Victim Blaming

Victim blaming can be a pervasive form of abuse that silences victims, and discourages them from coming forward. As a result, it is one of the major barriers to services that survivors need for their mental health and recovery, as well as preventing them from reporting crimes to police, which is essential for societal safety.

Sadly, when news of a crime hits the headlines, it’s not uncommon for people to quickly begin victim blaming. For example, in the case of rape or sexual assault, questions often focus on what the victim was wearing or doing that may have “provoked” the attacker, as well as why they didn’t speak up sooner. While these questions may not be malicious, they’re based on a warped belief that the world is fair and good and that those who are hurt by crimes must have done something to deserve or attract it.

It’s not just well-intentioned people who may engage in victim blaming; even some therapists can fall into the trap, and it can be especially difficult for victims to hear such a message from someone they trust. Whether they are talking to a friend, sibling or family member, a colleague or a client, survivors need our support and understanding, not our victim blaming.

While victim blaming may seem like an innocent or even harmless reaction, the reality is that it can be deadly. When a survivor of an abusive relationship, or any victim for that matter, is blamed they can feel unsupported, which can lead to increased feelings of post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety. They may also be less likely to seek out help or report the crime because they believe their abusers will ultimately get away with it.

Research by Laura Niemi, a postdoctoral associate at Harvard and Liane Young, professor of psychology at Boston College has shown that two main factors influence how likely someone is to engage in victim blaming: their moral values, and how much they empathize with the perpetrators of a crime. For example, people with more “individual” values tend to be more sympathetic towards individual victims and more concerned about avoiding harm to individuals, while those with stronger “binding” values place greater emphasis on protecting the group as a whole and are more likely to view victims as guilty of their misfortune.

A person’s cultural background can also affect how much they engage in victim blaming. In fact, Niemi and Young have found that people from cultures where the concept of a victim’s guilt is more prevalent are more likely to engage in this behavior. This is thought to be because people from such cultures have been conditioned to believe that those who experience bad luck are to blame themselves for it.

Taking steps to understand why people engage in victim blaming can help you recognize it when you encounter it, and work toward ending it. It’s important to realize that no matter what someone tells you, it is never their fault for being abused or injured. They did not bring it on themselves, and they did not deserve it.