” They may paint the victim in a negative light by saying they somehow deserved what happened to them, or perhaps that they were not really the victim but the offender.
Victim blaming effectively states that a victim deserved the crime that they endured. Crime is often about violence, power, and control; it needs to be clear that no one deserves it.
Most importantly, the victim blame approach is neither effective in resolving problems of violence, nor in protecting the victim from further victimization, nor in protecting future generations from continuing the cycle of abuse.
Therefore, it is important that we shift the focus of our blame from the victim of the crime to the perpetrator, in order to ensure that the offender takes responsibility for the crime that they have committed. One way of assuring that an offender is held accountable for their actions is to have a community response.
The justice system and social agencies need to work together in order to promote offender accountability, while at the same time helping victims of violence to recover from what has happened to them.”
The Canadian Resource Centre
for Victims of Crime
