are dressed. The scourge of sexual violence is “a consequence in any society where vulgarity is on the rise,” he said in an interview. Hence, the advice to women to cover themselves to prevent men from falling into “temptation”: “Not everyone has the willpower to avoid it”, underlined the former cricket champion, referring to the purdah, a term that refers to modesty in dress and the segregation of the sexes.
Words that have sparked a stiff reaction online: Hundreds have signed a statement attacking Khan’s “factual, insensitive and dangerous” comments. “The blame rests solely with the rapist and the system that allows him, including a culture promoted by statements like these,” the note reads. Pakistan’s Human Rights Commission said it was “shocked” by his words, which “not only betray a staggering ignorance of where, why and how rape occurs, but also blame the rape survivors, who, like the government needs to know, they can range from small children to victims of honor crimes. “
In Pakistan, virginity test is illegal for rape victims
by Raimondo Bultrini
Pakistan is a highly conservative country where victims of sexual violence are often viewed with suspicion and their complaints rarely investigated; it is regularly at the bottom of the countries for gender equality. It is not the first time that Khan slips on the subject: last year he was criticized for not having reprimanded a Muslim cleric who insistently blamed the unleashing of the coronavirus on women’s misdeeds.
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