British minister makes fun of knockout drops
At a reception, James Cleverly makes unspeakable remarks about knockout drops. His spokesman tries to placate him. The Home Secretary had made a "clearly ironic joke" in a private conversation. A women's organization calls for his resignation.
The British Home Secretary James Cleverly has apologized for making a joke about knockout drops on the fringes of a reception. According to a report in the Sunday Mirror newspaper, he allegedly told female guests that it wasn't really illegal if there was just "a little bit" of Rohypnol (a sedative) in their drink every night.
Cleverly also reportedly laughed and said that the secret to a long marriage is to make sure your partner is always "lightly sedated" so she doesn't realize there are better men out there, the newspaper reported. A spokesperson for Cleverly said that the Home Secretary had made a "clearly ironic joke" in a private conversation, which had always been understood as such, for which he apologized.
Cleverly has been head of the Home Office for several weeks, was previously Foreign Secretary and is married. Shortly before the remark, he had announced new measures to combat the abuse of knockout drops. Spiking" refers to offenders putting drugs in their victims' drinks in order to rape them later, for example.
Women's rights organizations sharply criticized Cleverly's statements. The Fawcett Society stated that it was disgusting that Cleverly, as a minister responsible for women's safety, thought that something as terrible as drugging women was a laughing matter. The organization called for his resignation. The aid organization Women's Aid urged him to take spiking seriously.
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The backlash against James Cleverly's comments continued, with Great Britain's Equality and Human Rights Commission launching an investigation into his sexist remarks about knockout drops. Furthermore, the issue of sexualized violence against women in Great Britain has once again been thrust into the spotlight, highlighting the persistent problem of sexism in high-ranking positions.
Source: www.ntv.de
