Wis. lawmaker tries to explain ‘easy rape’ comment

A freshman state lawmaker in Wisconsin is trying to offer some context for what he had described as advice his father once gave him, that "some girls rape easy." State Republican Rep. Roger Rivard tried to explain that his father only meant it as a warning that a woman could agree to sex but later say it wasn't consensual. Criticism has come fast and fierce. Vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan has withdrawn his support for the lawmaker.

Author:
BMTN Staff
Updated:
Mar 8, 2018
Original:
Oct 11, 2012

Wisconsin Republican state Rep. Roger Rivard said he had merely been trying to explain advice his father once gave him that “some girls rape easy,” but he said his comments have been taken out of context, the Associated Press reports.

Rivard, a freshman from Rice Lake, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that his father’s comments were meant as a warning that a woman could agree to sex but then later say it was not consensual. Rivard's original comment was made in December to the Chetek (Wis.) Alert newspaper, and he tried to offer context to the Journal Sentinel in a Wednesday story.

Hours later he tried to clarify even further in a written statement: "Rape is a horrible act of violence," the Milwaukee newspaper says.

But the backlash was immediate. Republicans who joined in condemnations of the remark included vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, Gov. Scott Walker, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and U.S. Senate candidate Tommy Thompson, the Journal Sentinel reported.

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