A prominent Malaysian cleric said his comments that women should wear chastity belts to prevent rape and incest was a joke gone wrong, as rights groups and a top minister blasted his remarks in news reports on Saturday.
“Joke only. It was not seriously meant,” Abu Hassan Din Al-Hafiz said, according to the New Straits Times. He said earlier this week that women should “wear protection” to “safeguard them from sex maniacs,” reports said.
Abu Hassan could not be reached for comment on Saturday. Women, Family and Community Development Minister Sharizat Jalil said it was more important for Muslims to be strong in their faith than to promote ideas like wearing chastity belts to prevent sex crimes. Jemaah Islah Malaysia women’s rights chief Harlina Halizah Siraj called Abu Hassan’s remarks “outdated”. “We have to change the mind-set that any violence against women is caused by women themselves,” she said. |