Which century is this?

Here’s a headline you’re not expecting to read over breakfast:

“Men should have sex slaves, says female Kuwaiti politician”

Uh, what?

Ah, the age old dilemma of how men just can’t be expected to control themselves sexually. I mean, what are these poor men to do, surrounded by such lovely female flesh? Keeping their pants on and their hands to themselves is clearly not the answer!

So, apparently, according to this article in The National today, a Kuwaiti politician, a woman at that, has said that sex slavery should be legalized, with the likely slaves to come from war-torn countries like Chechnya. (How’s that for a shout-out, my Chechen friends?)

Ms al Mutairi [the politician] said she asked Saudi muftis what the Islamic ruling was on owning sex slaves while on a trip to Mecca because she had a male colleague who was “young and something of a womaniser”.

The mufti told her it is not haram, or forbidden, she said. “The context must be that of a Muslim nation conquering a non-Muslim nation, so these jawari have to be prisoners of war.”

This sex trade could be run just like the recruitment agencies that link poor, job-hungry Philippinos or Indians with domestic help work. Oh, sure, I can see it now. A Kuwaiti matron giving a tour of her home: “And this room is for the maid, while this one is for the concubine!”

Imagine if a Christian or Jewish politician in the west had made some sort of statement about Arab women, the outrage that would ensue.

Presumably, the paper just wrote off of the politician’s YouTube site, as the reporting doesn’t indicate whether the writer actually interviewed her. I’d love the answer to one question, woman to woman: Are you out of your mind?