Prime Minister of Pakistan and former cricketing great, Imran Khan is blaming the provocative way some women dress for the rise in rape and sexual abuse of women across the world.

Khan is seeing societies across the world becoming increasingly vulgar with sexuality and titillation commoditised, celebrated and encouraged. He believes moral decline has served as a catalyst for sexual attacks on women.

Known as a ladies man in his bachelor days, Khan, speaking in Pakistan, said: “World history tells us when you increase fahashi (vulgarity) in society, two things happen: sex crimes increase and the family system breaks down.

“This entire concept of purdah (covering up or segregating) is to avoid temptation. Not everyone has the willpower to avoid it.”

Khan comments have led to a backlash, with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan making it clear that it was “appalled”.

Freida Rafiq, of London’s feminist lobbying group, Boudicea, said: “What he is really saying is that woman are asking to be sexually abused by the way they dress. We have heard that fallacious reasoning for years. Imran Khan is supposed to be an intelligent man and an enlightened leader. This is very disappointing from him. The older he gets, the more he is turning into a mad mullah.”

Taking aim at the permissive society, Khan said the sex, drugs and rock and roll culture had a lot to answer for. He also pointed the finger at a highly sexualised Bollywood in India, where he noted a significant rise in sexual assaults on women.

Akhtar Ali, of North Carolina’s The Crescent, said: “Imran is a hundred per cent right. All women today want to do is flaunt their sexual wares on social media. It’s all about ‘look at me’; its solipsism at its worst. All over the world women are turning the camera on their selves. Kim Kardashian, Cardi B, Iggy Azalea, J-Lo, Rihanna – they are all putting on a show by being immodest, sexually tempting.

“Then woman complain about feminism, equal pay, equal rights, Me Too, toxic masculinity. Western culture is destroying the world and civilisation with promiscuity and vulgarity at the heart of it.”

Closer to home, Jamaica’s prime minister, Andrew Holness, recently took aim at the coarseness of dancehall culture and its negative impact on society in light of attention drawn to assaults on women following the murder of Khanice Jackson.

Jemima Goldsmith, Khan’s former wife and mother to his two sons, took exception to her ex-husband’s stance on the rise in rape cases.

Quoting the Koran she tweeted: “Say to the believing men that they restrain their eyes and guard their private parts. The onus is on men.”

Another tweet read: “I’m hoping this is a misquote/mistranslation. The Imran I knew used to say, ‘Put a veil on the man’s eyes, not on the woman’.”

Khan drew attention to the rising divorce rates in the West and advised women to cover up, lead chaste lives and conduct themselves with virtue.