‘AVOID GETTING DRUNK’

Fury Erupts After Italian PM’s Partner Suggests Rape Victims Are to Blame

Andrea Giambruno suggested to a TV audience that if a woman didn’t lose consciousness, she’d “also avoid getting into trouble, because then you’ll find the wolf.”

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s partner has sparked outrage and accusations of victim-blaming after suggesting on television that young women can avoid rape by not getting drunk. Andrea Giambruno, a TV presenter who shares a 6-year-old daughter with Meloni, made the remarks on his talk show, Diario del giorno, or Daily Diary, on Monday night. Reacting to a series of recent gang rape cases in Italy, Giambruno said, according to a translation in The Guardian: “If you go dancing you are fully entitled to get drunk... but if you avoid getting drunk and losing consciousness, perhaps you’d also avoid getting into trouble, because then you’ll find the wolf.” His comments were swiftly and loudly condemned by opposition politicians. “They just can’t help but blame women,” said Cecilia D'Elia, a senator with the center-left opposition Partito Democratico. “Don’t go out alone, don’t go where it’s dark, don’t dress provocatively. All this is no longer acceptable.” In an interview on Wednesday, Giambruno refused to apologize, insisting his words had been taken out of context. “I never said that men are entitled to rape drunk women,” he said.