Bill Cosby's wife has come to the defence of her beleagured husband who is facing a series of sex assault allegations.

Camille Cosby dismissed accusations that date back as far as the late 1960s, saying it was her 77-year-old husband, not the women, who was the injured party.

She said: "None of us will ever want to be in the position of attacking a victim. But the question should be asked: Who is the victim?"

She said the man accused by at least 15 women of drugging and having sex with them was "a man I do not know".

Her statement is the first comment from Camille Cosby since a string of allegations began to be made in November.

Cosby is being sued for defamation by one alleged victim and for sexual battery by another woman who says he forced her to perform a sex act when she was 15.

More than a dozen other women have accused him of a range of offences. He has never been charged in connection with any of the accusations, and his lawyers deny many of the allegations.

Most of the allegations against the former star of The Cosby Show fall outside the statute of limitations for criminal charges.

Camille Cosby said the accusations had not been properly vetted by the media.

She likened the media's accusations to those contained in a Rolling Stone article about a gang rape at the University of Virginia which later turned out to be untrue.

She said her husband's accusers have been "given a pass" by the media.

"The (Rolling Stone) story was heart-breaking, but ultimately appears to be proved to be untrue. Many in the media were quick to link that story to stories about my husband - until that story unwound," she said.

Camille Cosby's comments came after an interview with her husband in The New York Post at the weekend, in which he criticised the media and praised his wife of more than 50 years.

When asked how she was coping, he said: "Love and the strength of womanhood. Let me say it again, love and the strength of womanhood. And, you could reverse it, the strength of womanhood and love."