 Attribution Error: This occurs when individuals overemphasize personal characteristics of the

victim and underestimate environmental characteristics when judging others.

 Bystander: Someone who sees something happening but is not involved in its perpetration.
 Child sexual abuse: Any sexual activity with a minor i.e. a person under the age of 18 years.
 Consent: The permission for something to happen or agreement to do something.
 Drug Facilitated sexual assault: This occurs when alcohol or drugs are used to compromise an
individual's ability to consent to sexual activity.
 Incest: This includes sexual abuse by a family member e.g. father or brother.
 Intimate sexual partner violence: Instances when one partner (boyfriend/husband) engages in
sexual activity with the other partner (girlfriend/wife) without their consent.
 Invulnerability Theory: This is based on subscribers blaming the victim to feel safe themselves.
 Just World Hypothesis: An individual’s belief that the world is a safe and just place, where
people get what they deserve.
 1Patriarchal Societies: Societies in which men have power over women.
 Perpetrator: A person that inflicts harm.
 Rape Culture: It is an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence is
normalized and excused in the media and popular culture.
 Rape Myths: A mix of cultural statements (or stereotypes) that blame and shame the victims of
sexual violence
 Secondary Victimization: This means that the people in the most important position to help the
victims of sexual violence may themselves victimize the victim further by practicing victim
blaming.
 Sexual assault: any sexual contact or behavior that occurs without explicit consent of the victim.
Some forms of sexual assault include fondling or unwanted sexual touching, forcing the victim
to perform sexual acts, such as oral sex or penetrating the perpetrator’s body (also known as
rape).
 Sexual violence: any sexual act, attempts to obtain a sexual act, or acts to traffic for sexual
purposes, directed against a person using coercion, harassment, or advances made by any person,
regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting, including but not limited to home and
work.
 Victim: a person that is harmed.
 Victim Blaming: Victim blaming occurs when the victim(s) of a crime or an accident is held
responsible — in whole or in part — for the crimes committed against them.

Types of Sexual Violence

Sexual Assault refers to sexual contact or behavior that occurs without explicit consent of the
victim. Some forms of sexual assault include fondling or unwanted sexual touching, forcing a
victim to perform sexual acts, such as oral sex or penetrating the perpetrator’s body (also known
as rape)

Child sexual abuse includes sexual activity with a minor.

Intimate sexual partner violence refers to instances when one partner (boyfriend/husband)
engages in sexual activity with the other partner (girlfriend/wife) without their consent.
Incest includes sexual abuse by a family member e.g. father or brother.
Drug-facilitated sexual assault occurs when alcohol or drugs are used to compromise an
individual's ability to consent to sexual activity.

Forms of Sexual Violence

Victims of sexual violence often experience interrelated forms of Violence.

According to the findings of the 2016 National Baseline Study on Violence Against Children
(NBS-VAC) 80% of the 3,866 respondents aged 13-24 years had experienced some form of
violence in their lifetime, whether in the home, school, workplace, community, or during dating.
The estimated prevalence of violence against children among males was 81.5 percent and 78.4
percent among females.
Gender-based Violence is distinguished into five categories.
Categorize the cards based on their respective forms of Violence

What is Consent

In our everyday lives, we give or take permission from others before doing something to or with
them. This means that we communicate our intentions to others by giving or holding back our
consent in our routine activities.

For example:
Do you ask your friend before borrowing her dress? YES!
If you wear it only after she says YES then she has given her consent!
Would you eat your friend's lunch if he says NO?
If you still eat it after he has said NO then he has not given consent!

What constitutes consent?

 It is consent when the person who initiates sexual activity first clearly seeks permission
from the other partner.
 It is consent when permission is taken for all forms of sexual activity and at every stage
of sexual interaction.
Not consent
 It is NOT consent if one partner remains silent, even if she/he does not resist a sexual
advance.
 It is NOT consent when kissing someone or going back to his/her room is taken as
“implicit consent”.
 It is NOT consent if someone uses the dress of a partner as a sign of their consent.
Can you think of people who cannot legally give consent?
Children! The legal age of consent ranges between 16-18 years globally and in several countries
the age is much lower.
People under the influence of alcohol or drugs
A person who is unconscious or asleep
A person with Health or mental health problems or disabilities that limit their choice at the time.
Some situations can stop a person from having the freedom to make a choice.
Being threatened with violence against you or someone else
Being forced, pestered, or coerced
Being blackmailed
If there is a power imbalance between you - for example the perpetrator is a teacher, caregiver,
an official or older in age.

Break the Cycle: Victim - Perpetrator - Bystander

5D - The Bystander intervention guide.

Distract
–
You can interrupt what is happening! You can start talking to the person being targeted, create a
scene or physically come between the victim and perpetrator. But you must keep your safety in
mind.
Delegate
–
You can ask someone to help or to intervene e.g. teacher or a security guard.
Delay
–
If you cannot intervene during the incident, following up later can help support abuse victims.
You can ask how they're doing and offer help and sympathy.

Direct
–
You can call out the abuser when it is happening. You can say “This is sexist, ‘Stop what you are
doing, it’s not okay’, or ask the abused “Are you physically safe?”, ‘Do you need help?’.
Document
–
You can record what is happening. This can be helpful if the victim wants to report the incident
to the police. It is essential that recording the incident should include the victim's consent, should
not be shared or circulated without the victim’s permission, and that you keep a safe distance.
 MODULE 3 – VICTIM BLAMING AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE

Victim blaming is a phenomenon that occurs when the victim(s) of a crime or an accident
is made to bear some or all of the responsibility for the crimes that have been committed
against them. Sadly, this is a common occurrence in cases of sexual violence, including
child sexual abuse. Studies have shown that over one-third of all adults blame the victim
in such cases.

What makes this even more troubling is that the very people who are in a position to help
the victims - family members, police officers, health care providers, and educators - may
be among those who blame the victims. This can lead to secondary victimization, where
victims are re-victimized by the very people they turn to for help.

Victim blaming also helps perpetrators escape accountability for their actions. By shifting
the focus away from the perpetrator and onto the role the victim played, the perpetrator is
exonerated. Furthermore, many perpetrators use victim-blaming narratives to protect
themselves from accountability to the victim, the law, and the community.

Victims of sexual violence, including rape, are particularly vulnerable to victim blaming.
This can make it harder for them to come forward and seek help or justice. It is important
for us all to work to create a society where victim-blaming is not tolerated and where
victims of sexual violence are supported and believed.