An Investigation Into Victim Blaming, Myths And Attitudes Towards Rape Among Students At The University Of Namibia

ABSTRACT

Rape myths serve to blame the victim, justify the perpetrator's actions, and discount the violence of rape (Burt, 1980; Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1994). For perpetrators, these rape myths are thought to reduce the expected negative consequences of committing rape. As for society, it is clear that rape myth acceptance precedes rape and sexual aggression (Chapleau & Oswald, 2010). The primary purpose of this study was to examine the extent of support for rape myths among a sample of students at the University of Namibia and to establish whether there is any observable gender difference in this acceptance of rape myths.

A quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional research framework was adopted. A non-probability stratified convenience sample of 151 students was employed. A 20-item Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale was administered to assess overall how strongly the participants agreed with false rape stereotypes. The findings suggested that there is a tendency towards endorsing rape myths for at least some students. Male participants were found to agree slightly more than females, thus supporting the feminist premise that gender inequality perpetuates rape myths.

Participants were also asked to read an acquaintance rape scenario and they had to rate the extent to which they felt the victim or the perpetrator was responsible. Results indicated that there were no statistically significant differences in the pattern of responses of male and female respondents. Gender seemed to make no difference with regard to the degree of victim blaming on the rape scenario. However, rape

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myth acceptance on the IRMA-SF scale was significantly associated with victim blaming.

Considering that the respondents of the study are students pursing higher education and yet the majority held myths regarding rape, one wonders about the society at large. The overall findings suggest a need to provide more accurate information that will undo myths and by doing so curtail rape.