This document summarizes testimony from six witnesses about how rape culture and victim blaming affect survivors of sexual assault. The witnesses describe how even from a young age, victims are often told they "deserved it" or were "asking for it" based on behaviors or clothing. They discuss high-profile cases where reporters, jurors, and communities blamed victims rather than supporting them. The document aims to illustrate how widespread and socially ingrained tendencies to excuse perpetrators' actions and blame victims continue to be.

1. “You deserved it.”
The Uncomfortable Truth: The Treatment of Rape Victims
By Attorneys B. Sandigan and H. Medrano
http://www.ourstoriesuntold.com/2012/12/18/rape-is-rape-how-the-culture-of-shaming-stigma-victim-blaming-is-hurting-us/

2. First Witness:
http://upsettingrapeculture.com/rape_myths.html
 From an early age, we tell our children not to do a lot of things.
 Don’t go outside at night.
 Don’t wear provocative clothing.
 Don’t walk alone.
 This really limits a lot of things women can do. But,
 the question is: does this actually protect anyone?
 64% of women who reported being raped, physically
assaulted, and/or stalked were victimized by a
current/former husband, cohabiting partner, boyfriend,
or date.
 If these messages were actually connected with
reality, we would have mace in every room of the
house.
http://www.shapingyouth.org/victim-blaming-asking-for-it-and-baiting-outrage/

3. Second witness: Reddit user chasingnormal
 chasingnormal, user of reddit.com, gives a chilling memoir of
testifying against her own molester in court at the age of only 5. She
recalls:
 My extended family…refused to offer any support because my
abuse was “God’s punishment for [my mother’s] divorce.”
 When you’re a kid, it’s daunting…someone tries to belittle the
things you said or trick you.
 My molester’s attorney tried to argue that I was a willing participant
in these “games”.
 The “you wanted it” argument still holds weight with some jurors.
 The “this kid could be lying” argument still held water. Because five
year olds always lie, right?
 When you are a kid, you think the world is simpler and fairer…it
will get better. When you testify, you learn that isn’t true…they can
tell you you deserved to get hurt. And people will be inclined to
believe them.
 Would a five year old “want” to be molested? Did she deserve to bewww.reddit.com

4. Third Witness:
http://thecrite.com/home/2013/04/07/steubenville-rape-case-
illuminates-victim-blaming-culture/
 We bring to light the Steubenville rape
case.
 In August of last year, a 16 year old girl was
digitally penetrated and urinated on while
intoxicated and unconscious, first at a party,
then a car and basement of a house by
Ma’lik Richmond and Trent Mays, two high
school football players.
 A controversy around CNN’s report
 of the case blew up.
 Poppy Harlow, a reporter who was covering
 the hearing live, said it was “hard to watch”
 as Richmond and Mays were sentenced.
 The victim’s “friends” said how she was a
drunk flirt at the party, placing the blame
on her.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/03/13/1710281/steubenville-rape-case/

5. Fourth Witness: http://www.businessinsider.com/anti-rape-
psas-that-blame-the-victim-2013-3
 Not even powerful cooperations like the
Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board or the Herts
Police Department can keep themselves from
blaming the victim.
 This collection of ads, which are mostly anti-drinking
ads, blame the victim for drinking, rather than
alerting people not to rape.
 Ads that got it right are also included at the end of
the collection.
http://www.businessinsider.com/anti-rape-psas-that-blame-the-victim-2013-3
http://www.businessinsider.com/anti-rape-psas-that-blame-the-victim-2013-3

6. Fifth Witness:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/us/09assault.html?scp
=1&sq=assault%20texas&st=cse&_r=0
 An 11 year old girl in Cleveland,
Texas, was brutally gang raped by
18 young men who ranged in ages
of middle school to the oldest being
27.
 The New York Times showed sympathy for the rapists
instead.
 “Among them is, if the allegations are proved, how could their
young men have been drawn into such an act?”
 They answer that question with this.
 “They said she dressed older than her age, wearing makeup and
fashions more appropriate to a woman in her 20s. She would hang
out with teenage boys at a playground, some said.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/us/09assault.html?scp=1&sq=assault%20texas&st=cse&_r=0

7. Sixth Witness:
http://msmagazine.com/blog/2012/10/24/rape-caused-
pregnancy-thats-the-way-god-planned-it/
 Richard Mourdock:
 “Life is that gift from God, and I think even when life
begins in that horrible situation of rape that it is something
God intended to happen.”
 Here’s what Feminist Majority President Eleanor
Smeal commented:
 “Does Mourdock mean that God intended for that rape to
happen, and for it to result in a pregnancy? Is the next
step not to prosecute the rapist–and to force [the rape
victim] to marry the
rapist? This is not so far-fetched and is happening in
Afghanistan and Morocco. Such religious extremism
threatens women’s lives–in fact, threatens all of our
lives, and religious freedom itself.”http://msmagazine.com/blog/2012/10/24/rape-caused-pregnancy-thats-the-way-god-planned-it/