Rape 'a crime of power and control'

Chrissie Hynde has caused a storm with comments about being abducted and sexually assaulted by a motorcycle gang in the 1970s.

"If you don't want to entice a rapist, don't wear high heels so you can't run from him," the Pretenders lead singer told The Sunday Times.

"If I'm walking around in my underwear and I'm drunk, who else's fault can it be?"

There was no evidence to suggest that women and girls can do anything to protect themselves because 80-90% of victims are raped in their own homes by a parent or someone they know, said Laura Bates of the Everyday Sexism Project - which catalogues examples of the day to day sexism experienced by women.

“The idea that you can do something or wear the wrong thing to protect you suggests it’s about sex and attraction whereas really it’s a crime of power and control,” she added. “It’s quite wrong to focus on victims.”

But Claire Fox, director of the Institute of Ideas, said society should not be run “by what somebody else decides is the right message”.

“When it comes to issues around sexual violence and rape, we need to be able to discuss these issues openly,” she said.