Legendary frontwoman Chrissie Hynde has sparked outrage after suggesting some women are to blame if they are raped. Speaking to the UK’s Sunday Times magazine, Hynde argued that women who dress and act provocatively are responsible if they experience sexual assault.

“If I’m walking around in my underwear and I’m drunk… Who else’s fault can it be?” the singer was quoted as saying in an interview with the Times, via Fairfax. “If I’m being very lairy and putting it about and being provocative, then you are enticing someone who’s already unhinged… that’s just common sense.”

“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,” Hynde added. The comments come as the singer prepares to release her new autobiography, in which she recounts a sexual assault she experienced at 21.

Hynde, now 63, told the Times that a member of a motorcycle gang had promised to take her to a party, but instead took her to an abandoned house where she was forced to perform sexual acts under the threat of violence. Hynde said she takes full responsibility for the assault.

“Technically speaking, however you want to look at it, this was all my doing and I take full responsibility. 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,” Hynde was quoted as saying.

“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,” she added. When asked if the gang took advantage of her vulnerability, she replied: “If you play with fire you get burnt. It’s not any secret, is it?”

“You know if you don’t want to entice a rapist, don’t wear high heels so you can’t run from him,” she added. “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?”

During the interview, Hynde also suggested that pop stars who label themselves feminists but use sex appeal to sell albums were effectively “prostitutes”. “Women who sell what their product is by using sex – that’s prostitution,” she said.

“A pop star who’s walking around, parading themselves as a porn star and saying they’re feminists. They’re prostitutes. I’m not making a value judgment on prostitutes, but just say what you are.”

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As The Guardian reports, Hynde’s quotes have been condemned both online by the singer’s fans, who have flooded her Facebook page with posts slamming her comments, and figures like Lucy Hastings, the head of the charity Victim Support, who said victims should not blame themselves.

“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,” said Ms Hastings.

“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 of sexual violence from coming forward to the police or to independent organisations so they can get the help and support they need.”

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