Stop blaming cyberbullying victims

Do you remember a time when you came home crying, face soaked in tears after a kid kicked your butt just because he/she felt like it?

Chances are that you ran home and reported the matter to a parent or guardian. What did they do? Comforted you and tried to find out what had transpired? Gave you a beating for being in that situation? Nothing?

If it’s the last two, chances are that you were blamed for putting yourself in that situation even though were a victim. That sucks, right?

Victim blaming is fast becoming a trend in online spaces. There is little public sympathy or support for victims of online abuse.

Cyberbullying is an escalating problem in our society. This could be because opportunities for abuse in online public domains are also on the increase.

A majority of research outcomes have shown that the majority of victims are women and they are often exposed to non-consensual sharing of intimate images, stalking, being talked down to, insults, sending of sexual and pornographic images and other forms with sexualized behavior, etc.

Although the legal consequences of cyberbullying are often severe, a study titled The volume and source of cyber-abuse influences victim blame and perceptions of attractiveness shows that there’s typically little public sympathy and support for victims. Instead, victim-blaming is rampant.

Two of the main highlights of this study showed that:

• ‘Victim-blaming’ was highest when cyberbullying was low-volume from a single source.

• ‘Victim-blaming’ was lowest when cyberbullying was high-volume from a single source.

The participants stated that the abuse was the victim’s fault by pointing out something about them that would attract such treatment, that they had it coming to them or that they had provoked the abuse.

The study proposed that these results could be due to an observer desensitization effect, where people have little emotional responsiveness to a stimulus after they have been exposed to it severally, according to Wikipedia. In this case, people may have become numb to cyberbullying.

Another reason given was having the wrong interpretation. Participants interpreted the provided social media posts as indicative of friendly ‘teasing’ or ‘banter’, especially within an established social relationship. The two reasons may explain why victims of online abuse often receive little sympathy or support.

In Kenya, victims of cyberbullying often receive little sympathy or support. This could be due to the fact that emotional and psychological wellness is yet to be perceived as serious threats to people’s health. We have been socialized to perceive hurt from a physical viewpoint only.

These streets are not safe for anyone, anymore. People who are in the limelight often fall victim to cyberbullying, but the common man has not been spared either. The victims receive little or no sympathy and in some cases, their experience may attract even more cyber abuse.

An earlier post, based on the same study, discussed how attractive people are less likely to be blamed for abuse. This goes to show how badly we are doing in the fight against online abuse thus we need to make a change.

Time for a right turn

We cannot go on as if all is well. It’s not. In facts, it’s quite bad.

Wondering how you can help?

Put speed governors on those little fingers!

In short, think before you type.

We have taken so many left turns in the fight against cyberbullying but victim-blaming no longer has to be among them. All that is needed is for us to exercise empathy and develop a tolerance for diverse views, opinions, and ways of life.

In addition to approaches that educate online users about online conduct, we need to also continue laying emphasis on the effects of cyberbullying, and victim-blaming.

Victim-blaming is wrong and it should not be entertained by anyone who stands against any form of abuse. It takes us a step back in the fight against cyberbullying.

Stop victim-blaming!