**TW: mentions of rape and sexual assault

The rise of movements such as “Me Too” highlighted the issue of victim blaming. Women who come forward as victims of sexual violence are often met with comments about their clothing or behaviour prior to the assault. But why do some people tend to automatically blame the victim for what happened to them? Part of it may be ignorance but part of it also has to do with a protective psychological mechanism and cognitive biases. But regardless of the reason, victim blaming has serious consequences. So, what can we do to reduce it? Find out in this article!

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This article will cover:

·       What is victim blaming?

·       Why do people have the tendency to blame the victim?

·       What are the consequences of victim blaming?

·       How can we avoid victim blaming?

What is victim blaming?

Victim blaming is the phenomenon of holding the victim accountable for what happened to them rather than directing the blame on the perpetrator of the crime [1]. In the media, we mostly encounter victim blaming in the context of rape and sexual assault. The victims are often subjected to comments about their clothing or behaviour that is thought to have contributed to the assault [1]. Those people tend to argue that wearing revealing clothes is an invitation or that the victim should not have gotten so drunk if they did not want to be raped.

However, a study from 2021 [9] found that there does not appear to be a bias towards victim blaming based on the type of crime and that it is equally as likely to occur for crimes such as theft or physical assault. Thus, while we may think victim blaming is specific to sexual violence crimes, it happens in other cases too.

Why do people have the tendency to blame the victim?

Cognitive biases

One of the reasons why some people may blame the victim is the so-called attribution error [1, 5]. People tend to attribute negative events that happen to others to something internal, i.e., something they have control over. In this case, they would argue that the victim dressed provocatively, drank too much or flirted with their attacker. They do not take into account the external factors, i.e., things outside of the victim’s control, in this case, the intentions or behaviour of the attacker.

Another type of cognitive bias which might play a role is hindsight bias [1]. When we look at a past event, we have the tendency to believe that there were signs we should have been able to see and thus prevent the event from happening [4]. This was demonstrated in a study by Janoff-Bulman and colleagues [4]. Participants read identical stories about a woman with only the concluding sentence being different. The subjects who read the story that stated the woman was raped were significantly more likely to blame the victim than those who read the neutral outcome, despite the characteristics and behaviour of the victim being the same.

Just-world phenomenon

Social psychologists argue that we have a psychological need to feel safe [1]. They refer to this as the just-world phenomenon (belief) [6]. It is the idea that people believe that the world is fair and only good things happen to good people while bad things only happen to bad people or people who have done something to deserve such misfortune. If we would not believe that the world is fair, then we would realise that anyone including us could become a victim of a crime, no matter how cautious we are. This serves as a protective mechanism that makes us feel safe because we believe that things such as sexual assault cannot happen to us as we would never do anything to deserve it. Essentially, people blame victims to feel safe.

Researchers Van den Bos and Maas [41] demonstrated that people who strongly endorse the just-world belief experience a logical inconsistency in their beliefs when learning about an innocent victim of a crime. This inconsistency is thus resolved by victim blaming. On the other hand, people who do not or only weakly endorse the just-world belief do not experience inconsistency and thus do not have to blame the victim. These findings were also supported by Strőmwall and colleagues [13].

Victim characteristics

Regarding the victim characteristics, women who violate traditional gender roles are more likely to be blamed [3]. Moreover, those who consumed alcohol prior to the assault are attributed higher levels of blame [3, 10]. Furthermore, the type of clothing or the amount of revealed skin significantly undermines the credibility of the victim [12].

Other factors

The evidence regarding the relationship between gender and victim blaming is mixed. Some studies show that men appear to blame the victim more often than women [3, 11, 15] while others show that women blame victims more often [2]. There is also mixed evidence regarding the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator. Some studies found evidence that stranger-perpetrated rape is associated with higher levels of victim blaming than when the perpetrator and victim know each other [11, 13] but others found contradictory findings [15].

What are the consequences of victim blaming?

Victim blaming is dangerous for multiple reasons and has negative consequences for individuals as well as society. Firstly, it makes it much more difficult for victims of sexual assault to come forward and report it [7]. They worry that no one will believe them or that their own actions will be scrutinised. Many victims also engage in self-blame which may be partially reinforced by victim blaming [4]. Feelings of shame and guilt hinder the process of healing and overcoming the trauma they experienced [7].

Furthermore, by focusing on the actions of the victim, people are (unintentionally) reinforcing predator-like attitudes because it protects the offender from being held accountable for their actions [7]. Moreover, the underreporting of sexual violence allows more perpetrators to go unpunished and continue offending [7]. Additionally, if reported the jurors/judges can be influenced by the internal biases when making a decision in sexual assault cases [3].

What can we do about it?

A study by Niemi and Young [8] showed that the way we present the story influences subsequent victim blaming. When the story was more focused on the victim (‘Lisa was approached by Dan’) than the actions of the perpetrator (‘Dan approached Lisa’), the participants were more likely to blame the victim and come up with ideas as to how the victim could have prevented the rape. Therefore, this suggests that the way such events are presented in the media can have a significant effect on how people perceive it. Perhaps when reporting, the media should put more emphasis on the actions of the perpetrators to reduce the likelihood of victim blaming.

In conclusion,

Victim blaming may be caused by several factors including cognitive biases, the belief in just-world or the characteristics of the victim. Shifting the blame on the victims makes it harder for them to report sexual assault and often hinders their healing process. One way in which we can reduce victim blaming is for the media to focus on the actions of the perpetrators when reporting such crimes.

Extra resources:

1) ‘If a robbery report was treated like a rape report’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0L4V5BWITM

2) ‘Why do people blame the victim’ – podcast episode https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Bq1Ah0VUMneqOYLyI87WI?si=86b92193298a425f

3) Survivor Chanel Miller says victim blaming attitudes must change: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OshTTrS-cbA

4) ‘Interrupting Victim-blaming’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTKtLzwbflM

References

1. Cherry, K. (July 2020). Why do people blame the victim? Retrieved on 20 January 2022 from https://www.verywellmind.com/why-do-people-blame-the-victim-2795911

2. Culda, G. L., Opre, A. N., & Dobrin, A. D. (2018). Victim blaming by women and men who believe the world is a just place. Cognition, Brain, Behavior, 22(2). DOI:10.24193/cbb.2018.22.07

3. Grubb, A., & Turner, E. (2012). Attribution of blame in rape cases: A review of the impact of rape myth acceptance, gender role conformity and substance use on victim blaming. Aggression and violent behavior, 17(5), 443-452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2012.06.002

4.     Janoff-Bulman, R., Timko, C., & Carli, L. L. (1985). Cognitive biases in blaming the victim. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 21(2), 161-177. https://doi-org.eur.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/0022-1031(85)90013-7

5. Johnson, L. M., Mullick, R., & Mulford, C. L. (2002). General versus specific victim blaming. The Journal of Social Psychology, 142(2), 249-263. https://doi-org.eur.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/00224540209603898

6. Kaplan, H. (2012). Belief in a just world, religiosity and victim blaming. Archive for the Psychology of Religion, 34(3), 397-409.

7. Morin, A. (October 2021). Sexual assault and victim blaming. Retrieved on 20 January 2022 from https://www.verywellmind.com/sexual-assault-and-victim-blaming-4802707

8. Niemi, L. A. U. R. A., & Young, L. I. A. N. E. (2016). Who blames the victim. The New York Times.

9. Reich, C. M., Pegel, G. A., & Johnson, A. B. (2021). Are survivors of sexual assault blamed more than victims of other crimes?. Journal of interpersonal violence, 08862605211037423. https://doi-org.eur.idm.oclc.org/10.1177%2F08862605211037423

10.  Richardson, D., & Campbell, J. L. (1982). Alcohol and rape: The effect of alcohol on attributions of blame for rape. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 8(3), 468-476. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0146167282083013

11.  Russell, K. J., & Hand, C. J. (2017). Rape myth acceptance, victim blame attribution and Just World Beliefs: A rapid evidence assessment. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 37, 153-160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2017.10.008

12.  Spaccatini, F., Pacilli, M. G., Giovannelli, I., Roccato, M., & Penone, G. (2019). Sexualized victims of stranger harassment and victim blaming: The moderating role of right-wing authoritarianism. Sexuality & Culture, 23(3), 811-825.

13.  Strömwall, L. A., Alfredsson, H., & Landström, S. (2013). Blame attributions and rape: Effects of belief in a just world and relationship level. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 18(2), 254-261. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8333.2012.02044.x

14.  Van den Bos, K., & Maas, M. (2009). On the psychology of the belief in a just world: Exploring experiential and rationalistic paths to victim blaming. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35(12), 1567-1578. https://doi-org.eur.idm.oclc.org/10.1177%2F0146167209344628

15.  Van der Bruggen, M., & Grubb, A. (2014). A review of the literature relating to rape victim blaming: An analysis of the impact of observer and victim characteristics on attribution of blame in rape cases. Aggression and violent behavior, 19(5), 523-531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2014.07.008