London, Ont.'s police chief clarifies comments at sexual assault news conference after backlash

At the news conference, Police Chief Thai Truong said, 'How we portray young women and girls on TV, in music videos, how we write about them, all that contributes to sexual violence and the normalization of what we're seeing.' CTV News London sat down with Truong and asked him to elaborate.

During a news conference on Monday, the London Police Service addressed a long-standing sexual assault case against five former players of the 2018 world junior hockey team.

At the conference, Police Chief Thai Truong said, "How we portray young women and girls on TV, in music videos, how we write about them, all that contributes to sexual violence and the normalization of what we're seeing."

Members of the London community have taken to social media to express their dismay, and said the onus in a sexual assault case should not be on the perception of women, but on a perpetrator's act of violence.

Jennifer Dunn at the London Abused Women's Centre is worried the comment might send the wrong message to a victim or discourage them from coming forward.

"For him to address violence against women is really great," said Dunn. "But we need to remember that what a woman wears does not mean that she's asking for it. So we need to be clear — he needs to be clear — that's not the message he intended to release."

CTV News London sat down with Truong on Wednesday and asked him to elaborate.

The new chief has a background in commercial sexual exploitation of women and girls with a focus on human trafficking.