Blaming the victim
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| − | {{logicnav}}'''Blaming the victim''' describes the attempt to escape responsibility by placing the blame for the [[crime]] at the hands of the victim. Classically this is the [[Rape|rapist]] claiming his victim was "asking for it" by, for example, [[Slut|wearing a short skirt]]. Until recently, blaming the victim was largely how most rape victims experienced the investigation and litigation into claims of rape - often leading to women and men becoming unwilling to report it. It was not uncommon for a victim of rape to face a defense attorney who asked the victim about her (or, in the rare cases that a male victim went to court, his) sexual history, sexual preferences, drinking habits and even social status, all to paint her as less of a victim. In 2013, a Montana Judge said a 14 year old rape victim was equally responsible for her own rape because she "seemed older than her chronological age"<ref>[http://www.cbsnews.com/news/montana-rape-case-protesters-call-for-resignation-of-judge-who-handed-down-30-day-sentence-to-teacher-in-rape-of-student-report-says/ | + | {{logicnav}}'''Blaming the victim''' describes the attempt to escape responsibility by placing the blame for the [[crime]] at the hands of the victim. Classically this is the [[Rape|rapist]] claiming his victim was "asking for it" by, for example, [[Slut|wearing a short skirt]]. Until recently, blaming the victim was largely how most rape victims experienced the investigation and litigation into claims of rape - often leading to women and men becoming unwilling to report it. It was not uncommon for a victim of rape to face a defense attorney who asked the victim about her (or, in the rare cases that a male victim went to court, his) sexual history, sexual preferences, drinking habits and even social status, all to paint her as less of a victim. In 2013, a Montana Judge said a 14 year old rape victim was equally responsible for her own rape because she "seemed older than her chronological age"<ref>[http://www.cbsnews.com/news/montana-rape-case-protesters-call-for-resignation-of-judge-who-handed-down-30-day-sentence-to-teacher-in-rape-of-student-report-says/ Judge hands down 30 day sentence in rape case]</ref>. A perfect example of blaming the victim. |
'''[[Denialism|Denying the victim]]''' is similar, but has a slight difference in that the perpetrator attempts to assert that he or she is the ''real'' victim. Denying the victim is generally less of a one-on-one scenario, and more topical, ie. "The real victims of the supposed 'mistreatment of [[women]]' are the [[children]] who have to grow up in homes where their mother wants to work instead of care for them." Denying the victims, in this sense, is often an attempt at [[historical revisionism]], to make those charged with the crimes, look more or even totally innocent in the light of modern [[society]]. | '''[[Denialism|Denying the victim]]''' is similar, but has a slight difference in that the perpetrator attempts to assert that he or she is the ''real'' victim. Denying the victim is generally less of a one-on-one scenario, and more topical, ie. "The real victims of the supposed 'mistreatment of [[women]]' are the [[children]] who have to grow up in homes where their mother wants to work instead of care for them." Denying the victims, in this sense, is often an attempt at [[historical revisionism]], to make those charged with the crimes, look more or even totally innocent in the light of modern [[society]]. | ||
Revision as of 07:51, 23 July 2014
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Denying the victim is similar, but has a slight difference in that the perpetrator attempts to assert that he or she is the real victim. Denying the victim is generally less of a one-on-one scenario, and more topical, ie. "The real victims of the supposed 'mistreatment of women' are the children who have to grow up in homes where their mother wants to work instead of care for them." Denying the victims, in this sense, is often an attempt at historical revisionism, to make those charged with the crimes, look more or even totally innocent in the light of modern society.
Denial of the victim can also take the form of minimizing the number of victims or the severity of the offense. For example, the Roman Catholic Church played this game, when trying to claim the systematic child abuse by some priests were simply isolated events both individually and by priests at large. They also pushed the issue that the boys should not be described as "children," but "young men" to minimize the sense of how horrific these rapes were. Both blaming the victim and denying the victim are specific instances of neutralization.
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Examples
- Certain ostensibly liberal figures, including Jimmy Carter and Germaine Greer, accusing Salman Rushdie of having provoked the attempts on his life during the Satanic Verses crisis for writing a "blasphemous" book.
- Representatives of the Papacy have lashed out at The New York Times for its investigative journalism of the cover-up of the aforementioned pedophile priests. Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa even compared the anger directed at the Vatican in the pedophilia scandal to "the most shameful aspects of anti-Semitism."[2]
- The Church of Scientology has acted similarly. Examples include their campaign against the Cult Awareness Network,[3] and their support for child rapist Gabriel Williams.[4]
- Blaming bullying and violence toward homosexuals on the homosexuals themselves. For instance, several homophobic activists (including Bryan Fischer) has claimed that the murder of 15 year-old openly gay eighth grader Lawrence King[5] must be blamed on King himself. In a column called “Who will protect straights from homosexual bullies” Fischer alleged that King's killer was a victim of King's relentless "sexual harassment,"[6] and as a solution of anti-gay hate crimes Fischer suggested “placing reasonable curbs on the public expression of homosexual behavior."
See also
References
- Stanley Cohen. 2001. States of Denial: Knowing About Atrocities and Suffering. Cambridge: Polity Press. Pp. 96-97.
Footnotes
- ↑ Judge hands down 30 day sentence in rape case
- ↑ http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/04/04/vatican.antisemitism.apology/?hpt=T2 News Report
- ↑ http://www.holysmoke.org/cos/blaming-the-victim.htm
- ↑ http://www.xenu-directory.net/mirrors/www.whyaretheydead.net/childabuse/pedophile/Gabriel_Williams.html
- ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/23/us/23oxnard.html?_r=1
- ↑ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/fischer-lawrence-kings-murder-was-real-victim