The women of San Terenzo in northwest Italy got a instructive "Christmas message" from their local priest, Fr Piero Corsi. If they are worried about their physical safety, Fr Corsi had some choice words of advice, which he posted on the door of the church:
How often do we see girls and mature women going around scantily dressed and in provocative clothes?
They provoke the worst instincts, which end in violence or sexual abuse. They should search their consciences and ask: did we bring this on ourselves?
Men are driven to physical violence against women, Fr Corsi goes on, because women today are not keeping tidy homes:
Is it possible that all of a sudden men have gone mad? We don’t believe it.
The fact is that women are increasingly provocative, they become arrogant, they believe themselves to be self-sufficient and end up exacerbating the situation.
Children are abandoned to their own devices, homes are dirty, meals are cold or fast food, clothes are filthy.
118 women were killed in Italy last year in domestic violence incidents.
When asked by a reporter if he was serious about linking violence to "provocative clothing" the priest responded with a question:
I don’t know whether you’re a queer or not, but what do you feel when you see a naked woman?”
To his credit, Fr Corsi said nothing about "legitimate rape."