Demonstration of rape and advice not to be raped: this program caused a scandal in Côte d’Ivoire. The feminist demonstrations which followed allowed the rapid sanction of the host and his guest.
Outcry on Ivorian television: Monday, August 30, 2021, the program “La Télé from here vacations”, broadcast on the NCI channel, made a live demonstration of rape. Young Africa tells the mind-blowing violence against women scene, which took place between host Yves de Mbella and a man presented as a repentant criminal. “Here is a go, for example”, designates the facilitator on the mannequin installed on a podium. “Do you attack from the front or from behind? Show us how you do it.” The man then proceeds to a demonstration in which he strangles his victim, touches her private parts, drops her, immobilizes her and rapes her. The host laughs and continues: “Do you act alone or with someone? How do you choose them? Thin or with buttocks?”. The misogyny does not stop there: the two men then dispense their advice to “avoid rape”. Far from them the idea of suggesting to men not to rape: their advice is addressed exclusively to women.
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“The woman should avoid getting drunk. Very often when they are drunk they are out of control. The man can take advantage of it. Avoid walking alone late at night. It is difficult to rape during the day. If you go out late, always be with someone ” explains the guest, who is, we recall, presented as a former rapist.
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A petition to denounce complicity “in violence against women by giving a voice to a rapist”
The Ivorian League for Women’s Rights recalls in a statement that rape is a crime and has filed a complaint for public contempt and apology for the rape against NCI, as well as against Mr. de M’Bella. A petition was sent on Tuesday, August 31 to the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication (Haca) and to the Ministries of Communication and Youth, denouncing the fact that “television, whose role is to educate, is complicit in violence against women by giving a voice to a rapist”.
The channel has since apologized and suspended the presenter. Yves de M’bella and the ex-rapist Kader Traoré were sentenced Wednesday, September 1 to 12 months suspended prison sentence for apologizing for rape and indecent assault. Yves de M’Bella was also fined two million FCFA (3,000 euros) and was banned from leaving Abidjan.