Pablo Picasso's former lover has sparked outrage following her claims that fewer women would be raped in France if they just smiled at men.

Francoise Gilot claims people should just embrace the 'eroticism of the streets' rather than taking offence or being worried.

Pablo Picasso was 62 when he first met the beautiful 22-year-old Francoise Gilot in 1943 and they went on to have two children together.

Francoise Gilot, now aged 93, has co-authored the book with American writer Lisa Alther. The book covers the 'dilemmas, benefits and demands of womanhood'

Francoise Gilot, now aged 93, has co-authored the book with American writer Lisa Alther. The book covers the 'dilemmas, benefits and demands of womanhood.'

'There are probably fewer rapes in France because people are less repressed,' Ms Gilot claims in her controversial new book, About Women: Conversations Between a Writer and a Painter.

'If a man whistles at you and you smile, that oils the social wheels and eases the tension between the classes and sexes … It's a kind of give-and-take that acknowledges that the other person exists, so in that sense it's not treating another person as an object.

'To take offence all the time makes every relationship disagreeable,' say Ms Gilot.

'Each time a man says something to me, if I take it as an insult, then I'll be insulted several times a day by strangers I'll never see again… Whereas if I smile vaguely and go my way, it doesn't cost me very much,' she claims.

Ms Gilot was immortalised in several of Picasso's paintings but she later angered him by publishing a revealing memoir, Life with Picasso, all about their relationship eleven years later

The couple had two children together, Claude and Paloma, although Ms Gilot eventually grew frustrated with Picasso's affairs with other women and they broke up

Ms Gilot was immortalised in several of Picasso's paintings but she later angered him by publishing a revealing memoir, Life with Picasso, all about their relationship eleven years later.

'There's always a subtle ambience of eroticism in the streets, in the air, of Paris. For instance, when you go to the market to select peaches, if you ask the vendor, 'Are your peaches ripe?'

'He'll often say yes with a wink because the peach is considered a fruit similar to the female sex. Sometimes having intercourse is referred to as 'eating a peach', she claims.

'So there will often be a little innuendo that isn't rude but just reminds you of the eroticism of life.'

Francoise Gilot claims people should just embrace the 'eroticism of the streets' rather than taking offence or being worried

The couple had two children together, Claude and Paloma, although Ms Gilot eventually grew frustrated with Picasso's affairs with other women.

The abusive relationship was finished by 1953 and Picasso went on to marry his second wife, Jacqueline Roque. They were together for twenty years until Pablo died on April 8 1973.