Victim Blaming: A product of social injustice born from discriminating

against victims of sexual harassment, abuse, and rape.

Natural Law II Term Paper

Ma. Thea Beatriz S. Barte

University of San Agustin

College of Law

April 2019
 I. Introduction

Victim blaming is a term commonly heard in association with Rape

Culture. It is the lack of regard to the victim’s cry for justice. Instead of
acknowledging the perpetrator’s fault, it overlooks it. What society does is
condemn the victim with the belief that they brought the crime upon
themselves.

Human Rights is inherent in all of us. But what is human rights if it

does not do justice to victims of crimes such as sexual harassment, abuse, and
rape? Human Rights protect a person daily from mistreatment and repression.
It is defined by the United Nations that such is an inherent right to all human
beings, regardless of sex, race, religion, nationality, ethnicity, or any other
status. It includes, among others, the right to life, liberty, security, freedom
from slavery and torture, without discrimination. (United Nations)

A statement by the Philippine Commission on Human Rights regarding

an issue involving sexual violence expresses the commission’s clear
disapproval of victim blaming.

“Victim Blaming not only trivializes and normalizes violence against

women, it encourages rape culture and adversely affects women’s access to
justice.” (Philippine Commission on Human Rights, 2015)

Though cases involving sexual harassment and rape is prevalent among

women, this also happen to men, too, and; therefore, should be given equal
attention.

The probability of a man reporting a crime such as rape, sexual

harassment, or abuse, is much lower than that of a woman’s. To be a victim
of the mentioned crimes brings shame to their name regardless of the fact that
they were the ones violated.

Society has influenced us into thinking that those who experience those
crimes brought it upon themselves by inviting danger into their own person.
This way of thinking creates a world where there are no perpetrators, where
those who experienced the pain and trauma of having those acts done upon
them live in shame and silence.
 Rape, sexual assault and harassment, and abuse are crimes because
there are perpetrators making a victim out of a person by committing these
crimes against humanity. Crimes should focus on the act done instead of the
state of the person violated by it. If a person is raped, for example, look for
the rapist and not the reason.

Victim blaming would never be erased from the narrative if the people
don’t show the sensitivity they should towards the victims—just like how
responsive they are towards other crimes without finding reasons to blame the
victim.

II. Victim Blaming in Dehumanizing Human Rights

Dehumanization is a process. It fuels acts of violence, human rights

violations, war crimes, and genocides. Throughout history, it has made acts
of slavery, torture, and human trafficking possible. It is the process by which
we, humans, who are privileged with various rights to protect ourselves with,
become accepting of violations against human nature, the spirit, and for many
of us, violations against the central tenets of our faith. (Brown, 2018)

We believe that people’s basic human rights should not be violated—

that crimes like murder, rape, and torture are wrong. But why are there still
people who incapacitate the victim from seeking help by shaming them and
making them question if it was their fault, if we already know that such crimes
are wrong?

Victim blaming creates irresponsible crowds—those who justify the

acts of the perpetrator and look for reasons to condemn the victim are in no
means helping our justice system do its job. Instead, the continuous display of
turning a blind eye on the crime and focusing on the justification of the
perpetrator’s acts is nothing short of practicing what constitutes rape culture.

To shame a victim into silencing them from ever stepping out of their
trauma would be equal to blaming the murdered for his or her own murder.
To blame the oppressed for their oppression will not help overcome injustice.
The only thing it achieves is devaluing the victim’s worth and dehumanizing
them.
 III. Subtopics

Social Injustice

Social Injustice occurs when there are unjust or unfair acts practiced by
society that promotes inequality and hinder social advancement. (Smith,
2016)

Discrimination is the most commonly known act of social injustice our

society has practiced. It promotes or reveals unfair treatment of a person or a
particular group of people on the basis of prejudice and partiality.
Discrimination is the unfair treatment of people based on different classes,
race, gender, age, color, or religion. (Isioma, 2016)

For purposes of this paper, a certain type of discrimination between

victims of sexual assault, harassment, rape, and abuse against the victims of
other crimes shall be focused on.

The second paragraph of the Bill of Rights in the 1987 Constitution

respects the equality of persons and provides that everyone should be given
equal protection of the laws. But why are victims of certain crimes having a
hard time getting protection under the law?

That has nothing to do with the law being unfair. This is an effect of
victim blaming, causing those victims to be uncertain of asking the authorities
for help. The fear that society might condemn them and shame them from the
crimes that have been done upon them and blame them for it—crimes that
they have endured—prevents them from asking for assistance of the proper
authorities.

Silencing the victim of such crimes perpetuates rape culture. Rape

culture is a culture in which societal institutions support and condone sexual
abuse by normalizing, trivializing, and eroticizing violence against a person
and blaming the victim for their own abuse—in which people aren’t taught
not to rape, but are taught not to be raped. (Sinatria, 2015)

Some people may not be aware that there is a thing such as “rape
culture”. Most of the time when it is mentioned online, internet trolls or simply
ignorant people laugh at the thought that the feminist are at it again
demonizing men. Though the term was coined by feminist in the 1970’s, it’s
intention was not to demonize men. It was to raise awareness that things such
as normalizing a crime and objectifying a person happen.

We are so accustomed to rape culture that we are not aware of this and
we are made to believe that this is just the way things are—that a person will
get raped because of how we perceive their character and what little clothing
they were wearing. To even consider these things as factors why a person
would get raped or harassed or abused is wrong. It will only make excuses for
the perpetrator to do the crime, and it will only justify the perpetrator’s act.

To tolerate rape culture promotes inequality and disharmony among the

community. Every one of us is responsible for allowing this system of
unfairness and injustice to begin and continue on.

We have the responsibility to educate ourselves about the law and

humanity, and to stop tolerating rape culture which could result to several
perpetrators roaming around freely in our society.

Unreported Crimes

According to the Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network (RAINN), out

of every 1000 rapes, 230 are reported to the police, and 995 perpetrators will
walk free. While out of 1000 robberies, 619 are reported to the police, and 20
robbers will be incarcerated. Perpetrators of sexual violence will less likely
get imprisoned than other criminals.

Of the sexual violence crimes not reported to police, the victims gave
the reasons such as fear of retaliation, mistreatment from the authorities and
the public, deeming that the matter was trivial and not important enough to
report, to protect the perpetrator, and others not mentioned. (RAINN)

The Bureau of Justice Statistics, based on a study, identified common

reasons why the majority of raped and sexual assaults perpetrated against
women and girls are not reported to the police.

The most common reasons were because of self-blame or guilt; shame,

embarrassment, or desire to keep the assault a private matter; humiliation or
fear of the perpetrator or other individual’s perceptions; fear of not being
believed or of being accused of playing a role in the crime; and, the lack of
trust in the criminal justice system. (National Institute of Justice, 2010)

Unpunished Perpetrators

Probably one of the most known perpetrators of sexual violence to walk

freely away from his sentence is Brock Turner. He was convicted of three
felonies, including assault with intent to rape.

In the case of People v. Turner, the defendant found the victim passed
out drunk behind the dumpster in a frat party. He then proceeded to commit
sexual acts against the unconscious victim. Fortunately, two passers-by saw
what the defendant did and tackled him to the ground when he tried to run
away.

He was supposed to be sentenced to serve fourteen years in jail, but the

Judge lowered his sentence to six months because Turner was known as, and
I quote from the words of Judge Perksy, “an excellent swimming scholar from
Stanford, and that prison would have a severe impact on him.” The judgment
rendered caused quite a stir when it was made public. It eventually turned
more controversial when Turner was released early after serving only three
months of his sentence. (EVB, 2016)

A statement by the victim showed her disappointment over the judgment

of the case.

“How fast Brock swims does not lessen the severity of what happened to
me, and should not lessen the severity of his punishment. If a first time
offender from an underprivileged background was accused of three felonies
and displayed no accountability for his actions other than drinking, what
would his sentence be? The fact that Brock was an athlete at a private
university should not be seen as an entitlement to leniency, but as an
opportunity to send a message that sexual assault is against the law regardless
of social class.” (Emily Doe, 2016)

To make excuses for the perpetrator and sentence him lightly based on his
athletic and academic standing makes light of the crime and the struggles of
the victim. It reaches to the point of invalidating a victim’s suffering because
of the given circumstances, and justifying the perpetrators actions enough to
let him roam freely in public again.

David Becker, another perpetrator who raped two victims, never served a
single day in a cell and got away from his crimes.

Nicholas Fifield, who sexually assaulted a handicapped woman, also got a

similar judgment because the judge believed that “prison would not do this
kid any good.”

How many more excuses do we need to hear in order to believe that sexual
violence related crimes are taken more lightly than other crimes? These
excuses are factors why victims who deserve justice hesitate in even reporting
their crimes. If this was murder, and it was proven guilty beyond reasonable
doubt, there wouldn’t be any justifications heard why the murder should be
excused.

IV. Conclusion

To conclude this paper, I shall emphasize that victim blaming is a

product of social injustice. It is considered as such because, we, as a
community, are responsible on how we unfairly treat victims to the point
where a word such as “victim blaming” came to life.

We, ourselves, do not recognize this problem because we are so used

to it. It was recently that it has stirred up quite the attention when the #MeToo
movement started and pointed out this problem.

We have grown accustomed to the thought that whenever a tragedy

happens to someone, it would partially be their fault. You reap what you sow,
right?

Our tendency to blame the victim trivializes the survivor, downplays

the criminal act, and makes people less likely to come forward and report what
has happened to them—making it hard for the justice system to achieve its
design for justice and excuses the perpetrator; thus, causing a social injustice.
 Instead of jumping to conclusions whether he or she is to blame for
whatever tragedy has happened, let’s commit to asking ourselves: How would
I feel in that person’s place?

We do not wish anything bad to happen to us. Crimes happen because

there are perpetrators or criminals. It is not because we invite them to violate
us, it is simply because there are people who commit criminal acts.
 References

Brown, B. (2018, May 17). Dehumanizing Always Starts With Language .

Retrieved from brenebrown:
https://brenebrown.com/blog/2018/05/17/dehumanizing-always-starts-
with-language/

EVB. (2016, June 6). Sentencing of Brock Turner. Retrieved from Everyday
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sentencing-of-brock-turner-is-rape-culture-but-there-is-another-issue-
at-stake/

Isioma, C. (2016, April 14). Social Injustice: Discrimination. Retrieved from

Honor Society: https://www.honorsociety.org/articles/social-injustice-
discrimination

NIJ. (2010, October 26). Reporting of Sexual Violence Incidents. Retrieved

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RAINN. (n.d.). The Criminal Justice System: Statistics. Retrieved from

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Smith, R. (2016, January 20). Social Injustice. Retrieved from Something

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