SALON

Wednesday, Jan 16, 2013 6:31 PM UTC

Would-be judge suggests rape victims “enjoy it”

And why did the Indonesian Supreme Court hopeful say women "enjoy" being sexually violated? To "break the ice"

By

Topics: Violence Against Women, Sexual assault, Rape, Todd Akin, Richard Mourdock, Sexual abuse, ,

Would-be judge suggests rape victims (Credit: via @agricola315)

If you thought the U.S. Congress had a monopoly on saying incendiary, idiotic things about rape, think again.

Daming Sanusi, a candidate for the Indonesian Supreme Court, has sparked widespread outrage by suggesting that rape victims “enjoy” being sexually assaulted.

In front of a parliamentary commission hearing to determine if he was fit for the high court, Sanusi was asked whether he believed the death penalty should be applied in rape cases. His response? “Consideration needs to be taken thoroughly for the imposition of death penalty for a rapist because in a rape case both the rapist and the victim enjoy it,” CNN reported.

And why did he say something so colossally stupid?

He was nervous and wanted to “break the ice” with a “joke”: “I made the remark without realizing it can harm people’s feeling,” Antara, the Indonesian news agency, quoted him as saying.

News of Sanusi’s comments spread quickly through social media, prompting calls for officials to dismiss his candidacy.

“We ask legislators not to give the judge position to Daming, as he had offended people’s feeling by uttering inappropriate statement,” Ridwan Bakar, a spokesman for the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, said.

Sanusi has since issued an apology, saying his words were “out of control,” but it appears his remorse is too little too late.

“The damage has been done,” Primastuti Handayani, the managing editor of the Jakarta Post, wrote in a commentary published Wednesday. “Nothing he said in his apology can heal the wound he caused.”

Katie McDonough is an assistant editor for Salon, focusing on lifestyle. Follow her on Twitter @kmcdonovgh or email her at kmcdonough@salon.com. More Katie Mcdonough.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • This photo. President Barack Obama has a laugh during the unveiling of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Tx., Thursday. Former first lady Barbara Bush, who candidly admitted this week we've had enough Bushes in the White House, is unamused.
    Reuters/Jason Reed

  • Rescue workers converge Wednesday in Savar, Bangladesh, where the collapse of a garment building killed more than 300. Factory owners had ignored police orders to vacate the work site the day before.
    AP/A.M. Ahad

  • Police gather Wednesday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to honor campus officer Sean Collier, who was allegedly killed in a shootout with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects last week.
    AP/Elise Amendola

  • Police tape closes the site of a car bomb that targeted the French embassy in Libya Tuesday. The explosion wounded two French guards and caused extensive damage to Tripoli's upscale al-Andalus neighborhood.
    AP/Abdul Majeed Forjani

  • Protestors rage outside the residence of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday following the rape of a 5-year-old girl in New Delhi. The girl was allegedly kidnapped and tortured before being abandoned in a locked room for two days.
    AP/Manish Swarup

  • Clarksville, Mo., residents sit in a life boat Monday after a Mississippi River flooding, the 13th worst on record.
    AP/Jeff Roberson

  • Workers pause Wednesday for a memorial service at the site of the West, Tx., fertilizer plant explosion, which killed 14 people and left a crater more than 90 feet wide.
    AP/The San Antonio Express-News, Tom Reel

  • Aerial footage of the devastation following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in China's Sichuan province last Saturday. At least 180 people were killed and as many as 11,000 injured in the quake.
    AP/Liu Yinghua

  • On Wednesday, Hazmat-suited federal authorities search a martial arts studio in Tupelo, Miss., once operated by Everett Dutschke, the newest lead in the increasingly twisty ricin case. Last week, President Barack Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker, R.-Miss., and a Mississippi judge were each sent letters laced with the deadly poison.
    AP/Rogelio V. Solis

  • The lighting of Freedom Hall at the George W. Bush Presidential Center Thursday is celebrated with (what else but) red, white and blue fireworks.
    AP/David J. Phillip

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 5 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "The Shelter Cycle": Raised in a cult

Recommendations