A Maldives religious scholar's response to a query raised regarding the classification of husband forcing sexually on wife, not regarded as 'rape' has raised eyebrows and attracted heat.
Dr. Mohamed Iyaz Abdul Latheef responded to a Viber group conversation where an individual asked if it would be classified as rape when a man forces himself on his wife without her consent to which Latheef replied that it won't be categorized as rape.
Dr. Latheef's remark on a topic deemed sensitive in Maldives, has attracted a lot of anger and criticism from several people with many expressing their opinion on social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
Many women's advocators had taken the time to lambaste the religious scholar for his misogynistic response - with some stating such false doctrines fuel patriarchal hegemony in Maldives.
"Such responses are clear indication of gender discrimination and the status of women in the society, shows the respect women have among male dominating cultures," said one of the commenters on a post shared on Facebook. Another expressed their anger saying one's "married wife is not their personal tool."
Many have called out to Gender Ministry and even the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to probe into the situation regarding Dr. Latheef's remarks on rape.
Social media activists and general users of several social media platforms had chastised Dr. Latheef's answer, stating such explanations do not fit to developing and evolving communities. Many had also described it as an indirect encouragement for me with sexual exploitation of women.
Former Vice President of Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) Shifaq Mufeed had also expressed his concerns, asserting that an individual's background as a religious cleric do not grant them to exploit and misrepresent established practices and doctrines of Islamic faith. Mufeed called out to religious scholars not to incite the public towards sexual abuse and women harassment.
Responding to the issue, Dr. Latheef spoke to Avas Online asserting on the sacred bond between husband and wife, and added that wives should fulfill the requests made by their husbands for sexual pleasures. He also stressed that men too, have to comply with their wives requests for sexual pleasures and both parties have the right to refuse for the act under certain circumstances.
Dr. Latheef emphasized that both husbands and wives should comply to one another on requests that do not breach or violate the Islamic faith or its practices.
However he had maintained the same response towards rape with regards to men forcing himself on his wife, stating that rape is described as the forceful sexual act on a woman to tarnish her chastity, but the act of sexual aggression cannot be coined as rape when the situation involves a man and his wife - implying that rape can be only classified for men sexually abusing women who they have not wedded.
Dr. Latheef had also explained his short retort on the Viber group query, adding the topic was discussed during Sex Crime Act and a detailed explanation should be revealed to the public.
