London - The rock star Chrissie Hynde faced a huge backlash after claiming women can be at fault if they are raped.
The legendary singer with The Pretenders, famed for her edgy rock'n'roll lifestyle and steely onstage persona, drew strong criticism after revealing that she blames herself for a sexual assault she suffered in her twenties, and that women can be guilty of provoking such attacks.
In her new autobiography, Reckless: My Life As A Pretender, Hynde, 63, tells of her unwitting initiation into an Ohio motorcycle gang when she was 21.
High on drugs, she thought she was being taken to a party by the gang. Instead, she was driven to an empty house where they forced her to perform sexual acts under threat of violence.
Documenting the traumatic event in her memoir, she wrote: “Now let me assure you, that, technically speaking, however you want to look at it, this was all my doing and I take full responsibility.
“You can't f*** about with people, especially people who wear 'I Heart Rape' and 'On Your Knees' badges.”
Asked about her contentious viewpoint on the assault in a subsequent interview, Hynde told The Sunday Times Magazine: “Yeah, but 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? They're motorcycle guys! If you play with fire you get burnt. It's not any secret, is it?”
The mother of two daughters went on to claim women who parade in the streets drunk and provocatively dressed had no right to complain if they end up in trouble. She said: “If I'm walking around in my underwear and I'm drunk? Who else's fault can it be?
“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 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.
“You know, if you don't want to entice a rapist, don't wear high heels so you can't run from him.
“If you're wearing something that says 'Come and f*** me', you'd better be good on your feet... I don't think I am saying anything controversial am I?”
The director of the Victim Support charity, Lucy Hastings, said that women should not be made to feel blame if they are attacked.
“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 vulnerable,” she said.
“They should not blame themselves or be blamed for failing to prevent an attack - often they will have been targeted by predatory offenders. It is critical that nothing deters victims of sexual violence from coming forward to the police or to independent organisations so they can get the help and support they need.”
The Daily Mail reports that 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 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.”
Widdecombe said that while Hynde may have “contributed” to what happened, her attackers were also responsible.
The singer has given up drugs, alcohol and cigarettes and now embraces a clean-living lifestyle.
Hynde's turbulent career as the lead singer with The Pretenders was a far cry from her strict upbringing in the 1950s in Akron, Ohio.
After studying art at Kent State University, she made her way to London in 1973 and had a short stint as a writer at the New Musical Express. She then worked at Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren's Sex boutique on the King's Road in Chelsea as the punk scene exploded. And she came close to marrying the Sex Pistols' Sid Vicious to avoid deportation to the US.
Her rise to fame came relatively late in life - at the age of 27 - when she formed The Pretenders.
The Independent