Author, blogger and Pacific female advocate, Lani Wendt Young, has published a blog post criticising Deacon Kasiano Le’aupepe comments about sexual violence, which has fuelled support from Pacific females around the world.
Le’aupepe, who Chairman of Samoa’s National Council of Churches, has urged girls and women to bite men who sexually assault them.
“In fact”, he said “they should bite them hard enough to tear their skin off. This would be better, he said, than complaining about rape later.”
Wendt Young says her response to his comments, which was published in the Samoa Observer newspaper, has ignited a healthy debate on the issue of rape culture.
She says it is almost a good thing these comments were made, as there is a mindset around rape that needs to be addressed.
But she says Deacon Kasiano needs to front up to the public outcry.
“I would love to see him make an apology or rethink and revisit some of the things that he said. Because I think for all the women, particularly those who have lived through abuse and rape, it is personally offensive and damaging to hear these things coming from someone in a position like his – a position of leadership and of great influence.”
Source
Related Posts:
News category: Asia Pacific.
