Rape is one of the major issues in society today. Rape and victim-blaming are linked to one another. Rape victims are vulnerable, and like victims of other crimes should not be blamed for the offenses committed against them (Anderson, Beattie and Spencer, 2001). Blaming a victim of rape obstructs the delivery of justice. It alters the culpability from the criminal to the victim and may allow the perpetrator to go unpunished for their crimes. The media plays a central role in victim-blaming. The media has normalized sexual violence. The result is that women bear the responsibility of rape as opposed to the attacker. Instead of protecting the rape victims, society tends to blame women for the acts of rape as opposed to the perpetrators of the heinous acts of rape. The problem of victim-blaming is particularly rampant in deeply patriarchal societies. Patriarchal societies view women as subordinate, and the dignity of women is disregarded.
This proposed study will apply the attribution theory to explore the role of the media plays in victim blaming and rape culture. The attribution theory attempts to explain how individuals interpret events. In addition, the attribution theory also examines how the interpretation of events affect the behavior of individuals (Kelley, and Michela, 1980). The attribution model is founded on the assumption that individuals try to determine why others behave in a certain way. A person can thus attribute a certain behavior by another person to one or more causes. In analyzing rape culture and victim-blaming, the attribution theory explains the process of rape blaming can result from a logical attribution process (Grubb, and Harrower, 2008). The attribution theory articulates that there are two kinds of attributions, namely external and internal. External attribution involves interpreting an individual’s behavior based on the situation that the individual is in. On the other hand, internal attribution result from internal characteristics of an individual as opposed to outside forces.
Researchers have attempted to examine how attribution is related to the accusing of victims and the creation of rape culture (Grubb, and Harrower, 2008). The attribution of blame is decreased when individuals can identify with the victim. Individuals may be inclined to blame a victim in an attempt to shield themselves from a random misfortune. People fail to blame the victim if they can identify with the victim. Blaming a victim whom they can identify with is seen as a form of stigmatizing themselves (Gravelin, Biernat, and Bucher, 2018). The media plays a role in covering a rape case and exposing the perpetrators. When the media expresses sympathy to the perpetrator, many people will identify with the perpetrator as opposed to the victim. The implication is that the media will knowingly or unknowingly be a source of external attribution.
The role of media in relation to victim blaming and the creation of rape culture has evolved with the evolution of technology. Technology has greatly evolved, and this has revolutionized the media industry (Gravelin, Biernat, and Bucher, 2018). Social media is one of the greatest inventions. Social media enables people to share their thoughts on matters of public concern. Social media also contributed to the creation of rape culture and furthered victim-blaming. A rape incident is discussed by people online (Gravelin, Biernat, and Bucher, 2018). The implication is that research has to go beyond traditional mainstream media and focus on digital media. With many people being hooked to the internet, research has mainly focused on the role social media plays.
The media rarely portrays men and boys as victims of sexual violence. The portrayal of women as victims and men as perpetrators has led to the normalization of sexual violence, thus silencing both men and women who are victims in a rape culture (Thacker, 2017). Although female victims of rape are not out rightly liable for the abuse, they are indirectly accused of being ‘scantily dressed’ or being in the ‘wrong company.’ Men do not suffer as much as women do in rape culture because it is widely known that the culture thrives through having women being sexually terrorized (Bevens et al., 2018). Mainly, female survivors are affected by victim-blaming. Even so, men are not totally immune to the detrimental impacts of rape culture. In court, male victims are not exposed to the same degrading mechanisms of questioning compared to their female counterparts. Besides, media coverage does not describe male survivors in terms f their physical outlook or mode of dressing. Thus
The topic can be researched using different approaches. First, the topic is multi-faceted and thus has several areas that inter-join. There are certain social and legal contexts underlying this topic (Gravelin et al., 2018). The structure of the society, as well as the legal systems, create a conducive environment for the rape culture to thrive. The social and legal contexts can be looked into individually while ensuring that the underlying factors in each context are well looked into. Alternatively, the topic can be approached by looking at all the contexts at play, generally without researching each of them individually. Core findings show that the media and the criminal justice framework have the ability to help the victim regain their power. Thus, the research will look at how the power of the media and that of the criminal justice framework can be harnessed to ensure that they are constructively used to help the victim regain their lost glory.
The civil system has been sought as an alternative method to help the victim regain their power. While this has happened, this avenue does not provide any form of punishment to the offender, thus making it possible for the individual to continue committing the offense as the civil system takes care of the victims. It is unacceptable to have a victim of sexual violence use other avenues in the search for justice (Mardorossian, 2014). The civil system is not an acceptable solution to such crimes. Sexual offender must face criminal consequences. Since victim-blaming and the thriving of rape philosophy are two phenomena that are inherently linked, it is crucial to look at changes that can be instituted for the realization of positive outcomes. Besides, the two are prevalent in society hence the need for this research to help come up with a solution.
The purpose of the proposed research study will be to find out the function of the media in the criminal justice framework in relation to rape culture and victim-blaming. The following research questions will be examined;
1. What is the influence of victim-blaming on the criminal justice system?
2. Which methods used by the media spread rape culture?
3. How can the media and the criminal justice framework be used to stop rape culture?
4. What is the link between rape culture, victim-blaming, media, and the criminal justice framework?