TORONTO – Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s niece is making waves by suggesting women can avoid sexual assault by not dressing “like a whore.”
Krista Ford, the former captain of Toronto’s short-lived lingerie football team, made the controversial comment on Twitter shortly after police issued a warning about a recent string of sexual assaults.
Ford, who is the daughter of Coun. Doug Ford, advised women to “Stay alert, walk tall, carry mace, take self-defence classes & don’t dress like a whore.”
The message sparked online outrage before it was yanked from her account.
A Toronto police officer was criticized last year for making similar recommendations in a speech on campus safety.
The officer’s advice that women should avoid dressing “like sluts” to reduce the risk of assault became the catalyst for SlutWalk, a series of marches to protest the suggestion that victims are to blame.
He later apologized.
Meanwhile, police said Wednesday they are investigating six reports of sexual assault in the Annex and Kensington Market neighbourhoods in downtown Toronto.
Police said it appears the same suspect could be responsible for all six incidents, in which victims were grabbed from behind and groped.
Officers expressed concern that the assaults could continue and grow more violent. (680News)
