OPINION: Why does victim-blaming persist in Thai culture?

[webfact]

 

If they were being stared at, who’s to blame? Women.

 

If they were sexually harassed or assaulted, who’s to blame? Also, women.

 

If their sex tape is leaked without their consent, who’s to blame? Still women.

 

Women are still blamed and are often expected to take responsibility for gender-based crimes against them, be it sexual harassment in real life or online. The victim-blaming-and-shaming attitude still exists in Thailand and elsewhere due to an existing gender bias against women.

 

On the brighter side, people nowadays are not afraid to speak out and have come together to protect women from being socially victimised.

 

-What has happened?-

Thai netizens took to Twitter (X) last week to show sympathy and support for a female Thai artist, known as “Beer the Voice”, after an alleged sex video of her was leaked on social media. Many of them came together to protect the artist, condemning men who harassed her online with sexually inappropriate comments, including women who were curious to watch a snippet of it.

 

Netizens said that people should never objectify nor sexually harass the artist, even though she is known to have a sexy image, and people should always bear in mind that sharing the leaked video “for fun” will add to the trauma and suffering of a victim.

 

Full story: Thai PBS 2023-09-26

 

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[SiSePuede419]

3 reasons.

 

"Me, me, me" ????

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The victim-blaming-and-shaming attitude still exists in Thailand and elsewhere due to an existing gender bias against women

Reverse education at play again.

[2baht]

One reason...............FACE! The downfall of this antiquated, outdated culture!

[OneMoreFarang]

I have to admit I am one of those people who also blame the victims. Not all of them, and not all the blame. But it seems often the victims contributed to the fact that they become victims.

 

In a perfect world, there are no crimes, there are no criminals, there are no people who don't like you, there are no people who are upset, all is fine.

But in reality, there are bad people out there, there are dark alleys and no-go-zones. There are areas where certain crimes happen regularly. And certain people do the same crimes again and again, sometimes in the same location. And one of those locations is obviously the internet.

 

Coming back to above, there is an easy way to make sure no sex tape is ever leaked. Don't have any sex tape! If you don't create pictures or videos like that yourself, or let someone else do it, then there is nothing to publish. In theory there are hidden cameras, etc. But it seems those cases are seldom and in that case, I don't think anybody blames the victims because the victims didn't contribute to the problem.

 

Victim blaming obviously also happens with women who walk around with skimpy clothes in dark alleys, and it happens with tourists who have a big camera around their neck, and people who flash money, and many other situations.

 

In an ideal world there wouldn't be criminals who react to this. But in reality, there are criminals, in part junkies who need money for the next fix. And these criminals look for easy targets. 

And then there are upset men and women, maybe because the other cheated, maybe they were dumped, lots of reasons. And what do they do? They want revenge. And how do they do this? What can I do to hurt/embarrass my ex? ...

 

Are victims of those crimes victims? Yes. Should they be victims? No. Could they have often behaved differently to avoid becoming a victim? Yes.

 

My conclusion is that don't make it easy to become a victim. Don't go in those dark alleys, especially not if you are a young woman with a mini skirt. Also don't flash your money or expensive jewelry. And make sure there are no pictures and videos which you don't want to see on the internet.

Does all that prevent that you ever become a victim? No. But if you use common sense and don't do certain things, then it is a lot less likely that you become a victim.

 

[impulse]

If nobody's allowed to discuss the lapses in judgment that contributed to becoming the victim, doesn't that squander a good teaching opportunity?

 

Like OneMoreFarang, I don't walk down dark alleys with hundred dollar bills hanging out of my pockets, I don't leave my car running when I go into a restaurant to eat, and I don't leave my front and back doors wide open so I can enjoy the nice crossflow when I'm sleeping.  Even though all of those are within my rights.

 

Edited September 26, 2023 by impulse