British lawmaker's controversial remark: Short skirts, high heels risk rape

LONDON - A British lawmaker's suggestion that young women who wear high heels and short skirts put themselves at greater risk of rape has drawn widespread condemnation.

"If you are blind drunk and wearing those clothes how able are you to get away?" Conservative Party lawmaker Richard Graham, of Gloucester, was quoted as saying by his local newspaper, The Citizen.

Anti-rape activists said Graham's comments smacked of blaming rape victims for having been assaulted.

But Graham said in a blog post Saturday that his interview "in no way intimates ANY excuse for predatory behavior."

In further comments to The Citizen, Graham said, "Risk management is a million miles from saying anything like `she was asking for it."'

Graham could not be reached for comment Sunday.