The 92-year-old actress, known for her roles in 'Murder she wrote' and voicing Mrs Potts in the Disney film 'Beauty and the Beast', said women had "gone out of their way" to make themselves attractive.
She said this logic had "backfired", and affirmed that women should sometimes "take blame".
“There are two sides to this coin. We have to own up to the fact that women, since time immemorial, have gone out of their way to make themselves attractive,” Ms Lansbury told Radio Times.
“We must sometimes take blame, women. I really do think that. Although it’s awful to say we can’t make ourselves look as attractive as possible without being knocked down and raped.”
Ms Lansbury specified that individual victims were not at fault and there were no excuses for sexual harassment.
She said the current conversation around sexual harassment would hopefully result in a significant shift in attitudes towards women.
“Should women be prepared for this? No, they shouldn’t have to be," she said.
"There’s no excuse for that. And I think it will stop now—it will have to. I think a lot of men must be very worried at this point."
The comments sparked outrage on social media.
Despite some anger, many social media users defended Ms Lansbury.
