Prevention vs Perpetrator

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 04:44:42 -0500

Why do victims of sexual assault get questioned about what preventative measures they did or did not take prior to the crime?

You leave your keys inside your car, a perpetrator walks by and notices the keys are inside the car. Perpetrator checks the door and it’s unlocked, decides to jump in, drive away, and technically just stole your car. You just became a victim of theft; is it your fault for leaving the keys in the car? Let’s say you’re taking a quiz in class and because you didn’t cover your paper, someone next to you copied your answers without your permission. Is it your fault if unfavorable action was taken against you all because you failed to cover your paper up? Moving this same concept into sexual assault. A person walks into a bar or club with the intent to have sex, is not wearing any underwear and others around notice this person is here to have sex and the person is clearing showing it. This person then gets sexually assaulted by someone in the bar/club that this person did not want to be with. This person just became a victim. Is it the victims fault for not implementing preventive measures (subjective)? Is it possible that we question victims too much in today’s society who have become sexually assaulted? Regardless of a victim’s failure to implement preventive measures (subjective), does it give someone else the right to break the law?

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 2 at 2014 4:50 AM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 04:50:55 -0500

MSG Private RallyPoint Member Great, timely question given the prevalence and visibility of sexual assault in the military. Lots of academic research out there regarding victim blaming---here's a sample from Psychology Today: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-love-and-war/201311/why-do-we-blame-victims.

Response by CW2 Joseph Evans made Nov 2 at 2014 4:59 AM

CW2 Joseph Evans — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 04:59:04 -0500

The right of conquest? Possession is 9/10th of the law? Women should be subservient?
Which patriarchal bias are we going to blame this week? or are we just going to start treating victims as victims and stop stoning them to death for daring to offer resistance to a man's desire?

Consent is the rule and faith in the testimony of the witness has always been the rule in every other crime, except sexual assault. Why? because as a culture, we place more stock on the value of a man than we do in a woman.

You and I know what the answer is supposed to be. We also know why it isn't that way. We also know why it is so hard to change that even in today's world where the stories of heart break and loss travel so quickly. We have an entire culture that has grown up with the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah being homosexuality when the true reason for destruction was the attempted rape of the angels of God.

It is because we lack values and we lack conviction and we still want to blame women when men fail.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 2 at 2014 5:06 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 05:06:19 -0500

MSG Leyba,

I think this is a great question and a topic that needs to be covered in the military. Victim blaming is a common occurrence with sexual assault and many people don't realize how harmful it can be.

I think one of the biggest reasons for victim blaming in the military is a leader's desire to know all the facts. As leaders we sometimes feel we need to know as much as possible about a situation involving our soldiers. This can lead to inappropriate questions that make the victim feel as if they are to blame. It is important to remind leadership that our responsibility is to care for the soldier and cooperate with the law enforcement investigation. CID and other investigators will ask the hard questions, and they are trained to do so in an appropriate way.

Another way to prevent victim blaming is to control the rumor mill. A sexual assault is unlikely to remain a secret for long especially if other service members are being questioned as potential assailants or witnesses, but it is important to limit the information flow to a need to know basis. It is also important to crack down on people spreading rumors about an assault. We need to immediately stop it if we hear someone talking about what they think happened or who they think is to blame.

Response by SPC James Mcneil made Nov 2 at 2014 8:46 AM

SPC James Mcneil — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 08:46:20 -0500

To answer your original question, people like to play the blame game when things go wrong. I've seen it often, and it looks to me as though they do it to prevent blame from coming their way, even if they know they've done nothing wrong.

As far as leaving your keys in your car, I've never understood that. I feel naked without my keys in my pocket. But that's another story.

When it comes to sexual assault, I believe either party should be able to say "stop" at any time an expect things to stop. Is it "right" to do so? That's not mine to say. But if I'm with a woman and she says "stop" or something else to make it clear that she does not want me to continue, and I keep going... Then I'd be guilty of this exact thing. It wouldn't matter if she did or didn't wear underwear. It really wouldn't matter if she'd been teasing me all night.
JMHO of course.

Response by SFC Stephen P. made Nov 2 at 2014 11:41 AM

SFC Stephen P. — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 11:41:54 -0500

In the interest of crime prevention, it behooves us to explore avenues which actually prevent crime. Crime prevention is multifaceted, but I believe it would be negligent to ignore the motives and methods of the criminals. The methods are going to include target selection.

We tell service members to vary their routines and avoid public displays of affiliation. Is this victim blaming or prudent precautionary measures? Is it victim blaming to tell someone to wear sun block to prevent burns?

If the impetus of crime prevention is solely on the perpetrators, we are big trouble.