Kevin Mack says 17-year-old schoolgirl assault victim was doing what she would do every day and ‘has not done anything wrong’

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The mayor of Albury has apologised for saying women were inviting attacks by walking on their own.

In response to the sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl by three men in the town, Kevin Mack told the ABC on Thursday: “I always have encouraged women not to walk alone, to have someone with them at all times, because that in itself is an invitation for someone to take advantage of you.”

Mack said on Friday he regretted his “poor choice of words”.

“The girl in question has not done anything wrong,” he told ABC radio.

“She was doing what she would do every day and she’s been the victim of a heinous crime and her callous attackers are responsible for that.”

Mack said his original comments did not properly represent his views: “It’s not how I feel. I’m a staunch advocate for women’s rights. My work speaks for that.”

His comments drew the anger of feminist groups. The spokeswoman for Destroy the Joint, Jenna Price, told Guardian Australia: “We have lost a whole generation of men to the tragedy of victim-blaming. It hurts women every day to have their ordinary lives circumscribed by the way men think they should behave.

“Kevin Mack said, ‘I have always encouraged women not to walk alone.’ What he should have said is, ‘I have always encouraged men not to rape.’ ”

A nurse in Sydney emailed the mayor requesting a chaperone service for her walk to work.

The comments echoed those made by the head of the Victorian homicide squad, detective inspector Mick Hughes, in March after a 17-year-old schoolgirl, Masa Vukotic, was killed in a Melbourne park.

“I suggest to people, particularly females, [that] they shouldn’t be alone in parks,” Hughes told ABC radio. “I’m sorry to say that that is the case. We just need to be a little more careful, a little more vigilant.”

He later reiterated the comments at a press conference, saying “we encourage females to walk together”, and that it was up to women to take “reasonable precautions” to protect their safety.

New South Wales police said the teenager in Albury was walking across a footbridge just before 6.30pm when she was confronted by three men. She was dragged into nearby bushes while being threatened with a knife, then sexually assaulted.

A computer-generated image of the three suspects has been released and detectives are appealing for anyone with information to come forward.