Published 22 Jun, 2021 05:58pm

Women are not the only ones who have a problem with Imran Khan's comments on rape

We've said plenty about Prime Minister Imran Khan's problematic comments on rape. And so have his defenders.

Now, we want you to hear what some men have to say about Imran Khan linking rape to temptation and being impacted "if a woman is wearing very few clothes [...] unless they’re robots".

Osman Khalid Butt - actor

"Of course men aren't robots. Yes, there is desire, temptation, attraction.

"Rape isn't caused by this. Rape is about power. Dominance, a complete lack of empathy, hostility. It diminishes a woman — or a man, or a child — to a sexual object. It is dehumanising."

In reply to a tweet, he said: "I studied in a segregated school till uni. There was a strict dress code, and boys & girls were not allowed to fraternise. Somehow I didn't end up sexually assaulting anyone."

Referring to the unedited clip of the interview released by the Prime Minister's Office, he acknowledged that the premier spoke of child abuse as well. But, he pointed out, that doesn't mean what he said about sexual violence wasn't highly problematic.

"This statement, his comparison of men and robots, is still dangerous. IK said everyone in society must join hands to eradicate sex crimes. In a country where talking about sex & sexual abuse is still taboo, where rapists walk with impunity, where a woman is still being led to believe no matter how much she covers up, she's still at fault for 'tempting' men, where men's animal/base instincts are spoken of in an apologist tone & not openly condemned, this is rather rich."

Zarrar Khuhro - journalist

"Look here's the thing: we all, or most of us, grew up believing wholeheartedly that rape is a 'lust' crime, a 'crime of passion' involving loss of control over the man's impulses. Certainly this is what I was socialised into believing too.

"But as you grow (as you should) you learn that this is not the case," wrote the senior journalist, emphasising on the need to self-reflect and evolve.

"Once you see the actual cases, the actual dynamics and atrocities (children, babies, corpses, heated rods being used as surrogate phalluses) you understand you were wrong. Now, acknowledging that is hard. Because it means that you have to give up comfortable notions that you had previously accepted, had imbibed from elders, peers, society. To accept they were wrong is tough. But sometimes to learn new things, to grow, means to first un-learn the old. And that takes great courage. I get that.

"But to refuse to do that is not just an act of cowardice. It is something that one can only have immense contempt for. Because the day you stop learning, and remain arrogant in your ignorance, is the day you start dying."

When asked if lust could be completely taken out of the equation, here's what he said: "Sure. But to single out the least known cause is to promote that as the major reason. And anyone who knows this issue knows that's not the case. And THAT is the problem. Especially coming from the PM himself."

Jibran Nasir - lawyer and activist

"Dear PM Imran Khan, stop humanising the rapists, abusers and harassers and stop objectifying the victims," wrote the activist.

"You may not realise it but when you repeatedly stress upon the clothes of a woman as a cause for temptation leading to sexual violence you do exactly that."

Usman Mukhtar - actor

"Rape is rape! There is no justification for it. No! It does not happen because a woman is wearing short clothes. It happens because the person who is committing this heinous, inhumane act is a criminal and the scum of the earth. It’s an act of abuse of power! It’s an act of a deranged mind, not of non robots lured by women!" the actor and director said via his Instagram Story.

"It’s like saying that if a person had a gun in the house they would want to commit murder. And it’s justified because the gun was lying around so of course this had to happen," he reasoned.

"Mr PM, please stop blaming the victim. It’s time for action. Time to punish such filth of the earth to a point no one dares to commit such an act."

One of the many arguments online has been that it's just "liberal" women who have a problem with the premier's statement but that isn't true. There are hundreds of men who didn't like what he said either.

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