Women's Experiences Of Victim Blame From Agencies Following Sexual Violence

Women's Experiences Of Victim Blame From Agencies Following Sexual Violence Presented by: Dr. Beddows Date: 11 January 2023 Today's Presentation - Victim blame and responsibilities. - My research. - Responsibilities in criminal justice responses. - Implications for tackling violence against women. - Q & A. Victim Blame - Blaming victims/survivors for misfortune, finding them partially or fully responsible. - Crime, especially sexual violence. - Emotional, psychological, physical, financial, practical, social, spiritual impacts. - Withdrawal from agencies, reduced reporting. - Absolves abusers (and professionals) of responsibility for violence. - Part of rape culture (Fanghanel, 2020) and the 'conducive context' for violence (Kelly, 2007; 2016). - Intersects with structural oppressions to maintain a 'hierarchy' of victims (Thiara, Roy & Ng, 2015). Research Questions - How is victim blame communicated to and experienced by victim-survivors? - Are there specific behaviors, comments, situational factors that are 'blaming'? - Are there less direct, more subtle ways that blame can be communicated/experienced? - Focused on female victim-survivors: • Women more likely to be affected by sexual violence than men. • Male and female victim-survivors may be subjected to different types of blaming responses. - 10 focus groups at Rape Crisis centers (RCCs). - women in total. • Experiences of agency responses. Methodology - At request of women, ran three follow-up groups with same participants. - One feedback group to 'sense check' findings. - Deeper exploration of topic. - 'Meaning making' between discussions. - Comfort, familiarity, trust and rapport. - Discussed ways of sharing findings. Findings - Victim blame is more than blame: disbelief, devaluation, victimize and responsibilities. - Victim blame is about more than victims: - women felt they were treated badly due to gender, age, sexuality, class, race, ethnicity and ability more than experiences of violence. - Importance of space: space for action (Kelly, Sharp & Klein, 2014), spaces to speak (Wilson, 2016), space to be and to be with (Beddows, 2022). Victimize - Kathleen Barry (1979) Female Sexual Slavery. - Awareness of men's violence against women creates a new status: the victim. - If women are believed about sexual violence, they are reduced to victim status. - Cannot claim it, must be granted it by authority. - Comes with expected behaviors, needs. - Must get rid of/move away from victim status as quickly as possible. - At first, she was dealing with me as a whole person and then suddenly... no (Casey). - I've got to compartmentalize these bits of myself... It's not a holistic approach to recovery, is it? (Dee). - They think that after all these years you should be over it by now, but it's not like you can take your brain out and wash it in the sink and just put it back (Ginny). Responsibilities - Makes individuals fully responsible for their wellbeing and safety. - Part of Western, neoliberal ideologies. - Takes responsibility off professionals, agencies, institutions, communities, the Government. - Maintains social order whilst protecting the state from blame or criticism (Rose, 2000). - Insidious, adaptative, normalized. - New' victim blaming. - Women blamed for: how they reported violence, not 'recovering' quickly, for needing support, for how they engage with agencies. - Also blamed for their health, parenting, socioeconomic status, etc. - "Choiceless choices" (Coy, 2016). - Woven through structural inequalities as well as gender: linked with stereotypes about race, class, sexuality, ability, and age. - It's catch-22. Life goes on because it has to and then people say, 'why didn't you tell someone sooner?'. But if you do, they question what happened to you and it catches up with you and you get ill (Casey). - I looked alright because I was pleasant, clean, tidy. I made the effort. That was the mistake I made (Ellen). - You go to counselling and you're supposed to feel fine. Should I be feeling fine after 10 weeks? Maybe other people have and it's just me (Laurie). - It deters victims from speaking up, because if you're with your husband at least you've got a roof over your children's heads.... Once you're out of that house, it's hard road and nobody helps you (Kirstie). - It's different to the white communities here. The Police can't do anything (Shideh). - Even from being a child, for my generation and the generation before me you were told it's mind over matter. Just get on with it (Beverley). Agencies - Victimize and responsibilities are enacted through different aspects of agencies: • Individual staff: comments, actions, gender. • Processes/policies: waiting lists, applications. • Physical spaces: rooms, resources, privacy. • Reputation/expectations: e.g. 'they won't listen', police and social care services. Patriarchal Resistance - 'Victim blame' interventions focus on changing the attitudes and behavior of 'blamers' rather than institutions, systems, or Governments. - Responsibilities is a more pervasive way of devaluing women. - 'Patriarchal resistance' (Berns, 2001): processes which protect gender order and status quo. Patriarchal Resistance - victims and responsibilities interact to reduce the number of (recognized) victims to as few as possible. - Simultaneously deny men's violence against women AND make women responsible for preventing and managing it. - Agencies are 'frontline' of patriarchal resistance as reinforce power hierarchies (Rose, 2000; Jordan, 2004). Overview - Victim blame is recognized and called out. - Victims reduces people to a status. - Responsibilities is a more pervasive way of blaming women and people from marginalized communities. - Maintains focus on victims rather than targeting perpetrators, institutions, society. - Maintains the 'conducive context' (Kelly, 2007; 2016) for violence against women. Final Thoughts - We must interrogate 'taken-for-granted' concepts from wider perspectives. - Understand forms of patriarchal resistance and how they interact to maintain men's violence against women. - Everything, it was everything. It was how the sun shined; it was everything (Beverley).