Victim Blaming

Victim blaming occurs when someone assumes that a victim of crime, domestic violence or sexual assault did something to cause their misfortune. This can take the form of skepticism, disbelief or implicit or explicit blame that the victim did not fight back enough or made the abuser angry. It also includes statements such as “maybe she shouldn’t have been out at night” or “she should have been more assertive”. Victim blaming is harmful because it can prevent victims from getting the help and support they need. It can also make survivors feel isolated and alone as they try to recover from their trauma.

It is important to note that not everyone who victim blames does so intentionally or maliciously. There are some people who do it as a result of their own prejudices or beliefs. For example, many people believe that men are more responsible for abusive behavior than women and this can lead to victim blaming of female victims. It is also common for people to do it because they do not have empathy and are unable to imagine what it is like to be in the victim’s position.

When a person does not have empathy, they are more likely to be critical of others and think that bad things happen to good people because the victim did something to deserve it. This type of thinking is known as internal attributions and leads to victim blaming. Other factors that lead to victim blaming include lack of education, cultural background and moral values.

Some studies show that victim blaming is related to sexism and that males are more likely to engage in victim blaming than females. This is believed to be due to a combination of both hostile sexism and benevolent sexism. Hostile sexism is the belief that men are more likely to commit violent crimes than women and benevolent sexism is the belief that it is more appropriate for men to commit rape than women because of their greater physical strength.

Victim blaming can have a detrimental effect on victims and survivors of sexual violence. It can make them feel scared and less willing to talk about their experiences with others, as they fear being judged or that they will not be believed. This can increase their depressive and anxious symptoms as well as those associated with PTSD. It also reinforces the perpetrator/abuser’s belief that the victim is at fault which can perpetuate their violence and abuse.

A recent study by Liane Young and Laura Niemi showed that people who have strong individual values are more likely to be sympathetic towards victims than those with stronger binding values. Binding values are those that promote fairness and preventing harm to individuals, whereas individual values are those that focus on one’s own choices and preferences. They also found that participants’ gender, the level of stereotyping at the end of the story and their belief in a just world had a significant impact on victim blaming. The effects of these variables were partially mediated by the degree of identifiability with the victim.