US 'make rape legal' group plans worldwide anti-woman event in 43 countries

The spokesperson for a U.S.-based anti-woman group who advocates for "legal" rape has organized worldwide meet-up events in 43 different countries on Saturday.

On a website advertising the "Return of the Kings" event, self-styled "pick up artist" Daryush "Roosh V" Valizadeh has encouraged his misogynist supporters to “come out of the shadows and not have to hide behind a computer screen for fear of retaliation,” The National reported.

The website promises 165 events in 43 countries at 8 p.m. local time on Saturday. Valizadeh has instructed his followers to go to a public location at each meeting area and identify themselves by asking, “Do you know where I can find a pet shop?” From there, group members will be taken to a secret meeting location.

Women and the LGBT community have been banned from attending the meetings.

Valizadeh argued on his blog last year that rape should be legal on private property.

"By attempting to teach men not to rape, what we have actually done is teach women not to care about being raped, not to protect themselves from easily preventable acts, and not to take responsibility for their actions," he wrote at the time. “I thought about this problem and am sure I have the solution: make rape legal if done on private property.”

“I propose that we make the violent taking of a woman not punishable by law when done off public grounds,” Valizadeh said.

However, the planned meetings are already receiving opposition in some countries.

"Sex without consent is rape. There are no excuses. If someone is drunk or drugged they cannot give consent," a spokesperson for Police Scotland told The National. "We must do all we can to prevent rape and sexual assaults amongst offering all the necessary support and protection to those who are victims.”

Australian Greens Party candidate Jill Thomsen lashed out at Valizadeh's group on Twitter.

"The creeps from @ReturnOfKings are meeting in Sydney," she wrote. "Their masculinity is so fragile they will use 'codewords' to find each other in public."