Imran Khan’s rape comments spark online outrage

Prime Minister Imran Khan has again drawn criticism after linking the rise in sexual assault and rape cases in the country to women’s dressing.

In an interview with “Axios on HBO”, Imran Khan said, “If a woman is wearing very few clothes, it will have an impact on the men, unless they are robots. It’s just common sense.”

“Disappointing and frankly sickening to see PM Imran Khan repeat his victim-blaming regarding reasons for sexual violence in Pakistan,” tweeted Reema Omer, Legal Advisor, South Asia, International Commission of Jurists.

Disappointing and frankly sickening to see PM Imran Khan repeat his victim blaming regarding reasons for sexual violence in Pakistan

Men are not “robots”, he says. If they see women in skimpy clothes, they will get “tempted” and some will resort to rape

Shameful!

— Reema Omer (@reema_omer) June 20, 2021

“Again selective and out of context tweeting of what he actually said by subtracting the part where he talked about what kind of society we live in and about the sexual frustration in the society,” Dr. Arslan Khalid, focal person to the Prime Minister tweeted.

Again selective and out of context tweeting of what he actually said by subtracting the part where he talked about what kind of society we live in and abt the sexual frustration in the society. https://t.co/zuFw0mZ3WB

— Dr Arslan Khalid (@arslankhalid_m) June 20, 2021

Imran khan’s comments on such a serious issue in the interview have caused massive outrage on social media, with opposition leaders and journalists who are spilling out anger over the ideology.

This is not the first time our Prime Minister has made such insensitive, ignorant & incorrect remarks on sexual violence/rape.

For the PM to have such a warped understanding of the causes of sexual violence is embarassing, problematic & simply not acceptable. https://t.co/6xqy3xsqxh

— Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir (@ImaanZHazir) June 21, 2021

“Disappointing and frankly sickening to see PM Imran Khan repeat his victim-blaming regarding reasons for sexual violence in Pakistan Men are not “robots”, he says. If they see women in skimpy clothes, they will get “tempted” and some will resort to rape,” Omer said.

Official data released by the government reveals that at least 11 cases of rape are reported in the country every 24 hours. As many as 22,000 such cases have been reported to the police over the last six years.

In December of last year, President Arif Alvi approved the Anti-Rape Ordinance 2020 to set up special courts to try cases of sexual abuse of women and children. The legislation mandates legal proceedings in such cases to be completed within four months.