First lady tells thousands of supporters at provincial rally that if they showed off their thighs then any sexual assault would be their "fault"
Grace Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s outspoken first lady who is thought to be tilting for the presidency after her husband dies, has sparked outrage for saying that if women wear short skirts they deserved to be raped.
Mrs Mugabe, 50, a mother-of-four and former typist who admits she is as “thick-skinned as a crocodile”, made her comments in the local language Shona to thousands of supporters at a rally in Mberengwa, southernZimbabwe on Saturday.
“If you walk around wearing mini skirts displaying your thighs and inviting men to drool over you, then you want to complain when you have been raped?" he was reported as saying in local media. “That is unfortunate because it will be your fault.”
The remarks put her at odds with her husband who said two months ago that his government was "seriously" considering castrating rapists.
"Don’t say Mr Mugabe is becoming cruel because we want to protect our women. So men, take care,” he told MPs during a lunch to mark the opening of parliament.
Many Zimbabwe and and South African women complained on Twitter about Mrs Mugabe's assumptions.
"Just heart broken by what a woman Grace Mugabe said about women,” said one.
Another, Womyn Power, wrote: “When women blame other women for being raped a piece of me dies inside and then there’s Grace Mugabe.”
“Grandmothers are getting raped daily in rural areas and they wear no mini skirts. Grace Mugabe is a disgrace," a South African student wrote.
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