MP told to delete Twitter account after shocking rape list post

A Labor politician has been ordered to shut down his Twitter account after re-tweeting a series of off-colour jokes about rape prevention.

WA Premier Mark McGowan instructed Labor MP Darren West to delete his social media account after he circulated a rape prevention “tip sheet”, The West Australian reports.

“As a Dad, I think these 10 Rape Prevention tips must be adhered to,” Mr West tweeted on the weekend, adding the hashtags #respect and #No.

But the seemingly light-hearted tone of the “list”, which suggests that men not “creep” into a woman’s bedroom or rape a woman whose car has broken down, put many Twitter users offside in the wake of the rape and murder of Melbourne woman Eurydice Dixon.

Other “advice” in the list includes: “When you encounter a woman who is asleep the safest course of action is not to rape her,” “If you are in an elevator and a woman gets in, don’t rape her,” and “Use the Buddy System! If it is inconvenient for you to stop yourself from raping women, ask a trusted friend to accompany you at all times.”

Mr West told Fairfax Media on the weekend that the re-Tweet was not meant as a joke – rather, he was publishing it to point out that rape was never the victim’s fault.

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But on Tuesday morning Mr McGowan told radio station 6PR that he had personally called Mr West, demanding his Twitter account be deleted.

Despite ordering the Twitter takedown, Mr McGowan described Mr West’s “mistake” as “not a hanging offence.”

On Monday night thousands of people across Australia held vigils to honour Eurydice Dixon, who was walking home from a night out in Melbourne when she was raped and murdered.