Want To Avoid Rape? Stop Drinking So Much! Official’s Remarks On Sexual Assault Spark Outrage

Hong Kong’s security secretary has sparked outrage online after stating that in order to avoid being raped, young ladies “should not drink too much.”

NyMag.com reports that Mr Lai Tung-kwok’s comments come after a 60 per cent rise in reported rapes and an 18 per cent rise in reported sexual assaults in the city of Hong Kong.

Women’s groups around the globe have expressed anger and frustration at the remarks, stating that Mr Tung-kwok’s stance shows that the goverment happily allows men not to take responsibility for their actions and places the task of avoiding sexual assault solely on women.

“Some of these cases... involved the victims being raped after drinking quite a lot of alcohol,” said Mr Tung-kwok, speaking at a press briefing yesterday.

“So I would appeal that young ladies should not drink too much,” he added.

Mr Tung-kwok's comments have angered women around the world

Hong Kong based women’s groups have expressed concern that the secretary’s comments will discourage women from reporting sexual assault in the future, especially if alcohol was involved.

“There’s a lot of stigma that’s given to the victims. The remarks he made are proof of a culture that blames victims for doing something ‘wrong,’ like drinking,” said Liu Si-si, the director of the Hong Kong Federation of Women’s Centres.

“Maybe he has good intentions, and he did not intend to blame the women or be unfriendly to them. But if he continues to say things like this, I worry women will be less likely to report crimes because they’ll be worried about being blamed,” Ms Si-si added.