The Importance Of Victim Blaming

Victim-blaming in a word is exactly what it sounds like, it is when the victim of a crime is either held partially or entirely responsible for the wrongdoing that has befallen them. Victim-blaming can have numerous negative effects the most obvious being that other victims are less likely to come forward in fear of being labeled at fault and generally degraded. In the article ‘Being Silenced: The Impact of Negative Social Reactions on the Disclosure of Rape’ it is revealed that rape survivors often stopped talking about the assault after experiencing negative reactions such as being blamed for the assault, receiving insensitive reactions from family friends, and professionals, receiving a lack of support after disclosing the crime, and inappropriate

According to Surviving for Thriving, a nonprofit organization that helps victims of rape and sexual assault, one out of every six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in their lifetimes. This means that a total of 17.7 million women have been victims of these crimes. While these numbers may or may not come as a shock to you, the real surprise is where they start (Surviving to Thriving, 2008).

There are about 321, 500 victims of rape every year in the United

There is an idea that we have become a nation of victims. Some psychologist and most people have a don’t blame the victim mentality. While other psychologist look at the victims as being held accountable in some cases. Looking at the data and validity of these arguments, I believe that neither one should be used but instead we should shy away from the blame approach and develop a better understanding of the role victims play in violent situations

Victims of sexual violence is the first population we will discuss. “On average, there are 321,500 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault each year in the United States” (Rain.org, “Victims of Sexual Violence: Statistics,” 2016, para. 1). Criminal justice professionals will encounter rape victims and sexual assault victims. Police officers have the duty of charging and arresting the perpetrator and getting the persons assaulted to safety. Victims of rape and sexual assault have to

Rape is a crime in which one person forces another person with threats, physical force or deception to have sex or sexual contact. In many cases rape is often through penetration, but victims are submitted to rape under different circumstances, such as oral sex, therefore rape has many muddled definitions. The various definitions of rape is a consequence of different cultural backgrounds and stereotypes. Sexual assaults have an effect on everyone either directly or indirectly, especially when victim blaming. Rape is not biased, for it can occur to any person despite their age, gender, religion, education level, sexual orientation or ethnicity. “According to the Department of Justice the average number of rape cases reported annually is approximately 89,000, but many victims are fearful to report their case to the police, for they do not want to be blamed for their assault.” (The Offender 's) Victim blaming in rape cases is a direct correlation to stereotypes. Some stereotypes that affect victim blaming is sexual orientation, promiscuity, gender roles, and race. “These contributing factors are stemmed from the much larger problem of society 's idea of gender and race stereotypes.” (Gill)

In Bill Moyers interview with Margaret Atwood, she states “When societies come under stress these kinds of things happen. People start looking around for essentially human sacrifices” (?). A scapegoat is a person or a group of people who are punished for the mistakes of others. In the history of our society, scapegoats have been both necessary and important. The reason for this is because it unites people and can be seen as a temporary solution to problems that a society may be facing. Is it easier to get rid of individuals or groups of people than it is to solve the underlying problem? History shows that it is common for scapegoating to be used especially under stressful situations. Psychologically uncomfortable feelings such as anger, frustration, envy, guilt, and fear are projected onto another person or group. This is the human ego at work.

The number of reported rapes and sexual assaults has decreased in the United States. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, the population-adjusted rate of rape has dropped 55% from 1993, when the survey was started, to 2013 (Drum, 2014). It is difficult to know for sure if this number is accurate because many cases of sexual assault and rape are not reported to authorities. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center estimates that roughly 63% of sexual assaults are not reported to police (2015). Still at least 25% of American women have

A Victim is described as a person who is killed, harmed or injured due to a crime, accident, or some other action or event. A victim is also described as someone who has been tricked or duped. These definitions perfectly describe a victim of rape. A victim is not only harmed from a rape crime, but is also tricked into thinking that justice will occur. This is not the case. Fifty percent of people feel as if rape is the victims fault and never the rapist fault. Why is society so willing to blame the victim of an unlawful sexual act that violates the victim mentally and physically, instead of dealing with this social issue?

Victim blaming allows criminals to walk free, forces the victims to have children they don't want and leaves torturous psychological damage that follows the victims for the rest of their lives. Blaming rape victims for their experience causes many negative occurrences.

Sexual violence is a significant social and cultural problem within America and all over the world. Within the United States nearly 1 in 5 women – or nearly 22 million – have been raped in their lifetimes. Arrest rates for sexual assault cases are low as they are hard to investigate because of the effects of the trauma itself. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, approximately 12% of the 283,200 annual rape or sexual assault victimizations from year 2005-2010 resulted in an arrest at the scene or during a follow-up investigation. Findings from the same survey revealed that more than one-third of women reported experiencing a sexual assault at some point during their lifetime. Within American society, rape constitutes an experience

 1 to 5 women (19.3%) and, 1in 59 men (1.7%) are been victims of rape in their life.

Victim blaming is a huge issue in our society. Most people don’t question why the rapist raped the victim, but instead ask what the victim was wearing, and explain that “she led him on,” and that “she wanted it.” Or, in many opinions, the worst one, “Boys will be boys.” Let’s say someone was robbed of a new iMac that they had in their home. Alright, how ridiculous would it sound if police responded to the report with, “Were you flaunting this item?” The owner would respond with, “It was out in my living room, you could say so.” And the police would say, “And you weren’t home.” Owner, “No.” Police, “So, you were you asking for it to be stolen by having it out in plain sight when you weren’t home?” That illogical argument is used by many officials who are informed of the assault of a student or citizen that reports it. “Were you wearing skimpy clothing? Were you asking for it? Were you

For most individuals, the thought of blaming the victim of a tragic experience for their own pain and suffering, seems preposterous. However, ascribing at least some of the blame to the victim is not uncommon (Niemi & Young, 2014). Victim blaming refers to individuals finding reasons to hold the victim of an incident responsible for the crime that took place (Hayes, Lorenz & Bell, 2013). For victims of sexual assault, who may already be experiencing self-blame and distrust of others, being blamed adds insult to injury (Harber, Podolski, & Williams, 2015). According to Harber et. al, victim blaming can also have long-term effects on victims, such as, increased anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. In an effort to increase support and resources for survivors of sexual assault researchers must determine why individuals are prone to blaming the victims rather than the perpetrator of a crime.

p. 69).” rape is violence against women. It is a violation of her body and her trust. According to Burns, a sociologist at Michigan State University, “rape is forced and unwanted intercourse, where sexual assault is used as a power and sex is a method (Mousseau, 2006. p. 1).” Most rapes are committed not by strangers, but by men known to women, perhaps someone they have gone out with or are supposedly their friends. It can be someone she just met or even her fiancé, but often it is an attempt to assert power or anger. A study by the National Center for the Preventive and Control rape claims ninety percent of rapes are never reported. In those that are reported, sixty percent knew their assailants. Of these, women fifteen to twenty-five are majority of the victims. Alcohol and drugs sometimes play a significant factor, especially in date rape or acquaintance rape cases (Mousseau, 2006).