By Joe Gerrard • Published: 14 Feb 2019 • 15:56
THE Secretary for State for Global Spain has backtracked from comments likening the 2017 Catalan independence referendum to rape made in an interview with British media.
Irene Lozano told Sky News rape and the vote were comparable because of a lack of permission in both cases.
“Sex is not forbidden and voting is not prohibited, but you can’t do it forcefully. You have to have permission to do it, otherwise its rape,” Lozano said.
NEW: A Spanish official has compared voting in the 2017 Catalan independence referendum to rape. @lozanoirene told @DominicWaghorn “Sex is not forbidden, like voting is not forbidden but you can’t do it forcefully. You have to have the permission to do it, otherwise it’s rape” pic.twitter.com/WzzK1BnnxB — Andrew Connell (@andrewiconnell) February 14, 2019
NEW: A Spanish official has compared voting in the 2017 Catalan independence referendum to rape. @lozanoirene told @DominicWaghorn “Sex is not forbidden, like voting is not forbidden but you can’t do it forcefully. You have to have the permission to do it, otherwise it’s rape” pic.twitter.com/WzzK1BnnxB
— Andrew Connell (@andrewiconnell) February 14, 2019
Lozano later said she did not choose the best comparison when talking about the vote.
“I tried to explain the difference between doing things with or without the consent of those affected. The referendum was held with the agreement of half of Cataluña and has left it divided,” Lozano said on Twitter.
Anoche no hice la mejor de las comparaciones. Trataba de explicar la diferencia entre hacer las cosas con o sin el consentimiento de los afectados. El referéndum del 1-O se hizo sin el acuerdo de la mitad de la sociedad catalana y la ha dejado dividida. — Irene Lozano (@lozanoirene) February 14, 2019
Anoche no hice la mejor de las comparaciones. Trataba de explicar la diferencia entre hacer las cosas con o sin el consentimiento de los afectados. El referéndum del 1-O se hizo sin el acuerdo de la mitad de la sociedad catalana y la ha dejado dividida.
— Irene Lozano (@lozanoirene) February 14, 2019
The Catalan referendum was held after Spain’s Supreme Court ruled it violated the country’s Constitution and was therefore illegal.
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