Ecuador President Says Women Only Consider Advances Harassment When It Comes From “Ugly Men”. He Needs A Reality Check

Ecuador President Says Women Only Consider Advances Harassment When It Comes From “Ugly Men”. He Needs A Reality Check

Contrary to popular belief, India is not the only country where violence against women is so widespread. The truth is, there is not one single country on earth that does not have its fair share of women getting harassed every day. Though the forms vary, there is one thing that is the same- the suffering these women go through. It is simple, right? Abuse in any form is messed up and it must stop. But it seems like a few ignorant people (ahem, men) do not understand this concept.

Let me give you a little example of a world leader who believes the most ridiculous thing about harassment. Are you ready to be enraged? Okay great. The Ecuador President, Lenin Moreno said that women only think of abuse as abuse when the perpetrator is “ugly”.

He made these comments at an economics conference in the city of Guayaquil on Friday. It gets better, he also added that men are, “permanently subject to the danger of being accused of harassment”. Maybe if fewer men harassed women, they wouldn’t have to live in this fear. Besides, has he thought about the permanent danger women are subjected to by said men? Nope, why should he? It isn’t like he is running a country or anything.

Also Read: Turkey To Introduce A “Marry Your Rapist” Bill For It’s Women In Case Of Statutory Rape. That Is Just Inhumane And Messed Up.

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In the same speech, he went onto say “That is to say, that the harassment is when it comes from an ugly person,” he further added. “But if the person looks good according to the standards, they tend not to think necessarily that it is harassment.” Moreno also said that he thinks it is “good” that women are now reporting harassment, but they are often “angry with ugly people”.

What he meant by that statement is lost on me. He is trying to say women don’t consider harassment to be harassment if the abuser is good looking. I don’t think I have heard a more bullshit statement than this one. I don’t know what women he has met and observed this from, but someone needs to give the Ecuador President a reality check.

A video of him making these comments during this conference, which was aimed at promoting private investments for the country, went viral. Needless to say, Moreno rightly received a ton of backlash on social media for it.

After the Twitterati began attacking and questioning him, Moreno shot out an apology tweet in an attempt at damage control. His tweet read, “In my comment about harassment, I did not intend to minimize such a serious matter as violence or abuse. I apologize if it was understood that way. I reject violence against women in all its forms!”

Also Read: The Brazilian President Whose Views On Women Are Disrespectful Is The Chief Guest At Our Republic Day Celebrations. Why?

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Now, there is clearly a disparity between his what he says unfiltered and when he has the time to think about what he wants to say and an entire PR team enabling the message he wants to send out. Which makes me wonder if he does not stand for violence against women, what made him make such a statement in the first place? And if he trying not to “minimize such a serious matter as violence or abuse” what made him say women don’t consider it abuse when the man is good-looking? This entire thing reeks of sheer chauvinism and male privilege. Only a man who has no idea what a woman goes through and doesn’t even want to know, can pass comments like these.

Talking about Ecuador, did you know that according to data from the UN, one in four women in that country has experienced sexual violence. These figures are staggering and instead of curbing the issue, their president is making redundant comments about harassment and giving out meaningless diplomatic apologies after.

Looking at the state of women in the world, I would say it is high time the leaders pay attention and alter their ridiculous beliefs.

https://thehauterfly.com/lifestyle/alexsandro-palombo-just-because-i-am-a-woman/

Mitali Shah

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