I Can Take Care of Myself. Invincibility and Victim Blaming

Sexual violence on college campuses is at the forefront of political and legislative conversations. Included in this conversation is the concept of victim blaming (words, thoughts, or actions that blame a victim of sexual violence rather than the perpetrator of that violence). Theories on victimization perspective suggest that nonvictims blame sexual assault victims in an attempt to alleviate their own helplessness and rationalize as to why they themselves will not become victims. Traditionally, this has occurred with the nonvictim identifying the ‘non-feminine’ traits of the victim that the nonvictim does not have (e.g., sexual promiscuity), and poor decisions that the victim made that the nonvictim would not make (e.g., drink too much alcohol).

Via focus groups and key informant interviews, as part of a larger qualitative study at a large southeastern university, we aimed to identify the most common sexual assault myths of college students, including those related to victim blaming.

Our results suggest a societal shift, as we found that college women today rationalize their own invulnerability as due to their own strength and smarts and their disdain of weak femininity. Implications related to current legislative issues are discussed. As legislative, cultural, and academic concerns surrounding sexual violence on college campuses continue, and expectations related to frequent campus climate assessments are delineated, legislators, campus administrators, and researchers must keep in mind the larger social issues surrounding sexual violence that can and do impact reporting rates, social support for victims, and perceived vulnerability.