Always easier to blame the victim, isn’t it

I swear they’re trying to drive us all bananas:

Riyadh — A Saudi judge told a conference on domestic violence that a man has the right to slap a wife who spends money wastefully and said women were as much to blame as men for increased spousal abuse, a newspaper reported.

Made out of court, the remarks do not carry the weight of law. But such pronouncements by Saudi judges, who are also Islamic clerics, are often widely respected.

A rights activist decried the remarks and said she and other campaigners viewed them as the latest setback in women’s efforts to gain the right to vote, drive, freely participate in politics and be protected from violence.

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