Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Special Assistant Barrister Shah Ali Farhad has asked all to focus on boys to stop rapes rather than blaming victims.
“Please note that the only reason for rape is the desire of a rapist to rape,” he wrote in his verified facebook page.
“We need to focus on preventing ordinary boys/men from becoming rapists in the first place as opposed to coming up with new and more shameful ways of ‘victim blaming’.”
He made the comment on Friday as police arrested Fardin Iftekhar Dihan in connection with a case filed over the rape and murder of an English medium school girl on Thursday. Dihan gave his confessional statement to a Dhaka magistrate on Friday.
Barrister Farhad gave an example of how he and his lawyer wife are raising their two sons and said: “All of our knowledge, identities and aspirations are frankly of no use if we can’t even teach basic concepts like consent and gender equality to our own sons.”
“My wife and I agree that, as citizens against all forms of sexual violence, our primary duty is to start talking to our own two sons as soon as they have the slightest idea about concepts like love, sex, attraction etc.
“We have decided that we will try to create an atmosphere in our household whereby our two boys can always feel free to come up to us and frankly discuss all aspects of healthy human relationships.
“In fact, my conscious wife has already started an orientation for my four year old son on ‘good touch-bad touch’. My wife and I, both are lawyers. Additionally, I consider myself to be a progressive politician who wants to see a more equitable and equal society,” he wrote.
