Moroccan Gynecologist Sparks Outrage with Controversial Comments on Rape and Marriage

"I’ll tell you why rape exists. Rape exists because everyone has a sexual instinct. A desire that must be satisfied. When it is repressed, it leads to rape! The woman no longer wants marriage or family, and she talks more and more about her freedom and her body, which means that there is more and more rape. How then to fight it? She must accept to get married!", declared the gynecologist. These remarks by the specialist sparked lively controversy.

According to him, his remarks deemed "misogynistic" were "diverted from their context, distorted for a known purpose". "...I thought I was facing intellectuals and we were discussing ideas [...]. I was dealing with educated women, we were debating in an academic way and the show lasted 50 minutes and was broadcast 6 months ago," he lamented. "The debate lasted 50 minutes, and it was only 2 minutes that were judged. In addition, I spoke in classical Arabic, and unfortunately, some Moroccans do not master Arabic. And it is a great risk for an intellectual to hold a debate in Arabic, or to debate in an academic way," he told Hespress.

For Khalid Fathi, it is pure defamation. "I even think of leaving Morocco after what happened. They launched a petition against me of 20,000 signatures, people started insulting me," laments the gynecologist. "It is through the family (especially parents) that a child understands that his desire too will be satisfied one day, but within the framework of marriage. [...]," explained the gynecologist.

"So I continued my explanations, in this context, by saying that the woman no longer wants to be in a marriage framework and wants to escape moral, social and human boundaries, and consequently the family has been lost, society has been lost and rape has appeared [...]," he added.