Greece: Bishop says women who get raped 'want it'

An Orthodox bishop has been universally condemned for saying that women who are raped “want it.”

In an interview with private broadcaster SKAI TV, Chrysostomos, metropolitan bishop of Dodoni, said that “a woman doesn’t just allow herself to get raped without wanting it.”

The cleric said that he was opposed to abortion, even in situations of rape.

He claimed that a woman cannot get pregnant as a result of rape.

Reacting to the comments, Education Minister Niki Kerameos said they were “unthinkable and reprehensible” and were incompatible with the position of the church “which actually supports women victims of abuse and rape.”

Health Minister Thanos Plevris said it was “unacceptable to justify an act of rape by claiming it is the fault of the victim” adding that it was the most unacceptable statement he ever heard from a member of the hierarchy.

SYRIZA central committee secretary Rania Svigou said the “chilling statements” come from a time of “obscurantism and witch hunts.”

“Rape is a crime; women’s self-determination over their own bodies is a right,” she underlined.

The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece “tarnished and are grossly unfair to the essential initiatives and silent work of the church … which daily stands by abused women through actions to support them and hostels to host them.”