Slut-shaming and victim-blaming: a qualitative investigation of undergraduate students’ perceptions of sexual violence

Masochist or Murderer? A Discourse Analytic Study Exploring Social Constructions of Sexually Violent Male Perpetrators, Female Victims-Survivors and the Rough Sex Defense on Twitter

“…Assumptions that women do not have the tools to prevent sexual violence, such as confidence, self-defense, and strength individualizes the blame and further perpetuates sexual violence. This finding was similar to Hackman et al (2017) who found being a victim/survivor was viewed as the result of not taking initiative to protect oneself from danger. Alternatively, examples of digital feminism such as “love yourself first,” and “#useyourvoice,” are examples of victim-supportive discourses, offering victims ideas of how to protect themselves amidst safety concerns.…”

“…The rough sex defense is problematic as it often reproduces gendered hierarchies by drawing upon typical masculine (controlling, demanding, aggressive), and feminine (submissive, obedient, passive) gender roles ( Lines, 2015 ). “Slut-shaming” is the tradition of punishing a sexually liberal woman by tarnishing her reputation and branding her as undesirable ( Hackman et al, 2017 ). This is often a tactic used by defense teams to victim-blame women and involves delivering a defense based on women’s sexual history and preferences, alcohol consumption and clothing.…”

“…This is often a tactic used by defense teams to victim-blame women and involves delivering a defense based on women’s sexual history and preferences, alcohol consumption and clothing. Slut-shaming can have damaging implications, such as influencing the treatment of victims/survivors within society, court, and police interviews ( Hackman et al, 2017 ). This highlights the importance of researching gender-role stereotypes in sexual violence, as it is an unequal sexual space.…”

Bystanders in “sketchy” sexual situations: Their constructions of the “girl,” the “guy,” and themselves

“…Drinking could, however, excuse a girl who was “allowing” exploitation; this excuse worked in some narratives and but not in others, echoing a vast literature attesting to the fine line women walk between sexual agent and slut in the eyes of onlookers (e.g. Armstrong, Hamilton, Armstrong, & Seeley, 2014; Hackman, Pember, Wilkerson, Burton, & Usdan, 2017). Normalizing drinking could also have excused the bystander, but only did so in narratives where the drunkenness of the girl made it confusing to know whether to step in, confusing in assessing her willingness to engage in whatever acts were occurring.…”

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“…slut shaming) in okrivljanje žrtev nista značilna zgolj za najstnike (Pew Research Center, 2014) ali za spletno nadlegovanje (npr. Hackman et al, 2017), imata pa ključno vlogo pri tem, kako žrtev doživlja spolno nasilje (meni, da je sam/-a kriv/-a, da se je nasilje zgodilo). Drugi dejavniki, ki lahko pomembno doprinesejo k marginalizaciji mladih, ki doživljajo spletno spolno nadlegovanje, so rasa, etnična pripadnost, invalidnost, spolna identiteta.…”