{"id":260625,"date":"2016-10-22T14:10:33","date_gmt":"2016-10-22T14:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=260625"},"modified":"2016-10-22T14:10:33","modified_gmt":"2016-10-22T14:10:33","slug":"tunisia-shocked-by-tv-hosts-marry-rapist-remarks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/10\/tunisia-shocked-by-tv-hosts-marry-rapist-remarks\/","title":{"rendered":"Tunisia shocked by TV host’s ‘marry rapist’ remarks"},"content":{"rendered":"

A popular Tunisian talk\u00a0show has been suspended after its\u00a0presenter appeared to tell\u00a0a young female guest to marry the man she accuses of raping her, and suggested she was to blame.<\/p>\n

The girl, named Hajar, said\u00a0she had been sexually abused by three different members of her family since the age of 14.<\/p>\n

Often crying, she also said she was\u00a0eight\u00a0months\u00a0pregnant by one of her abusers.<\/p>\n

It emerged during her appearance on Ala\u00a0Chebbi’s\u00a0show\u00a0Andi Mankolek,\u00a0or\u00a0I’ve Got Something to Tell You, that poverty had forced her\u00a0to give up school aged 14 to work on the family farm.<\/p>\n

She also said that her\u00a0father was frequently absent because of work, and that her relationship with him and her stepmother was poor.<\/p>\n

Hajar’s\u00a0elder brother, Allala, who appeared alongside her on the show earlier this month,\u00a0said he\u00a0had approached the show out of despair after\u00a0her father, ashamed at her pregnancy, had kicked her out of the family home.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Screenshot
Hajar (L) appeared on the show alongside her brother (C), with her face pixelated during broadcast<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n

Although Tunisia is seen as relatively progressive on social matters among Muslim-majority countries, traditional attitudes are still widespread, and\u00a0pregnancy before marriage is regarded by some as a matter of shame, regardless of the cause.<\/p>\n

When Hajar’s father joined the programme, Chebbi\u00a0suggested to him that “whoever did it should marry\u00a0her to close\u00a0the case” and “contain the situation”.<\/p>\n

He asked Hajar who the father is, and she told him that she\u00a0was not sure, but suspects the brother of her stepmother.<\/p>\n

Told by her brother that all three alleged abusers were married, Chebbi added that “at least, he can recognise his child and give him his name”.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Facebook
Ala Chebbi’s comments prompted the creation of a Facebook group called “‘Marry your rapist,’ he says. ‘We will see you in court,’ we reply”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n

He then chided her for not reporting any of her abusers, and urged her to ask her father for\u00a0forgiveness for being pregnant without being married.\u00a0“Admit that you are at fault,” he added.<\/p>\n

The remarks prompted an outcry on social media.<\/p>\n

“Even though she was raped and abused by her relatives, he asks her to justify herself,” tweeted freelance cartoonist Tawfiq Omrane.<\/p>\n

\"Tweet<\/span><\/figure>\n

Thousands of people joined a Facebook page called “‘Marry your rapist,’ he says. ‘We will see you in court,’ we reply.”<\/p>\n

The page uses a widely-shared photo of the show’s\u00a0studio with a text overlaid that says:\u00a0“Mr\u00a0Ala: The punishment for rape is\u00a0imprisonment, not marriage.”<\/p>\n

It has addressed\u00a0a letter\u00a0to the minister for women, family and childhood, Samira Merai, calling for action to end\u00a0violence against\u00a0women and children.<\/p>\n

There was also criticism of a\u00a0law – Article 227 – that\u00a0requires rape charges to be dropped if the perpetrator marries the victim.<\/p>\n

The women’s ministry has drafted a bill to abolish the article, but this still needs to be ratified by parliament.<\/p>\n

Chebbi\u00a0insisted his remarks were taken out of context, telling Mosaique\u00a0Radio FM\u00a0he had only suggested marriage in light of what he called a lack of evidence proving that rape had taken place.<\/p>\n

He said he believed the abusers should be punished if proven guilty of rape, but\u00a0again reiterated his view that Hajar\u00a0had made a mistake in remaining silent.<\/p>\n

“This\u00a0is the case of many Tunisian girls who have been\u00a0raped and did not say anything,” he said.\u00a0“Silence is the core of this case.”<\/p>\n

But Tunisia’s media regulator has sided\u00a0with his critics, suspending the programme for three months after finding it to have “violated human dignity”.<\/p>\n

Radia Saidi, a spokeswoman of the\u00a0Tunisian Independent High Authority for Audiovisual Communication, told the BBC’s Rana\u00a0Jawad\u00a0that Chebbi had judged\u00a0the victim, rather than questioning her.”There was no excuse to break Tunisian laws and international laws for the protection of minors and of privacy,” she added.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A popular Tunisian talk\u00a0show has been suspended after its\u00a0presenter appeared to tell\u00a0a young female guest to marry the man she accuses of raping her, and suggested she was to blame. The girl, named Hajar, said\u00a0she had been sexually abused by three different members of her family since the age of 14. Often crying, she also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":260671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[117],"tags":[3,3129],"yoast_head":"\nTunisia shocked by TV host's 'marry rapist' remarks - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. 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