In yet another incident of a politician making sexist remarks about women, speaker of Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly Kodela Siva Prasad has said if the women don’t leave their home, they won’t face any kind of harassment, a report in The Newsminute says.
Drawing an analogy between a car parked in a garage with a woman staying at home, Prasad said “in older times, when women were housewives, they were safe from all kind of atrocities, except discrimination.”
Here’s what he said as translated by The Newsminute:
“Let’s say you buy a vehicle. When it is parked in the garage at home, accidents can be avoided, right? When it is taken to a bazaar or to the road, accidents are likely to happen. When the car is speeding, it is more likely for accidents to take place. At a speed of 50 km/hr accidents are less likely, at a speed of 100 km/hr accidents are more likely,” the Speaker said.
“Similarly, in older times, when women were housewives, they were safe from all kind of atrocities, except discrimination. Today, they are studying, working, and also are doing business. They are exposed to the society. When they are exposed to the society they are more prone to eve-teasing, harassment, atrocities, rape and kidnap. Is it not? If they do not leave home, it doesn’t happen.”
Surprisingly, the speaker’s comments came during a press meet regarding the state’s plan to host the ‘National Women’s Parliament’ in its upcoming capital Amaravati. In fact, he started his speech by talking about ‘women empowerment’ and incidents of crime against women in the country.
While the speaker’s theory continued uncensored, he quickly clarified he wasn’t against the education and working of women, although with a caveat – that their protection should be taken care of.
“I do not mean that they need to be kept at home so that they are safe. They should be educated, should be made to work and they should be given the freedom to earn, but their protection should also be taken care of,” he concluded.
‘National Women’s Parliament’ is hosting over 10,000 women delegates from across the country including women MLAs, MPs, businesswomen and other influential leaders.
Watch the video of his theory on women here
Feature image source: PTI/File Photo