An Indiana state lawmaker issued an apology Saturday for sharing a Facebook post that critics say suggest rape victims are responsible for being attacked.
Rep. Jim Lucas, a Republican who represents Indiana’s 69th district, shared a photo of a handwritten letter he sent to an Indianapolis Star reporter on Monday, urging her to follow up a June 4 profile of a rape victim with a story about women “taking steps & learning how not to be a victim.”
The letter, written on official stationary embossed with Indiana’s state seal, was met with swift criticism and sparked a week-long debate and hundreds of comments, pitting Lucas and his supporters against others who said the post advocated “victim blaming.”
Lucas later deleted the posts and apologized, but he told the Star that the response to the posts were "totally blown out of proportion."
