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Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders has stirred up a wellspring of controversy with her comment on rape victims.
Hynde spoke with London’s Sunday Times about a time, when she was 21, that she was sexually assaulted by a member of an Ohio biker gang.
She describes the horrific experience of being forced to perform oral sex on a motorcycle gang in Ohio (whilst she was drunk and, pretty much dressed as most girls are on a night out) in her autobiography, Reckless. “It was all my doing and I take full responsibility,” she wrote. “If I’m walking around and I’m very modestly dressed and I’m keeping to myself and someone attacks me, then I’d say that’s his fault. But if I’m being very lairy and putting it about and being provocative, then you are enticing someone who’s already unhinged – don’t do that. Come on! That’s just common sense.” Hmmm.
Adding fuel to the fire and sparking outrage pretty much everywhere, Chrissie then stated in an interview with The Sunday Times, “You know, if you don’t want to entice a rapist, don’t wear high heels so you can’t run from him.” Oh.
Unsurprisingly, the charity Victim Support immediately responded to Hynde’s comments, with the director Lucy Hastings stating, “Victims of sexual violence should never feel or be made to feel that they were responsible for the appalling crime they suffered.” Seconded. The Twitterverse went into overdrive too, with hundreds attacking Chrissie’s claims – many of whom used the hashtag #rapeisneverinvited.
While our hearts go out to Chrissie for experiencing what must have been an unimaginably horrific ordeal, we’re still struggling to believe that in 2015, not everyone understands that rape is never, ever justifiable.
Agencies/Canadajournal
