Victim-Blaming

Victim-blaming occurs when responsibility for gender-based violence is shifted wholly or partly from the perpetrator to the survivor. It judges the survivor's clothing, conduct, relationships, location, resistance, reporting delay or past, instead of recognising that the perpetrator is responsible and that consent must be freely given.

How victim-blaming appears

Victim-blaming may be expressed by families, communities, media personnel or institutions, and may operate even without openly defending the perpetrator.

• Questions such as why the survivor went out, consumed alcohol, trusted the accused or did not resist reproduce gender stereotypes about a supposedly ideal victim.
• Doubting a survivor because of delayed reporting, emotional composure or continued contact with the accused assumes that every survivor must react identically to trauma.
• Treating sexual history, occupation or marital status as proof of consent confuses social respectability with the right to bodily autonomy.

Social roots

Victim-blaming is sustained by patriarchy, which places responsibility for sexual restraint and family honour disproportionately on women while normalising male control or aggression.

• Rigid ideas of femininity expect women to be modest, cautious and passive, making departures from these expectations appear blameworthy.
• Rape myths falsely suggest that violence is provoked by clothing or behaviour, or that a genuine survivor will immediately report and visibly display distress.
• Power inequalities involving caste, class, disability, age and economic dependence can intensify disbelief and silence.

Consequences and corrective approach

Victim-blaming can produce shame, isolation and secondary victimisation, while discouraging reporting, medical care and participation in justice processes.

• A survivor-centred approach listens without judgement, protects dignity and confidentiality, and respects the survivor's informed choices.
• Police, medical personnel, courts and media should avoid stereotypical assumptions and focus on the accused's conduct and the presence or absence of consent.
• Gender-sensitive education should challenge myths, teach consent and place responsibility for violence solely on the perpetrator.