Storm as Chrissie Hynde says dressing provocatively encourages rapists
Row as singer claims women who dress provocatively entice rapists
ROCK singer Chrissie Hynde has angered women’s groups by saying she took ‘full responsibility’ for being the victim of a group sex attack when she was young. The star of 1980s group The Pretenders revealed yesterday that she was 21 and high on drugs when she encountered a motorcycle gang who promised to take her to a party.
Instead they drove her to an empty house, where she was forced to perform sexual acts under the threat of violence.
But her comments that the assault was her ‘fault’, and her claim that women who dress or behave provocatively ‘entice’ rapists, led to heated debate on social media, with some backing her stance while others accused her of holding outdated views.
Miss Hynde, now 63, said it was ‘common sense’ advice, adding: ‘Don’t wear high heels so you can’t run from him. If you’re wearing something that says “Come and **** me”, you’d better be good on your feet.
‘If I’m walking around in my underwear and I’m drunk? Who else’s fault can it be?’
The mother of two added: ‘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 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.’
Miss Hynde describes the incident, which occurred in Ohio, the place of her birth, in her newly published autobiography, Reckless. At the time she was high on Quaalude, a sedative widely taken as a recreational drug at that time.
She told the Sunday Times Magazine: ‘ This [ the sexual assault] was all my doing and I take full responsibility. You can’t **** about with people, especially people who wear “I Heart Rape” badges... those motorcycle gangs, that’s what they do.
‘You can’t paint yourself into a corner and then say whose brush is this? You have to take responsibility. I mean, I was naive...’
Asked if the gang had taken advantage of her vulnerability, she replied: ‘If you play with fire you get burnt. It’s not any secret, is it?’
Last night her comments were backed by former Tory MP Ann Widdecombe, 67. She said: ‘I have two reactions. The first is that thank heavens somebody has said it at last. It is common sense as she says, women have a duty to take care of themselves and not put themselves in precarious situations. You wouldn’t leave your handbag
‘Women are not to blame’
lying around with your purse in it for anybody to have access to it. If you take care of your property why wouldn’t you take care of yourself?’
But she added: ‘Where she is wrong is to say she is solely responsible.’ Miss Widdecombe said that while Miss Hynde may have ‘contributed’ to what happened, her attackers were also responsible.
Lucy Hastings, director of the charity Victim Support, said: ‘Victims of sexual violence should never feel or be made to feel that they were responsible for the appalling crime they suffered – regardless of circumstances or factors which may have made them particularly vulnerable.
‘They should not blame themselves or be blamed for failing to prevent an attack. Often they will have been targeted by predatory offenders who are responsible for their actions.
‘It is critical that nothing deters victims from coming forward to the police or to independent organisa- tions so they can get the help and support they need.’
Sarah Green, of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said: ‘ Women are not to blame for assaults regardless of what they are wearing or if they have had a lot to drink.’ She called for better support to help victims ‘work this stuff out’.
Miss Hynde, who moved to England in 1973 and found fame with The Pretenders’ first album in 1980, has two daughters – Natalie, 32, whose father is The Kinks lead singer Ray Davies, and Yasmin, 30, daughter of Miss Hynde’s first husband, Simple Minds star Jim Kerr.
The singer has given up drugs, alcohol and cigarettes and now embraces a clean-living lifestyle.