Gender differences in videoed accounts of victim blaming for revenge porn for self-taken and stealth-taken sexually explicit images and videos

Abstract

Using video recounts from revenge porn victims, this study explores whether levels of victim blaming differs for the sharing of self- and stealth-taken sexually explicit images and videos. Building on previous work which has demonstrated victim blame for both self- and stealth generated images in occurrences of revenge porn (Zvi & Schechory-Bitton, 2020), the reported study presents an original and ecologically valid methodological approach whereby 342 (76 male, 266 female) participants (Mage = 39.27, SD = 11.70) from the UK watched videoed accounts of real experiences of falling victim to revenge porn, rather than using text based, often fictional, vignettes to attribute blame which dominate studies in this area. All data was collected in 2019. The results demonstrated that significantly more blame was assigned to victims when participants were indirectly rather than directly asked who was to blame for the occurrence of revenge porn, supporting the notion of an unconscious processing bias in attributing blame. More blame was also assigned to those victims who themselves generated the material compared to when it had been acquired without their awareness by a perpetrator, suggesting the cognitive bias to be in line with a just world hypothesis. Male participants were more likely to blame a victim than were female participants, although sex of victim and mode of shared sexually-explicit material (video or image) did not appear to affect levels of victim-blame. Findings are considered in terms of extant research and the need for future work in the area of victim blame and revenge pornography.

Non-Consensual Synthetic Intimate Imagery: Prevalence, Attitudes, and Knowledge in 10 Countries

“…Additionally, the attitudinal questions indicate a trend towards men diminishing the harms or "badness" of deepfake pornography behaviors. This is consistent with previous findings on deepfake pornography [29], and with other findings around image-based sexual abuse more broadly [7,10].…”

“Snapping, sharing and receiving blame”: A systematic review on psychosocial factors of victim blaming in non-consensual pornography

“…[ 25 ] Men seem to be more accepting of the gender role stereotypes and hence make such attributions. In contrast, a study using videotaped accounts found that men assigned significantly more blame regardless of the victim’s sex,[ 27 ] while another study using pre-service teachers found that neither the victim’s nor the attributor’s gender had an impact on the way blame was assigned. [ 24 ] In a study with predominant female respondents, blame attributions were found less for female victims who have longer relationship with the perpetrator.…”

“…However, it is worth noting that the gender of the victim and the mode of sharing sexually explicit material, whether through video or images, did not seem to have an impact on the level of victim blaming. [ 27 ] Also, individuals with higher age, lower levels of empathy, and higher levels of rape myths acceptance tend to attribute higher levels of victim blaming. [ 24 ] Likewise, individuals lacking prior experience in sexting were more inclined than those with sexting experience to view the situation as grave and to ascribe blame to the victim.…”

Reporting non-consensual pornography: clarity, efficiency and distress

“…4 Layout of the medium-fidelity interface framework 1 , the interface prototypes were served as static sites with a Jamstack-like architecture. 2 To maximise the participant privacy, data were collected only on the interface prototypes using JavaScript embedded in the web source and an API running on an institutional web server. Scores were saved only after the completion of the experiment.…”

“…Further research on gender and other intersectional aspects (e.g., race, ability) are paramount since women and girls are often the victims of non-consensual pornography [75]. As demonstrated by [2] women suffer higher victims blame and minority groups, especially sexual minorities, are most often the target of cyberbullying [46].…”