Prime Minister Imran Khan is being criticised on social media for once again linking rape and sexual violence to how women dress.
In an interview with Jonathan Swan of HBO Axios which aired at 3 AM PST on Monday, the PM said: "If a woman is wearing very few clothes, it will have an impact on the men, unless they are robots."
When the host asked him if women's dressing would 'really provoke acts of sexual violence', Imran Khan went on to say that it depends on the society one lives in. "If in a society people haven't seen that sort of thing, it will have an impact on them," he said adding, "If you grow up like a society like you, maybe it won't [have an impact]. on you."
He further said that expecting people in conservative societies to accept what is acceptable in Western culture is a form of cultural imperialism.
The prime minister's comments led to widespread criticism, with people lamenting that the PM chose to engage in rape apologia just a day after a cleric was arrested for sexually abusing a minor student inside a seminary in Lahore.
https://twitter.com/reema_omer/status/1406740654835879943?s=20
https://twitter.com/ammaralijan/status/1406840991911403521?s=20
https://twitter.com/AwamiWorkers/status/1406866594039353346?s=20
This is not the first time Prime Minister Imran Khan has issued controversial remarks about rape and sexual violence. In April, the PM had said that rape and child abuse is the result of obscenity and vulgarity in the society, adding that Islam condemns vulgarity because it creates temptation. “Not everyone has the willpower to resist temptation,” he stated while answering a caller’s question during a televised question/answer session with the public.
In an interview with Jonathan Swan of HBO Axios which aired at 3 AM PST on Monday, the PM said: "If a woman is wearing very few clothes, it will have an impact on the men, unless they are robots."
When the host asked him if women's dressing would 'really provoke acts of sexual violence', Imran Khan went on to say that it depends on the society one lives in. "If in a society people haven't seen that sort of thing, it will have an impact on them," he said adding, "If you grow up like a society like you, maybe it won't [have an impact]. on you."
He further said that expecting people in conservative societies to accept what is acceptable in Western culture is a form of cultural imperialism.
The prime minister's comments led to widespread criticism, with people lamenting that the PM chose to engage in rape apologia just a day after a cleric was arrested for sexually abusing a minor student inside a seminary in Lahore.
https://twitter.com/reema_omer/status/1406740654835879943?s=20
https://twitter.com/ammaralijan/status/1406840991911403521?s=20
https://twitter.com/AwamiWorkers/status/1406866594039353346?s=20
This is not the first time Prime Minister Imran Khan has issued controversial remarks about rape and sexual violence. In April, the PM had said that rape and child abuse is the result of obscenity and vulgarity in the society, adding that Islam condemns vulgarity because it creates temptation. “Not everyone has the willpower to resist temptation,” he stated while answering a caller’s question during a televised question/answer session with the public.