London: A woman politician from Kuwait has sparked anger and disbelief by calling for legalization of sex slaves, saying it would protect men from adultery, and suggesting that female prisoners from war-torn countries should be purchased for the same, as it would be a "better life" for them, and they would not die of starvation.
Salwa al Mutairi, who once ran for parliament, argued buying a sex slave would protect decent, devout and 'virile' Kuwaiti men from adultery or being seduced by other women's beauty because an imported sex partner would be tantamount to marriage, reports the Daily Mail.
"There was no shame in it and it is not haram' (forbidden) under Islamic Sharia law," Mutairi claimed.
To justify her claim, she cites an 8th century Muslim leader Haroun al-Rashid, who is rumoured to have had 2,000 mistresses.
Mutairi recommended that offices could be opened to run the sex trade in the same way that recruitment agencies provide housemaids.
"For example, in the Chechnyan war, surely there are female Russian captives," she said.
"So go and buy those and sell them here in Kuwait. Better than to have our men engage in forbidden sexual relations."
Mutairi said that during a recent visit to Mecca, she asked Saudi muftis - Muslim religious scholars - what the Islamic ruling was on owning sex slaves. They are said to have told her that it is not haram.
The ruling was confirmed by 'specialized people of the faith' in Kuwait, she claimed.
In an attempt to consider the woman's feelings in the arrangement, Mutari conceded that the enslaved women, however, should be at least 15.
Her remarks, made in a video posted on YouTube last month and carried by newspapers in the Gulf states in recent days, have sparked outrage in cyber-space from fellow Kuwaitis and others in the wider region.
'Wonder how Salwa al Mutairi would've felt if during the occupation (of Kuwait) by Iraqi forces, she was sold as 'war booty' as she advocates for Chechen women,' tweeted Mona Eltahawy.
Another tweeter, Shireen Qudosi, told Mutairi 'you're a disgrace to women everywhere'.
ANI
First Published: Wednesday, June 08, 2011, 22:15