"I have long contemplated victim-blaming following sexual assault. It's a confounding, distressing phenomenon to witness. Why would the one who has suffered be the one who is blamed? Why would anyone say, "I'm glad you're okay, but let's be honest about the choices you made that led to this." "By wearing that, you were asking for it." And anything in between."
"The just-world belief overvalues the role of individuals in controlling their fate and undervalues the importance of societal structures. It can also lead to the justification of another person's suffering. No matter how great the person's misery, it must in some way be deserved. Believing in a just world is comforting-it creates order and predictability, rather than acknowledging the capricious nature of things."
Victims of sexual assault receive more silencing and stigmatizing than victims of other crimes, contributing to widespread victim-blaming. People often attribute blame to maintain a belief in a just world, overvaluing individual control and ignoring societal factors. That belief comforts by creating order and predictability but can justify another person's suffering as deserved. Blame can also emerge from efforts to protect a perpetrator's image or to avoid imagining oneself as vulnerable. Understanding these dynamics and practicing compassionate listening and nonjudgmental responses can reduce silencing, stigma, and the tendency to blame survivors.
Read at Psychology Today
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