The Newstalk host opened Monday's broadcast of High Noon with a new statement, in which he expressed his regret for "perpetuating the stigma" around rape culture in Ireland.
Hook's apology comes after he asked on the Friday September 8th program why a female victim of rape ought not carry some responsibility for the assault committed against her.
“Why does a girl who just meets a fella in a bar go back to a hotel room? She’s only just barely met him," Hook inquired, during the original segment.
"Is there no blame now to the person who puts themselves in danger?”
Addressing his view today, Hook stated that "It was wrong of me to suggest that any blame could be attributed to those victims, or that they bear any responsibility in the crimes committed against them."
"Everybody has the right to enjoy themselves without fear of being attacked, and as [sic] society, we have a duty to our daughters and granddaughters to protect that right."
"On Friday, I failed in that duty of care, a failure I deeply regret and for which I am truly sorry."
His statement follows the formal apology issued by Newstalk's Managing Editor, Patricia Monahan, in which she stated that Hook's comments were "wrong and inappropriate and should never have been made."
Since the Friday broadcast, the Dalata Hotel group announced that it would be terminating its sponsorship deal with Newstalk, writing via Twitter that the group "cannot support any radio station that allows [inappropriate] & hurtful comments to be made."
Further to this criticism, Noeline Blackwell of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre called for the necessity of a media code on RTÉ Radio 1's This Week, saying, "What we should do now is ask all media outlets to really understand, come together and build guidelines, build awareness in their stations."
"Rape doesn’t happen because of what you’re wearing, because of the amount you’ve drunk", Blackwell added.
"Rape happens because somebody has sex with you without your consent."
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