If a woman is wearing very few clothes, it will have an impact on the men unless they are robots: Pakistan PM Imran Khan on sexual assault

As Imran Khan advised young men and women to "avoid temptation in society", many called him out for his "misogynistic" comments and for linking the rise in sexual assault cases in the country to how women dress.

Imran Khan

Islamabad (Pakistan): Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is once again in the eye of storm after he said, once again, that a rise in sexual assault cases in the country was linked to how women dress.

This is barely two months after the Pakistan Prime Minister comments on sexual violence had drawn severe backlash. In April, during a question and answer session with the public, Khan had said that the rise in sexual violence in Pakistan, particularly against children, was caused due to "fahashi" (vulgarity). This time, he suggested that avoiding "temptation in society" is the way to prevent sexual violence against women.

Defending his earlier remarks, in an interview with "Axios on HBO", Imran Khan said "...I said the concept of 'purdah'. Avoid temptation in society. We don't have discos here, we don`t have nightclubs. It is a completely different society way of life here. So if you raise temptation in society to a point - all these young guys have nowhere to go - it has a consequence in the society."

Answering a question if the woman's clothes can provoke sexual violence, Khan said, "If a woman is wearing very few clothes it will have an impact on the men unless they are robots. It's common sense."

When further prodded, he added, "It depends which society you live in. If in a society people have not seen that sort of thing, it will have an impact on them."

Calling Imran Khan a "sick, misogynistic, degenerate", Pakistan Muslim League (PML) spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb came down heavily on the Pakistan Prime Minister. "The world got an insight into a mindset of a sick, misogynistic, degenerate & derelict IK. It is not women's choices that lead to sexual assault rather the choices of men who choose to engage in this dispicable and vile crime," Aurangzeb tweeted. "Maybe the misogynist, degenerate can defend paedophiles and murderers, as he advocates for rapist. After all, men cannot be expected to control temptation," she added.

Official statistics in Pakistan have revealed that at least 11 rape incidents are reported in the country every day, with over 22,000 cases reported to the police in the last six years. However, only 77 of the accused have been convicted which comprises 0.3 per cent of the total figure, reported Geo News. 

(With ANI inputs)