KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Star has apologized for a guest column about women reducing the risk of rape by not drinking too much, saying the column “should never have been published.”

In the apology, Publisher Tony Berg said the newspaper removed the column, which was written by Laura Herrick and titled “Women can take action to prevent rapes,” after it was published on the website Friday and in the newspaper Saturday. The column says women shouldn’t get so intoxicated that “we don’t know what is happening.”

Berg says the column was removed because “when a person is sexually assaulted, it’s not their fault. Period.”

A phone listing for Herrick didn’t appear to be working, but she told KCTV she stands by the piece and that she wasn’t blaming rape victims.