Who deserves to be a victim?

Last week, news broke that a former Filipino beauty queen and five Russian women had been rescued from an alleged human trafficking operation at a high-end Makati hotel. According to the National Bureau of Investigation, an undercover operation involving marked money led to the arrest of a male talent manager and owner of a modeling agency, who was allegedly offering women for sexual services at different rates.

The story should have prompted questions about exploitation and the insidious ways human trafficking thrives in the country. Who was profiting from these women, how were they recruited, and what were the circumstances that led to this type of arrangement? Instead, much of the feedback on the news reports and reposts mocked the women, with many of the negative comments coming from male users. Some questioned why they were being called “rescued women” when they probably knew what they were doing and must be happy with the money they were getting. Others insinuated that they did not deserve to be seen as victims at all.

When confronted with incidents of sexual violence, there is a tendency to redirect the scrutiny away from the perpetrator who caused the harm and focus the blame on the person who was victimized. This is called victim-blaming.

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Apart from explicitly saying that someone caused or deserved what happened to her, victim-blaming can also take subtler forms. An observer may question a victim’s credibility, trivialize the assault, and minimize the harm caused by the experience, suggest that the victim should have known better, or treat the victim’s choices as evidence that what happened was partly her responsibility.

Most of the time, victims are subjected to judgments about their “moral worthiness.” If the person who was victimized was perceived to have made questionable decisions, was not considered virtuous or morally innocent, or did not repeatedly try to resist or escape, then their legitimacy as victims is doubted.

For the past several months, I have been reading research on victim-blaming as part of my graduate thesis. The deeper I go into the literature, the more disturbing it is to see how victim-blaming doesn’t just occur in online comments. The same harmful beliefs can also be perpetuated by the very institutions that victims turn to for protection and justice.

One study documented the experience of sexual assault survivors who decided to withdraw their police reports because of the unfavorable and shaming responses they received while disclosing their experience at the police station. Several studies also found that victim-blaming mindsets within the legal system frequently led to perpetrators being exonerated and victims being deprived of proper financial compensation. Rather than receive support, the victims experienced further harm from the people or institutions they sought help from.

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Though these studies were mostly conducted overseas, it is not difficult to spot how these attitudes and beliefs can appear in local institutions as well. In 2020, the Lucban municipal police station drew heavy criticism over a Facebook post that insinuated rape victims are at fault for wearing provocative clothing. The Commission on Human Rights swiftly condemned the statement for placing responsibility on victims instead of perpetrators and warned that such thinking reinforces a rape culture.

Research specifically focused on sex trafficking scenarios found that victim-blaming frequently revolved around perceptions of agency, controllability, and personal responsibility. This may help explain some of the reactions to the women rescued in Makati. The assumption appears to be that because the women may have known money was involved, traveled willingly, or participated in some part of the arrangement, they could not simultaneously have been exploited and taken advantage of.

People seem more willing to extend protection and compassion to the victim who made every “right” decision. However, a person can make reckless choices, trust the wrong person, or fail to leave when we think she should have. A person’s mistakes or poor judgment do not make her deserving of abuse and victimization.

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While the country may have laws and mechanisms in place to address sexual violence and other forms of violence against women, they cannot protect victims fully if the culture surrounding those laws continues to expect victims to first prove their innocence or worthiness. Protection from violence should never depend on moral perfection.

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eleanor@shetalksasia.com