'When rape is inevitable, lie back and enjoy it' Tory facing sack over rape gaffe
AN ex-mayor is facing calls to resign after saying: "when rape is inevitable, lie back and enjoy it," during a meeting.
Barbara Driver has issued an apology after her rape gaffe [SWNS]
Tory councillor Barbara Driver compared housing developers to rapists when she spoke about the power they have to stipulate how many "affordable homes" will be in a new project.
She said: "There is a saying and I am going to say it: When rape is inevitable, lie back and enjoy it."
But her colleagues on Cheltenham council, Glos, reacted angrily and she is now facing calls to resign.
Lib Dem Peter Jeffries said: "It was an atrocious thing to say in a meeting about housing."
Another Lib Dem, Rowena Hay, said: "It trivialises people who have been through rape."
Mrs Driver, who led a report into sex abuse in the town last year, later apologised for her comment.
She said she realised her remark was "completely inappropriate and thoughtless".
Speaking outside her home yesterday: " "I was trying to put across - badly I will say - the fact of developers having not put much social and affordable housing in and the council saying we can't do anything about it.
"But I used a term that I had heard years ago without thinking.
"It was totally dreadful. it was done without thinking about the rape bit. I know that sounds silly."
Karen Clarke, from the Gloucestershire Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre, criticised the remarks.
She said: "Making these comments, that have nothing to do with what she was talking about, is quite shocking.
"Rape has a devastating impact and there's no possibility that anyone could ever lie back and enjoy it."
A Cheltenham Borough council spokeswoman said they are taking the matter very seriously.
Barbara Driver has issued an apology after her rape gaffe [SWNS] She said: "There is a saying and I am going to say it: When rape is inevitable, lie back and enjoy it."
But her colleagues on Cheltenham council, Glos, reacted angrily and she is now facing calls to resign.
Lib Dem Peter Jeffries said: "It was an atrocious thing to say in a meeting about housing."
Another Lib Dem, Rowena Hay, said: "It trivialises people who have been through rape."
Mrs Driver, who led a report into sex abuse in the town last year, later apologised for her comment.
She said she realised her remark was "completely inappropriate and thoughtless".
Speaking outside her home yesterday: " "I was trying to put across - badly I will say - the fact of developers having not put much social and affordable housing in and the council saying we can't do anything about it.
"But I used a term that I had heard years ago without thinking.
"It was totally dreadful. it was done without thinking about the rape bit. I know that sounds silly."
Karen Clarke, from the Gloucestershire Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre, criticised the remarks.
She said: "Making these comments, that have nothing to do with what she was talking about, is quite shocking.
"Rape has a devastating impact and there's no possibility that anyone could ever lie back and enjoy it."
A Cheltenham Borough council spokeswoman said they are taking the matter very seriously.
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