Healthy Surrey:

Healthy Surrey

Anti Victim Blaming Guidance

This guidance has been informed and created in partnership with practitioners and our Surrey Survivor Steering Group, to shift the focus of blame, fault, and accountability, solely onto the perpetrators.

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Introduction

This guidance has been produced by the Safer Communities Team within Surrey County Council, as part of our commitment within our Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Partnership Strategy, that "victim blaming will be challenged and changed". In addition, a key recommendation from the Domestic Abuse (DA) Needs Assessment 2023 is for "all partners to continue to challenge victim blaming language and practise within their own organisation and others."

Surrey County Council has identified that victim blaming is commonplace across agencies, and we recognise this is a key barrier for victims and survivors to seek help, whilst also keeping perpetrators invisible, causing secondary victimisation from service provisions. This guidance has been informed and created in partnership with practitioners and our Surrey Survivor Steering Group, to shift the focus of blame, fault, and accountability, solely onto the perpetrators.

It should be used to support the learning, development and reflective practice of practitioners, line management, and service management when working with our communities in Surrey. It is also important to adopt this guidance within our workplaces when supporting colleagues and staff where they have been subjected to a crime, discrimination, abuse, and/or violence.

This guidance also informs how to adopt anti-victim blaming practice both when working within our professional roles, as well as colleagues and those in supervisory roles across Surrey County Council

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What does this guidance cover?

This guidance explores and describes the attitudes, language, and behaviours that victim blame. It invites us both as professionals, and as individuals, to critically reflect on our own, and our colleagues', language and behaviour, and the impact this has on those around us, and those we are working with.

The examples within this guidance can be used as tools to reflect on our own practice and inform how we actively adopt anti-victim blaming language and responses into our everyday practice, approaches, and decision making.

What is victim blaming?

Victim blaming is defined as the act, of attributing partial or full responsibility, cause, blame and/or fault onto a victim of a crime, discrimination, harassment, abuse and/or violence. It can be direct and explicit or indirect and/or unconscious. This includes victim blaming of adults and children.

It makes the victim feel that they are complicit or in some way responsible for the abuse they have been subjected to.

It is recognised that victims/survivors from minoritised groups (LGBTQ+, adults and children with learning and/or support needs, Black, Asian, and minoritised ethnic groups), are more susceptible to victim blaming attitudes and harmful stereotypes, they are subjected to additional discrimination due to their intersectional identities. Un/conscious bias can also result in the adultification of child victims and survivors.

Anyone can display victim blaming attitudes and hold victim blaming beliefs, which can be portrayed in a variety of different ways.

What does victim blaming look like?

Victim blaming can be portrayed in a variety of different ways, this can include comments directly to the victim, indirect comments in conversation, beliefs held about the 'perfect victim' stereotype, beliefs about stereotypical perpetrators, rape myths and behaviour towards victim/survivor disclosures. It can create a harmful and discriminatory workplace culture and increase the risk of collusion with perpetrators. Victim blaming in the work environment can also discourage potential victims/survivors to come forward and report the abuse they and their children suffer, and to reach out for support.

Below is a table that shows common victim blaming comments and attitudes, and the anti-victim blaming alternative.

(Note to pronouns: these beliefs are disproportionately held towards women and girls reporting abuse as they are disproportionately affected by violence and abuse. Men disproportionately perpetrate violent crimes. However, we recognise that anyone can be victim blamed).

Harmful Common Phrases and BeliefsAnti Victim Blaming Alternative
They should just leave/why don't they leave.

The perpetrator should stop abusing, the victim is not able to leave.

They refuse to leave the abuser.They are not able to leave the abuser.
They always go back to the abuser.

The perpetrator continually coerces/grooms/manipulates/threatens the victim to return.

They are not protecting their children from the perpetrator.

The parent and children are victims of the perpetrator.

If they didn't say 'no', fight back or scream then it wasn't rape.

The behaviour of the victim does not influence the informed choice of the perpetrator.

They are difficult to engage/work with.

It may not be safe for them to engage with services. Services may not be approaching in the right way. It may not be the right time for them to have support service provision. This should be their choice.

They should have reported it sooner or told someone sooner.

No one should ever be judged or blamed for not wanting/not being able to report.

Their low self-esteem and confidence made them vulnerable to abuse.

Perpetrators are solely responsible for the abuse they perpetrate. Low self-esteem and/or confidence does not cause abuse.

They allowed their children to witness the assault.

It is solely the perpetrator who is responsible for their children being subjected to the abuse they are perpetrating against them.

Their risk-taking behaviour will lead to them being abused/exploited.

The perpetrator is solely responsible for abuse/exploitation, the actions of the victim do not cause abuse.

They are lying about being raped/abused.

Most people that are raped or subjected to forms of sexual abuse/assault/violence never report it to the police.

Their engagement is superficial/ disguised compliance.

A full understanding of engagement/non-engagement needs to be considered. Both due to consequences from the perpetrator, and fear/secondary traumatisation from services.

They need to be educated about abuse and gain an awareness to avoid abusive relationships in the future.

Education and awareness does not stop abuse/violence. It should not be relied upon for a victim to modify their behaviour when the perpetrator has more power than them.

They keep choosing violent relationships.

No perpetrator will seduce their victims with violent behaviour, on the contrary, they are usually kind, and charming. The perpetrator chooses to abuse their victim.

They should have known it was going to happen.

No one should predict offenses against them.

What should they expect wearing revealing clothes/ drinking alcohol/taking drugs.

The victim's appearance, and/or behaviour does not cause abuse.

They sell/exchange sex for things they want and need.

The perpetrator is grooming and exploiting them, to sexually abuse them.

Sexual Coercion - "the act of using pressure, alcohol, drugs, or force to have sexual contact with someone against their will" and includes persistent attempts to have sexual contact with someone who has already refused." (loveisrespect.org, 2023).

It is essential to understand that separating from or leaving a perpetrator puts victims/survivors and their children in greater danger. A victim/survivor is most at risk of harm and/or homicide from a perpetrator at the point of separation and post separation. A 'leave' ultimatum given by safeguarding professionals can put the victim/survivor and their child/ren at further risk of harm.

Many victims/survivors are unaware they are being abused, this could be due to the normalisation of abusive and controlling behaviours, not being fully aware of what constitutes as abuse, and/or the perpetrator deploying tactics to ensure the victim/survivor remains under their control. This leaves the victim/survivor feeling, confused, exhausted, and disorientated. This awareness is crucial when identifying a potential victim/survivor and swiftly and assertively flagging and signposting the case.

Why is victim blaming harmful?

Research suggests victim blaming is a key barrier in victims disclosing and reporting abuse, whilst also being a significant hindrance when processing the subsequent trauma.

Many victims often pre-empt, and risk assess the responses they will receive from friends, family, police, and support services, and choose whether to disclose accordingly. Very often they may 'test the waters' before disclosing to see how someone would respond, this is also very common for children.

Research has also evidenced that if a victim's friends or family members blame them or hold them responsible for the abuse, they have been subjected to either consciously or subconsciously, it can have a detrimental impact on their emotional wellbeing compared to those that received supportive, anti-victim blaming responses.

Victim blaming causes secondary victimisation and re-traumatisation for the victim/survivor, and has an impact on those around us, it could influence other people's responses and beliefs towards victim/survivors or may influence whether they, themselves, feel confident to disclose and/or seek support. It reinforces harmful rape myths and gender stereotyping.

The consequence of victim blaming is that safeguarding concerns may not be responded to with the seriousness they deserve, focus from agencies often focus on how the victim can change or modify their behaviour instead of holding the perpetrator fully accountable and responsible for their choice to abuse, this allows abuse and violence to thrive within our society.

Most significantly victim blaming keeps the perpetrator invisible, it shifts the accountability and responsibility from a perpetrator. This, in turn, emboldens and enables the perpetrator to continue and potentially escalate their use of abusive and/or violent behaviour.

How can we adopt anti-victim blaming practices?

In Surrey we recognise that victim blaming is never acceptable, whether this be aimed at a victim/survivor or in everyday conversations with our colleagues, friends, and families. To ensure we are working in a trauma informed way, we must challenge and change our language, and critically reflect on our own attitudes and beliefs towards victims/survivors and perpetrators. We must shift the focus of accountability and responsibility solely onto the perpetrator and their choice to abuse and use violence.

Challenging victim blaming should be explored in a reflective, constructive, and supportive way. Sometimes we do not realise we are victim blaming, we must be open to constructive feedback and challenge ourselves to strive towards thinking in an anti-victim blaming way in our everyday lives.

Practical actions to take to adopt anti-victim blaming ways of working

  • Create a safe space for discussion, this can be within management supervisions, within team meetings. A non-judgemental space that encourages learning and professional growth, allows us to share and reflect on our practice.
  • Take time to reflect on our own bias, and automatic thinking patterns. Ask ourselves, 'Where did this thought come from?', 'What is it about my life experiences that have led to this belief?', 'What impact does this have on those around me?', 'How can I change this belief?', 'Do I need support?'.
  • Model anti-victim blaming language and behaviour around others, we may not always get this right, but it allows opportunities for learning and development. If you do not feel confident to directly challenge harmful language and/or practice, can you speak with your manager? Could you raise it with your colleagues? Where else can you raise your concerns?

Key anti-victim blaming principles to use in practice

  • Remember that adult victims/survivors often lack control and power within an abusive situation, this is always the case for child victims/survivors. Focus on how the perpetrator chose to use tactics to abuse the victim/survivor.
  • Focus on the choices and behaviour of the perpetrator. Actively use language and open questions that focus on the behaviour of the perpetrator. Frame the narrative to ensure the accountability lies with the perpetrator. For example, 'Tell me what happened to you?' 'Can you tell me more about that?' 'Let's explore this further'.
  • Be open to understanding victim/survivor's lived experiences. This is particularly important with grooming and coercive control. Nuances in coercive behaviour may not outwardly appear as abuse to us, perpetrators use specific behaviours and tactics to specifically target that individual. It is important we gain full understanding of the abuse being perpetrated.
  • When working with and supporting victims/survivors of coercive and controlling behaviour, one must distance oneself from personal experiences. What is normal to one person could be abuse (which can be a good exercise to explore, question and challenge our relationships and our understanding of normalcy).
  • Explain victim blaming language and behaviour. Often victim/survivors encountered a range of different services and more than likely have suffered secondary abuse from victim blaming, which can exacerbate their own guilt and self-blame. Support them to understand the impact of victim blaming.

What are the benefits of adopting anti-victim blaming practice?

Professionals and colleagues that take a stance in believing the survivor, show non-judgemental, and supportive approach, can create a safe, meaningful, and empowering working relationships. Likewise, individuals that have a supportive experience when disclosing abuse and/or violence have a better outlook of hope for their future.

Receiving positive responses to disclosures of abuse and/or violence also has direct health benefits for the survivor by reducing depression, health issues, and post-traumatic stress.

By adopting anti-victim blaming practice and shifting the sole focus onto the perpetrator, we tackle the cause of the abuse and violence the victim/survivor is being subjected to and prevent the perpetrator from repeating their abusive behaviour onto others.

Modelling anti-victim blaming language and behaviours ensures those around us feel safe and empowered to disclose abuse and/or violence they may have been subjected to and feel confident to challenge harmful attitudes towards victim/survivors.

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