Pop Goes The News — Singer Chrissie Hynde is being criticized for saying victims of sexual abuse need to “take responsibility.”
The 63-year-old Pretenders star told the UK’s Sunday Times Magazine she was victimized by a motorcycle gang member in Ohio when she was 21.
He promised to take Hynde to a party, she recalled, but instead took her to an empty house and forced her to perform sex acts.
“Technically speaking, however you want to look at it, this was all my doing and I take full responsibility,” said Hynde.
“You can’t fuck about with people, especially people who wear ‘I [Heart] Rape’ and ‘On Your Knees’ badges… those motorcycle gangs, that’s what they do.”
The singer added: “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.”
Hynde is currently promoting her memoir, Reckless: My Life as a Pretender.
According to the Sunday Times, when asked if the man took advantage of her vulnerability, Hynde replied: “If you play with fire you get burnt. It’s not any secret, is it?”
She further inflamed victims’ rights advocates by saying women who dress provocatively and put themselves in certain situations share are to blame if they are sexually assaulted.
“If I’m walking around in my underwear and I’m drunk? Who else’s fault can it be?,” said Hynde.
“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.”
Hynde added; “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 fuck me’, you’d better be good on your feet. I don’t think I’m saying anything controversial am I?”
Reaction on social media was immediate:
https://twitter.com/loladeborneau/status/637952641524461568
https://twitter.com/cosmodemtel/status/637961808393949184
https://twitter.com/Anomaly100/status/637973770490257408
https://twitter.com/amazing_haynes/status/637954373985898496
POP GOES THE NEWS 