Speaking at a conference in Ecuador's second-largest city, Guayaquil, Moreno told attendees that women have subjective criteria when it comes to reporting alleged harassment.

"That is to say, it is 'harassment' when it comes from an ugly person," he said. "But if the person is good looking... they usually do not think it is harassment."

He also suggested that men are constantly at risk of being falsely accused of harassment by women.

His comments sparked a predictable avalanche of outrage on social media, with Twitter users queuing to fire verbal volleys at the Ecuadorian leader.

Ecuadorians accused their president of trivializing sexual harassment and violence against women, with some even imploring Moreno to leave office before he damages their country further.

The backlash prompted an apology from the president, who wrote that he "did not intend to minimize an issue as serious as violence or abuse," and apologized if his comments were "understood that way."

However, some people argued that the mini-scandal was overblown. Several women responded to his comments by arguing that the president was clearly joking, and that there was no need to politicize something so trivial.

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