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Asian Journal of Engineering, Social and Health

Volume 3, No. 12 December 2024

ABSTRACT

The culture of victim blaming in sexual violence cases is a significant problem in Indonesia, influenced by

patriarchal culture and traditional norms. This study aims to analyze the influence of belief in the Just

World Assumption, acceptance of Modern Rape Myths, individual moral foundations, and views on the

culture of honor on victim blaming tendencies. This study used an experimental quantitative approach

in Indonesia, involving stakeholders such as religious leaders and the media to effectively change people's

perceptions.

Keywords: Victim blaming, Indonesia, Acceptance of Modern Rape Myths, Moral Foundation Theory.

INTRODUCTION

Indonesian National Commission on Violence Against Women, approximately 338,496 sexual

harassment incidents were recorded in 2021, marking a 50% increase from 2020 (Perempuan,

2021). Indonesians often more focus on blaming the victim rather than the perpetrator. Komnas

found between the rise in victim blaming and a patriarchal culture due to power imbalances and

traditional gender roles (Hamdy & Hudri, 2022). In the patriarchal gender role, women are forced

Analysis of Victim Blaming Culture in Indonesia

to be good wives and mothers within a male-dominated household while protecting their dignity.

When women fail to meet these expectations, including becoming victims of rape, they will be

Foundation Theory and the Honour Culture are known to be the common predictor (Canto et al.,

2017). Despite extensive research has explored the correlation between these predictors with

victim blaming tendencies, there is still very limited finding on this issue in the Indonesian

context. Given the differences in traditional gender roles, for example how females, including

rape victims, are perceived as vulnerable in Indonesian culture (Hamdy & Hudri, 2022) whereas

in Western contexts, female victims are expected to show strength by resisting harassment

(Milesi & Alberici, 2019), makes this study aims to investigate this phenomenon in depth by

examining these variables within Indonesia context.

Just World Belief and Victim Blaming

culture. The Just World Belief (JWB) concept posits that the world is just and fair and

behaviour (Lerner & Simmons, 1966). Due to this damaging nature to the victim, this assumption

needs to be addressed meticulously.

case of revenge porn, it was argued that victims are often blamed for the non-consensual

publication of their inappropriate images, with the assertion that they should not have carelessly

engaged in sexual activity in the first place (Aborisade, 2022). This reflects another way used to

defend rape culture that is presented by the JWB framework, which perceives the world as a fair

place filled with justice and sexual offenders were not responsible for offending as the victim

brought the tragedy for themselves (Stubbs-Richardson et al., 2018). The implications of this

narrative could reinforce harmful social stigma as it’s normalised continuous rape victim blaming

Nadhira Putri Maharani

driven by JWB has long-term consequences for the victim, therefore, it is necessary to consider

all possible consequences. For instance, in the legal setting, it has been argued that jurors'

in non-Western cultural contexts. Given that cultural background and societal norms can

significantly influence the relationship between JWB and victim blaming, there is a need for

research conducted in another country, specifically in Indonesia, to provide a more

comprehensive and culturally relevant understanding of these dynamics to reduce the culture.

The Acceptance of the Modern Myth about Sexual Aggression and Victim Blaming

including the belief that victims are partly responsible for the assault (Ryan, 2019). Previous

research has defined rape myths as prejudiced, false beliefs or stereotypes about the victim, the

perpetrator, or the rape case itself (Burt, 1980). According to Grubb and Turner (2012), rape

myths are more beneficial to the perpetrators, as they justify sexual assaults and can create

biased versions of events that align with cultural stereotypes. For example, a common narrative

whether intentional or unintentional, is considered immoral and punishable, leading to victims

being blamed for their misfortune instead of being protected (Avezahra & Chusniyah, 2022).

Furthermore, Indonesian media often focuses on the detail of the victim rather than the

perpetrator, thus justifies victim blaming by reinforcing rape (Avezahra & Chusniyah, 2022).

Hence, the normalisation of the rape myth leads to Rape Myth Acceptance, a cognitive distortion

that influences tendencies toward sexual aggression (Yapp & Quayle, 2018), which affect

perception bias, making the victim seems responsible for their unfortunate events while

diminishing the blame on the perpetrator.

European societies and is strongly correlated with hostile sexual beliefs (Burt, 1980). A study by

Analysis of Victim Blaming Culture in Indonesia

who completed the RMA questionnaire often chose the extreme endpoints of the scale, leading

to skewed results and reducing the precision of the scale. This issue complicates the evaluation

consequences, the AMMSA scale was constructed, providing a more refined tool for assessing

the issue, particularly in European countries (Gerger et al., 2007). Unlike RMA, a more subtle

questionnaire was established, featuring less direct and more general questions related to victim-

blaming beliefs rather than accusatory or straightforward ones, to reduce participant reluctance

in completing the questionnaire (Gerger et al., 2007). The result indicates that individuals who

score high on the AMMSA scale tend to shift their attention from the alleged perpetrator to the

victim when determining guilt and blame (Süssenbach et al., 2017). Unfortunately, similar to Just

World Belief, the normalisation of AMMSA also has legal consequences for rape victims, which is

shown by juror decision-making as jurors relied on general public decisions and perspectives

(Persson & Dhingra, 2022). Thus, it is important to explored AMMSA thoroughly to determine

the strategic solution to tackle the issue.

threat), which likely influence decision-making processes on the AMMSA scale, creating a gap

with other Asian countries, including Indonesia, that have different cultural and moral values

(Atari et al., 2020). Consequently, deeper research investigating the correlation between AMMSA

and the victim blaming culture for rape cases specifically in Indonesia should be meticulously

conducted.

Moral Foundation Theory and Victim Blaming

of a victim, including factors such as victim injury or victim stigmatization (Milesi et al., 2020).

MFT is a framework that conceptualizes and organizes moral systems by categorizing their origins

to provide society with an understanding of moral values from broader and more diverse

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Harm/Care prioritizes compassion and goodwill, condemning aggression and inhumanity and

often occurs in liberal culture. Fairness/Reciprocity highlights justice, rights, well-being, and

(Adiputra et al., 2022). Women usually scored higher in Harm/Care, Fairness/Reciprocity and

Purity/Sanctity foundations in the Moral Foundation questionnaires as these foundations

endorse more empathetic behaviour (Graham et al., 2011).

(Davies et al., 2014). The individualizing foundation encompasses Harm/Care and

Fairness/Reciprocity foundations which focus on safeguarding individual rights (Graham et al.,

2011). On the contrary, the other three foundations that are part of binding foundations are

more leaning toward protecting collective or community rights (Graham et al., 2011). Moreover,

binding foundations in MFT are known to be interconnected to victim blaming culture as this

foundation is closely linked to rape myth acceptance. Among the three binding foundations of

MFT, Authority/Subversion is the foundation most strongly associated with the rape myth

and shows a significant gap, as it overlooks other forms of sexual harassment, such as stranger

or acquaintance rape, where moral foundations may contribute differently. Moreover, most

studies are based on Western populations which creates questions on how the findings will differ

in non-Western contexts. Indonesia's diverse cultural and religious values may have distinct

perspective related to how MFT is linked to victim blaming. As suggested, the Moral Codes or

Moral Foundations of other countries may differ significantly from or even conflict with Western

Moral Foundations (Rai & Fiske, 2011). Thus, this research aims to fill these gaps by examining

how MFT correlates with victim blaming in cases of stranger/acquaintance rape from the

Indonesian citizens' point of view.

Honour Culture and Victim Blaming

Analysis of Victim Blaming Culture in Indonesia

correlate with an individual's behavior toward an incident (Leung & Cohen, 2011). Culture can

be categorised into face culture, dignity culture and honour culture (Leung & Cohen, 2011). Each

worth, where an individual's value is closely associated with how other people perceive them

(Nisbett, 2018). The difference between cultures influences an individual's tolerance towards

aggression and justification towards offending behaviour.

as individuals within this culture may go to great lengths, including blaming the victim, to protect

their dignity and avoid the stigma of being labeled as a perpetrator, which could harm their

reputation (Canto et al., 2017). In addition, those who adhere to the Honour Culture tend to

exhibit a higher prevalence of domestic and sexual violence toward women, as this behavior is

often perceived as a way to "man up" and protect their pride (Brown et al., 2018). Thus, this

culture also can predict the prevalence of aggressive reactions when individuals feel their honour

is violated as shown in Mediterranean and West Asian countries.

(Magnis-Suseno, 1984). It is necessary to examine whether there is a link between the Indonesian

traditional value of honour, its traditional way of protecting and its contribution to a culture of

victim blaming like other countries since no study has yet explored how these factors affect victim

blaming in rape cases. Thus, comprehensive research is needed to explore how Indonesia's

honour culture impacts victim blaming, which could help develop culturally sensitive

interventions.

the influence of belief in the Just World Assumption, acceptance of Modern Rape Myths,

individual moral foundations, and views on the culture of honor on the tendency to blame victims

of sexual violence in Indonesia. The benefit of this research is to provide sustainable solutions to

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Moral Foundation, Acceptance of Modern Myths about Sexual Aggression, Belief in a Just World

and Honour Culture, an experimental quantitative research design is implemented in this study.

This research utilized The Global Belief of Just World Scale (GBJWB), The Acceptance of Modern

Myths about Sexual Aggression (AMMSA) Scale, the Moral Foundation Questionnaire (MFQ-30),

and the Masculine Honour Belief Scale that were selected for their proven reliability in previous

research and their suitability for exploring the relationship between the independent and

dependent variables in this study.

Ethical Approval

Indonesian Student Association Official in Greater Manchester.

Materials

Global Belief of Just World Scale (GBJWS)

instrument developed and originated from Lerner's Just World Belief (JWB). GBJWS indicates a

high level of internal consistency (α = .93) (Reich & Wang, 2015). This scale comprises a 7-item

Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), the high score indicates

participants' high belief in the Just World assumption. The items including "I feel that people get

what they are entitled to have" and "I feel that rewards and punishments are fairly given".

The Acceptance of the Modern Myth of Sexual Aggression Scale

Moral Foundation Questionnaire - 30 (MFQ-30)

asking participants to rate their relevancy of the given statement on a scale from 0 (not at all

relevant) to 5 (extremely relevant). MFQ-30 has shown solid internal reliability (α = .84). This

Analysis of Victim Blaming Culture in Indonesia

questionnaire was separated into two parts, the first part will examine participants' relevancy

when making a moral decision (i.e. "Whether or not someone suffered emotionally) and the

courage, protection, virtue, pride in manhood, socialisation, family, and community bond.

Overall, this scale demonstrates a strong internal consistency (α = .90) (Saucier et al., 2015). To

score this questionnaire, all the contrary questions were reverse scored and the higher the

average score is, the higher the participants' tendency to adhere to honour culture (Saucier et

al., 2015).

Case Vignette

given scenario. The scenario used was adapted from Abram et al. (2003) and required

participants to rate their reaction towards the rape scenario on a scale from 1 (not at all) to 7

(completely). This case vignette has shown a solid internal consistency (α = .81). To make this

scenario more appropriate to the Indonesian participants, the character names were modified to

questionnaire, participants were required to read the Participants Information Sheet (PIS) and

provide consent through the same Qualtrics link. Upon agreeing to participate in the study,

participants proceeded to complete the questionnaires, which comprise the Global Belief in Just

World Scale (GBJWS), the Acceptance of Modern Myth about Sexual Aggression (AMMSA) scale,

the Moral Foundation Questionnaire (MFQ-30), the Masculine Honour Belief Scale and the Case

Vignette scenario. All instruments were selected for established validity and reliability by

previous research. After submission, participants were redirected to the debriefing sheet,

containing essential information, including the contact number of emergency mental health

services contacts in the UK and Indonesia.

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main objective of finding an effective practical solution to reduce the prevalence of victim

blaming culture in the daily context.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

female participants (60.0%). For the location, 46 participants (29.7%) reside in the United

Kingdom and 109 participants are based in Indonesia (70.3%). A multiple linear regression

analysis was utilised to investigate the correlation between independent variables, including

Moral Foundation Theory, The Belief in a Just World, Acceptance of the Modern Myth of Sexual

Aggression, and Honour Culture with victim blaming as the dependent variable. The assumption

(linearity, independence, homoscedasticity, and multicollinearity) checks were conducted before

doing the regression analysis and the result indicates that the assumption was met (See Appendix

= 3.90, p <.001) and the Fairness/Reciprocity foundation of Moral Foundation Questionnaire (B =

-.28) t(-.146) = -2.24, p <.05). Specifically, an increase in the AMMSA and a decrease in the

Fairness/Reciprocity scale values correspond to increases in victim blaming, with 95% CIs of

[0.033, 0.101] and [-0.429, -0.025], respectively.

Authority/Subversion of Moral Foundation Theory (β = -.01) t(146) = -.09, p >.05) and the Global

Belief in Just World Scale (β = -.14 t(146) = -1.17, p > .05) as well as the Harm/Care foundation

(β = -.05) t(146) =.60, p >.05), The Purity/Sanctity foundation of Moral Foundation Questionnaire

(β = .18) t(146) = 1.95, p >.001) and the Honour Culture (β = 0.2) t(146) = 1.8, p >.001) do not

significantly correlate with the occurrence of victim blaming culture in Indonesia. Meanwhile, the