Angela Lansbury has given her take on the sexual misconduct cases that have engulfed the entertainment world, believing that women “must sometimes take the blame”.
The ‘Murder She Wrote’ actress told Radio Times that women making themselves attractive had “backfired on us” but added that there was “no excuse for inappropriate behaviour”.
The 92-year-old Dame says: “We have to own up to the fact women, since time immemorial, have gone out of their way to make themselves attractive.
“And unfortunately it has backfired on us, and this is where we are today. We must sometimes take blame.
“Although it’s awful to say we can’t make ourselves look as attractive as possible without being knocked down and raped.”
She went on to say that she believed sexual misconduct in Hollywood would now stop.
“Should women be prepared for this? No, they shouldn’t have to be,” she says. “There’s no excuse for that. And I think it will stop now - it will have to. I think a lot of men must be very worried at this point.”
Following her comments, Rape Crisis England & Wales issued a strongly-worded statement (via The Telegraph).
It reads: “It is a deeply unhelpful myth that rape and other forms of sexual violence are caused or ‘provoked’ by women’s sexuality or ‘attractiveness’.
“Rape is an act of sexual violence, power and control that has little to nothing to do with sexual desire. It is as insulting to men as it is to anyone to suggest they’re unable to take responsibility for their own behaviours and that the way a woman presents herself can cause them to lose control or force them to sexually harass or assault her.
“There is no excuse or mitigation for sexual violence and there is no circumstance in which it’s even partially the victim’s or survivor’s fault. Until we accept and acknowledge that, it will be very difficult for us as a society to reduce or prevent rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment or sexual abuse.”
The new issue of Radio Times is out now. www.radiotimes.com
