Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Victimsof sexual abuse and other forms of gender-based violence not only suffer fromphysical and mental pain but also from the culture of victim blaming.

Nguyen Van Anh, Director of the Hanoi-based Centre for Studies and Applied Sciences in Gender,Family, Women and Adolescents (CSAGA), said that victim blaming and self-blamehurt victims of gender-based violence and victims of sexual assault inparticular.

“Because of victim blamingculture, the victims did not dare to or could not reveal their stories,” shesaid.

Nguyen Thi Hieu, a researcherfrom Institute for Studies of Society, Economy and Environment (iSEE) saidvictim blaming is aphenomenon in which victims of crimes or tragedies are held accountable forwhat happened to them. 

Blaming the victim is commonin rape and sexualassault cases,where the victim of the crime is often accused of inviting the attack due totheir clothing or behaviour.

Within victim blaming, womenare told to change their actions to avoid being assaulted or raped, by dressingdifferently or avoiding certain situations.

Hieu said victim blamingcould have originated from belief in a just world where people reap what theysow and get what they deserve and from sexism and defensive attributionhypothesis, where a person uses beliefs as a shield against the fear that onewill be the victim or cause of a serious mishap.

Hieu added that in Vietnam,gender-based violence was a result of Confucianism, particularly sexism and theperceived value of women’s virginity before marriage.

Women who lost theirvirginity before marriage are often considered “dirty” and a source of shamefor their family, leading to victims of sexual abuse and their family keepingquiet about the incident, she said.

 Hieu and otherresearchers conducted a study collecting hundreds of stories about gender-basedviolence published on four major newspaper in Vietnam – Vnexpress.net, Tuoi tre (Youth), phunuonline.com.vn and Phap luatThanh pho HCM ( HCM City Law) as well as thousands of confessions posted onFacebook page S.O.S – Share out Stories from 2016 and 2017.

The study found the way thestories were reported caused victim blaming. The reports tended to focus on theactions of female victims as causes for the violence. For example, if a wifehas an affair, she has challenged her hot-tempered husband.

Suspects in sexual abuse cases were usuallyreferred to in terms of their relation to the victim, instead of being referredto as a suspect in a crime.

Researchers said such wordchoice made the case become a “private family business”, tend to make victim responsiblefor what happened to them.

Few reports in the newspapersmentioned intervention by authorities, agencies or organizations that protectwomen.

Only cases with seriousconsequences were commented on by authorities, Hieu said.

A study by iSee also found most of victims wantto speak out. The victims, especially those who suffered sexual assaultsrepeatedly, said they wanted help to end the situation or recover from thesexual assaults.

The victims suggested gender education for boysand girls should start early ab both school and in the home.

Parents and families should pay more attentionto their children or tell them how to protect themselves.

Witnesses or confidants who are told aboutsexual assault should not ignore victims, they recommended.

Sponsored by the Australian government, threeorganisations – CARE International, iSEE and CSAGA, have held a ceremony tolaunch the project ‘BRAVE – Because you are trusted’ which focuses on addressinggender-based violence through changing the culture of victim blaming.

BRAVE stands for Building Responsibility andAccountability for Gender-based Violence Elimination.

The three-year project starting from May, 2018aims to engage those who experienced gender-based violence, media and public inending victim blaming.

The project is expected to educate those whomthe victims share their stories with.

Instead of expecting victims to endure insilence, it is a call to action for policy makers and society to face up to howpublic attitudes and prejudices perpetuate violence, Acting Ambassador ofAustralia to Vietnam Justin Baguley said at the launching ceremony.

Moreover, instead of blaming victims, it isnecessary for confidants to help them recover.

The project expects to reach more than 11million people directly, benefit some two million indirectly, establish anetwork of victims and more importantly, help victims speak out againstgender-based violence.

Baguley said BRAVE was the first project of itskind in Vietnam to challenge victim blaming and self-blame.

“It’s a new approach and it holds up a mirror tohow the media portrays victims, distancing them from ourselves or somehowdeserving of the aggression and harm. We know these tendencies exist in allsocieties and that they are damaging. They merely silence survivors andnormalise gender-based violence,” he said.

Gender inequality underlined all violenceagainst women and girls, he said, adding that women’s safety depended on workto displace the discrimination they face.-VNS/VNA