Egyptian lawyer Nabih al-Wahsh recently shared his misogynistic views on TV, in which he states that women who wear ripped jeans, specifically from the back, deserve to be sexually harassed and raped.
Wahsh made the statement during the Infirad Show, hosted by Saeed Hassaseen, and has since sparked outrage in the country.
Elaborating further, Wahsh also said that it is a "national duty" to rape women who wear such clothes as they are "inviting men to harass them."
"Girls must respect themselves so others respect them. Protecting morals is more important than protecting borders," Wahsh said, according to Al Arabiya.
The debate was aired by the satellite channel Al-Assema on Oct. 19 and focused on the country's draft law fighting prostitution and debauchery.
The female guests on the show refused to be silenced
Activists across the country were outraged
Maya Mursi, the Head of the National Council for Women Rights (NCWR), said Wahsh's remarks are a "flagrant call" for rape and violate everything in the Egyptian constitution, adding that the NCWR will file a complaint to the prosecutor-general regarding public statements inciting sexual harassment and rape.
The council has since filed a complaint to the Supreme Council for Media Regulation as well.
"Rape culture promoted on TV in Egypt"
Following the outrage, Wahsh did not back down.
He issued a statement to the local website Al-Watan in which he said that "his daughter would also deserve that [rape, sexual harassment] if she decided to wear jeans that are ripped from the back," according to Daily News Egypt.
FYI Wahsh: "Sexual harassment is not the victim's fault. It's not the women's clothes' fault. It's the suspect's fault."
Wahsh's statements go against everything the recent #MeToo campaign challenges.
The campaign saw thousands of women and men share intimate stories of sexual harassment, reminding the world that sexual violation knows no dress code.
Stories of hijab-wearing women who have been sexually harassed soon followed, proving this very fact.
"Sexual harassment was never about how women look like, it's about how men look at them," Lebanese feminist activist and campaigner Maya El Ammar told StepFeed at the time.