The effect of the sexual orientation of male rape victims on the victim blaming from a third party

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of the sexual orientation of sexual crime victims on the victim blaming from a third party. Two vignettes of male rapes were presented, and 89 university students answered the degree of victim blaming. Two vignettes were prepared by manipulating the sexual orientation of the boy victim, although those vignettes had the same story regarding the victim experience. As a result of the ANOVA, male participants blamed victims more strongly in both vignettes, and both male and female participants blamed a homosexual victim more. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis using the victim blaming scores as the objective variable under the homosexual condition showed the stronger the homosexual acceptance, the weaker the blaming, and the higher the knowledge about sexual minorities, the lower the blaming. There was no relationship with the sex of the participants. As a consideration, if the victim is homosexual, there is a possibility of sense of discrimination, and it would be suppressed by gaining knowledge about sexual minorities and increasing acceptance of homosexuals.