Mugabe's wife - Grace claims mini-skirts invite rape...is this right?

First lady tells thousands of supporters at provincial rally that if they showed off their thighs then any sexual assault would be their "fault"

Zimbabwe's First Lady Grace Mugabe addresses party supporters at a rally in Harare Photo: AP

Grace Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s outspoken first lady who is thought to be tilting for the presidency after her husband dies, has sparked outrage for saying that if women wear short skirts they deserved to be raped.

Mrs Mugabe, 50, a mother-of-four and former typist who admits she is as “thick-skinned as a crocodile”, made her comments in the local language Shona to thousands of supporters at a rally in Mberengwa, southern Zimbabwe on Saturday.

“If you walk around wearing mini skirts displaying your thighs and inviting men to drool over you, then you want to complain when you have been raped?" he was reported as saying in local media. “That is unfortunate because it will be your fault.”

The remarks put her at odds with her husband who said two months ago that his government was "seriously" considering castrating rapists.

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"Don’t say Mr Mugabe is becoming cruel because we want to protect our women. So men, take care,” he told MPs during a lunch to mark the opening of parliament.
Many Zimbabwe and and South African women complained on Twitter about Mrs Mugabe's assumptions.
"Just heart broken by what a woman Grace Mugabe said about women,” said one.
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Another, Womyn Power, wrote: “When women blame other women for being raped a piece of me dies inside and then there’s Grace Mugabe.”
“Grandmothers are getting raped daily in rural areas and they wear no mini skirts. Grace Mugabe is a disgrace," a South African student wrote.

When women blame other women for being raped a piece of me dies inside and then there's Grace Mugabe.

— Womyn Power (@MissMadiba) November 21, 2015

Mrs Mugabe, 50, began an affair with President Robert Mugabe, 91, when she was a teenage mother-of one while the former first lady, Sally Mugabe, was dying of kidney disease.
Grace Marufu with Robert Mugabe on their wedding day  Photo: Joao Silva/AP
Since declaring an interest in politics last year and securing a place in the powerful politburo of the ruling party, Zanu-PF, by becoming the party's womens' represenative, she has mesmerised poor people with her colorful rallies and well-organised road show. She also regularly donates state assets, such as tractors and tones of food at her rallies.
At present, she is touring the country ahead of Zanu PF’s annual conference next month. During the same rally, she also raised the hunger of thousands of Zimbabweans because of a savage drought and the shrinking economy. “I regularly give up a meal in solidarity with those who are hungry,” she told supporters.
She denied that she wants to succeed her nonagenarian husband, saying people want him to remain in power. "We are going to create a special wheelchair for President Mugabe so he rules until he is 100 years-old, because that is what we want," she said.