Chrissie Hynde

Chrissie Hynde is coming under fire from the feminist brigade for comments about rape and responsibility. 

Difficult argument, but if you choose to walk around with your wallet on show in a busy shopping centre and get it nicked, then there's no denying you are partly culpable. Thieves exist and are a fact of life - no amount of blaming them fairly and squarely for the theft of your wallet is going to change the fact your wallet will be stolen. 

On the other hand, those who set out to rape don't really care what their victim is wearing - the Nora Batty look certainly doesn't put them off. 

The kind of rape Hynde is talking about is not perpetrated by the hardened rapist - it's the kind that's on the borderline with consensual sex. That kind of rape (if it can be called that) may or may not happen depending on the attitude of the victim. Portraying oneself as louche certainly isn't going to help the situation and is more analogous to the wallet situation.

But as I said, a difficult argument. The feminists are looking at it from the perspective of an ideal world in all circumstances, but the world is certainly not ideal. Rape is wrong, plain and simple. So is theft. It all comes down to definitions.