Rape Myth Acceptance in Contemporary Times: A Comparative Study of University Students in India and the United Kingdom

Abstract

Much of the literature on rape, victim blaming, and rape myth acceptance is focused on the United States, and there is a general dearth of such scholarly activity in other countries. This article offers insights on university students' perspectives in two new country contexts-India and the United Kingdom. A total of 693 students contributed to the data collection for this study. Rape myth acceptance was fairly low for both countries, however, students in India were more likely to endorse rape myths. Several demographic characteristics were significant for rape myth acceptance in each country. This study makes an important contribution to the extant literature to address paucity of knowledge and promote understandings to help develop country-specific and appropriate policy, practice, and education and awareness programs. In particular, the study provides novel comparative findings on rape myth acceptance in new country contexts to help advance academic thinking in this area of work.

University Students’ Views on Rape Myths

“…Bireyin yaşadığı ya da doğup büyüdüğü coğrafya, tecavüze ve tecavüz mitlerine ilişkin görüş ve tutumlarını etkiler. (19) Barn ve Powers (19) Kadına yönelik cinsiyet ayrımcılığı kitle iletişim araçlarının da etkisiyle günden güne artmaktadır. (21) Medyaya yansıyan tecavüz olaylarında, cümlelerin başına "gece eğlencesinden dönen kadın" veya "alkollü genç kız" gibi ifadelere yer verilerek, bu kadınların kendilerine yapılan saldırıları kışkırttıkları ya da bunu hak ettikleri ima edilmektedir ve bu da cinsiyet ayrımcılığının açıkça göstergesidir.…”

Ambivalent sexism and sexual objectification of women as predictors of rape myth acceptance among male college students in Greater Jakarta

“…Fraternity men were overrepresented among sexual assault perpetrators and sorority women were at increased risk for victimisation of sexual assault. Barn and Powers (2018) contributed to the understanding of the phenomena of rape and victim blaming with a study using data from 693 students in India and the United Kingdom. Their findings suggest that participants in India tended to endorse rape myths more than students in the UK.…”

“…Their findings suggest that participants in India tended to endorse rape myths more than students in the UK. Barn and Powers (2018) also recognised that different myths were prevalent in the two country contexts, such that Indian students were more likely to endorse the myth of 'monster rapists', whereas British students adhered to the idea of the 'promiscuous female victim'. They argued that both types of myths are dangerous and risk normalising such perceptions in society.…”

Intersection of Sexual Violence against Women and Sectarian Agendas in India

“…There is a paucity of scholarly research on rape and rape myths in countries other than the United States (Barn and Powers, 2018). There is not enough scholarly research on rape in India.…”