Thursday, January 24, 2019

Philippines President Duterte Admits To Rape

There has been a wave of criticism after Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said he sexually assaulted a maid when he was a teenager. 

In a speech, he recalled confessing to a priest how he reached into the maid's underwear as she slept.  "I lifted the blanket... I tried to touch what was inside the panty," he said. "I was touching. She woke up so I left the room."  He said he told the priest that he later returned to the woman's room and tried to molest her again.

Women's rights group Gabriela said Duterte was "unworthy of his position and should resign".

Rights groups in the Philippines have strongly condemned the comments, which were made as part of a tirade against the Catholic Church over the sexual abuse of children.

Gabriela, a political party representing women's rights groups, said the comments were tantamount to admitting rape.

The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific warned that the president's comments put domestic workers at risk.  "Flaunting abusive practices encourages the rape culture and in this case, sexual abuse of domestic workers," said executive director Jean Enriquez.

The Philippines president has sparked outrage with a number of provocative comments but remains popular.

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