The Spanish Government has been criticised for releasing “rape prevention advice” for women that included suggestions such as closing the curtains at night and carrying a whistle.
The Local reports that critics took to Twitter to label the Interior Ministry as “retrograde”, “unbearable” and “insulting”.
Former Socialist politician Soledad Murillo was amongst the critics. She tweeted in Spanish “There’s nothing more dangerous than an incompetent government: Close the curtains to stop women from being raped, says Interior Ministry”.
Other suggestions on the list included “don’t write your first name on your letter box”, “don’t get into a lift with a stranger”, and “leave the lights on in more than one room at home so it doesn’t seem like you’re alone”.
“It’s a form of scaremongering, it puts the blame on women and it stops them from taking responsibility,” tweeted Carmen Montón, the Socialist Party’s equality spokeswoman.
The Ministry, headed by the devout Catholic and member of Opus Dei Jorge Fernandez, put out the advice sheet just days after five men, aged between 17 – 23, were arrested in Malaga accused of raping a young woman. That case has since been thrown out of court by the Judge after he was shown mobile phone footage of the event.
The Mayor of Malaga Francisco de la Torre has been accused of playing down the importance of the alleged crime by stating “There are more than a thousand rapes every year in Spain. … Let’s not give the impression that Malaga is unsafe”.