The Impact of Demographic Characteristics, Relationship Level, and Lifestyle on Victim Blaming of Sexual Violence

In this study, a quantitative study of 363 adults and a qualitative case study of 17 adults were conducted to explore the impact of demographic characteristics, relationship level, and lifestyle on blaming victims of sexual violence. Quantitative research results showed that gender differences in victim blaming were not significant. And it was found that the older the participant, the stranger the perpetrator was, and the more open the victim's lifestyle, the more they blamed the victim. As a result of the qualitative case study, the reasons for victim-blaming were summarized as ‘the illusion that the offender can be recognized at a glance’, ‘alcohol is guilty-the offender is innocent’, ‘the crime of not saying no’, ‘a man’s sexual impulse is entirely the woman’s fault’, ‘prevention is self’, ‘the illusion that men's sexual impulses are always right', 'open lifestyle is a sign of wanting to be raped', and 'retribution'. They converged into sexism based on gender role stereotypes. In the discussion, suggestions were made on effective prevention strategies for secondary victimization and directions for follow-up research.