24 min

Victim blaming The Why Factor

    • History

The trauma of sexual assault is both personal and brutal. But what may be an indisputably traumatic event for one person is often challenged by another, and the responsibility for events gets scattered in the process. Why is it so common for people to look for reasons to blame the victims of sexual assault for what has happened to them?

Nastaran Tavakoli-Far finds multiple reasons from this, speaking to experts and to victims. We hear from Dr Mithu Sanyal about the role of long-standing attitudes towards gender and sexuality. New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey tell us about power and the workplace and who is more likely to be believed. Dr Jackson Katz and Dr Laura Niemi explain the roles of both group dynamics and the language we use and how these often work to protect perpetrators rather than to support victims
Presenter and producer: Nastaran Tavakoli-Far
Editor: Andrew Smith
(Photo: Protest sign held up during 'Slut Walk' protests against victim blaming in Munich, Germany / Credit: Alexander Pohl / Nur Photo / Getty Images)

The trauma of sexual assault is both personal and brutal. But what may be an indisputably traumatic event for one person is often challenged by another, and the responsibility for events gets scattered in the process. Why is it so common for people to look for reasons to blame the victims of sexual assault for what has happened to them?

Nastaran Tavakoli-Far finds multiple reasons from this, speaking to experts and to victims. We hear from Dr Mithu Sanyal about the role of long-standing attitudes towards gender and sexuality. New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey tell us about power and the workplace and who is more likely to be believed. Dr Jackson Katz and Dr Laura Niemi explain the roles of both group dynamics and the language we use and how these often work to protect perpetrators rather than to support victims
Presenter and producer: Nastaran Tavakoli-Far
Editor: Andrew Smith
(Photo: Protest sign held up during 'Slut Walk' protests against victim blaming in Munich, Germany / Credit: Alexander Pohl / Nur Photo / Getty Images)

24 min

Top Podcasts In History

Короче, история
Максим Зеленский
The Ancients
History Hit
Everything Everywhere Daily
Gary Arndt | Glassbox Media
东腔西调
大观天下志
Real Survival Stories
NOISER
Mandela: The Lost Tapes
Richard Stengel

More by BBC

6 Minute English
BBC Radio
Что это было?
BBC Russian Radio
6 Minute Vocabulary
BBC Radio
8 историй из 90-х
BBC Russian Radio
The English We Speak
BBC Radio
Global News Podcast
BBC World Service