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Rape Culture: Ending Victim Blaming

Rape Culture: Ending Victim Blaming

View the Power Topic Rape Culture: Ending Victim Blaming

What’s Ahead

  • Rape culture definition: What is rape culture, and how does it impact everyone, especially survivors? 
  • Victim blaming definition: What is victim blaming, and how does it contribute to rape culture?
  • Why do people victim blame?
  • Why do we need to change rape culture and end victim blaming?
  • What can we do to make positive change?

Defining Rape Culture

Rape culture reinforces the belief that victims are responsible for what has happened to them.

  • Rape culture reinforces widespread false beliefs embedded in society about rape that justify sexual aggression and violence against women and downplay the seriousness of sexual violence
  • Behaviors include but are not limited to:
    • Victim blaming
    • “Slut-shaming”
    • Sexual objectification
    • Trivializing rape
    • Not recognizing the harm sexual violence causes

How Does Rape Culture Impact Survivors?

  • Hurts survivors and silences many who want to share their story
  • Causes others to think that trauma from the sexual assault is not severe
  • Breeds a culture of victim blaming where survivors are believed to be responsible for what has happened to them
  • Causes our society to isolate survivors of sexual assault, making it less likely for them to:
    • Come forward
    • Share their story
    • Report to police or school
    • Seek support
  • As a result, survivors:
    • Are further injured when they can’t obtain help 
    • Experience greater difficulty healing 
    • Lose the opportunity to see justice for crimes committed against them

Rape Culture: The Impact

  • In their lifetime:
  • Nearly 1 in 8 girls in grades 9-12 report having been raped
  • 1 in 3 girls in middle school report having been forcibly “kissed, hugged, or sexually touched”
    • 1 in 10 report having been “made to do something sexual”
  • People of color, LGBTQ+ people, and those with disabilities are more frequently victims of sexual violence
  • Overall, only one-third of rapes are reported to police
    • Among students, as few as 5% of rapes are reported to police
    • Most survivors do not even tell parents or friends
    • Why? Emotional pain/trauma, shame, fear: of not being believed – of being blamed – of retaliation – of loss of privacy – that nothing will happen
  • False reporting of sexual assault and rape cases to police is very rare
    • Multiple studies conclude only 2-8% of accusations are false
    • Yet 60% of men, and 51% of women, believe that false accusations of sexual assault against men are “very common”
  • Consequences aren’t only physical, but can affect the victim’s mental health/psychology including:
    • Depression
    • Anxiety
    • Traumatic Stress Disorder

Talk About It

  • What signs of rape culture do you see at school, in the community, online and in social media, or in music/TV/movies?
  • How do you think this might impact someone not reporting sexual violence to friends, parents, the school, or the police?
  • Are you aware of examples of races, ethnicities, genders, or orientations being victim blamed?

Defining Victim Blaming

  • When a victim is judged and thought responsible, even partly, for an offense committed against them
  • Rape culture contributes to victim blaming and victim shaming:
    • “They asked for it”
    • “It wasn’t really rape”
    • “They liked it”
    • “They already had sex before”
    • “She has a boyfriend so obviously, she’s lying that it was rape”

More Victim Blaming Examples

  • “It’s hard to believe it was really an assault, you don’t have any bruises.”
  • “You weren’t screaming or crying afterward, so it must not have happened.”
  • “That skirt is too short, no wonder you got raped.”
  • “You walked through a dangerous neighborhood; what did you expect?”
  • “Why didn’t she fight back? She must be lying.”
  • “They were wasted – they deserved it.”
  • “Girls like her, when they say no, they mean yes.”
  • “You outed yourself as trans on a website, no wonder you were beat up.”

Talk About It

  • What other examples of victim blaming have you heard?

Truths

  • A victim often doesn’t have bruises or other visible signs of physical abuse or struggle. Many victims enter a state of shock and may appear like a “zombie” afterward. No one asks for an assault. No type of clothing worn, flirting, or being intoxicated excuses rape.
  • Not fighting back or crying out for help does not equal consent:
    • A lack of “no” does not mean “yes”
    • Shock or fear often take over

1-Minute Video “Fight or Freeze: I Just Froze”

Here is a short video from Rape Crisis Scotland that challenges common misconceptions that there is a right or wrong way for people to react during or after a rape.

Watch Video

Talk About It

  • Have you ever frozen when something frightening happened to you?
  • Beyond freezing, what are other reasons someone might not fight back?

Why Do People Blame Victims?

  1. We want to believe that the world is safe, fair, and just; that people get what they deserve:
    • “Good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people.”
    • This belief is challenged when we learn of someone suffering random misfortune.
    • We may, therefore, feel the victim “deserved it.”
    • We don’t want to believe “this could happen to me” as a way of coping and feeling protected.
  2. When bad things happen to other people, we tend to blame it on their personal faults or poor decisions instead of their environment.
    • But if something bad happens to us, we tend to blame it on our environment.
    • And if something good happens to us, we tend to credit our own personal strengths.
  3. We don’t want to think we are vulnerable.
    • We blame the victim so that we feel safe.
    • We do not want to feel that we can lose control over our life and our bodies.
    • “She was raped because she walked home alone in the dark. I would never do that, so I won’t be raped.”

Talk About It

What other examples can you imagine for why people might blame someone for something bad that happened to them?

Why We Need to Change Rape Culture and End Victim Blaming

  • Taking action to help change false beliefs to end victim blaming can produce:
    • More survivors speaking up: Getting support and being supported by friends/ family/social services and other professionals
    • More people believing survivors
    • More reporting of offenses: to schools and to police with more cases tried, with more just outcomes
    • Others speaking out which can educate even more people
    • Future offenses reduced

What We Can Do to Change Rape Culture and End Victim Blaming

  • Start with yourself:
    • Examine your own beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors.
    • Avoid using language that blames victims.
    • Do not let stereotypes shape your actions.
    • Understand that some populations are more vulnerable to abuse and victim blaming.
  • Reach out to others:
    • Let survivors know that it is not their fault.
    • Work to be a role model and ally for others.
    • Speak up if others reinforce rape culture:
      • Call out rape jokes, victim-blaming speech.
    • Reach out to educate others in the school and community:
      • Write an article for a blog or newspaper.
      • Organize a school or community presentation.
      • Organize a complete campaign with daily education, activities, and commitments from others to work against rape culture and victim blaming.

Do More

  • In what other ways can you personally change to help end rape culture and victim blaming?
  • What other activities for the school or community can you think of to educate others and help change the culture?

Sources & Acknowledgments

SASH Club
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