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Victim blaming is holding the victim of a crime or other misfortune to be in whole or in part responsible for what has happened to them.
For example a motorist who leaves his/her car unlocked with the keys in the ignition may be held partly responsible if the car is stolen. A person who uses verbal abuse may be held partly responsible if they become a victim of a physical assault.
In the context of rape, this concept refers to popular attitudes that behaviour such as flirting or wearing sexually provocative clothing may encourage rape: that they are analagous to leaving ones car with the keys in the ignition or provoking an assault by "winding up" the assailant. In extreme cases victims are accused of "asking for it" by not behaving demurely.
The theory depends on the view that either human nature or other facts of life should be known and acknowleged by the victim when making decisions. Thus a person is to blame if they act recklessly or with negligence. In law this concept is acknowledged in some areas, for example when a driver ignores the rules of the road. However, victim blaming does not simply imply that the perpetrator was reckless, but that the victim should be responsible for the criminal. This implies that the victim creates temptation which tests the perpetrator's resolve.
This idea can also apply to people who are victims of accidents, natural disasters, or other personal misfortunes. The victims of these misfortunes are typically blamed for not being able to prevent or overcome their misfortune. Thus, for example, the poor are blamed for being feckless, and the victims of famine for not having the foresight to be prepared with stocks of food.
It has been proposed that one cause of the phenomenon of victim blaming is the so-called Just World hypothesis, where people who are inclined to believe that the world is a just place cannot accept a situation in which a person is hurt badly with no good reason. Therefore, they reason, people who are victims of misfortune must have done something to bring that misfortune upon them. This theory is very ancient, the most famous exploration of it being the Book of Job.
Supporters of this view (once referred to as "Job's comforters") are forced to accept that to do otherwise would require them to give up their belief in a just world, and require them to believe in a world where bad things -- such as poverty, rape, starvation, and murder -- can happen to good people for no good reason. The cognitive dissonance in doing this is too great, and victim blaming is the result.
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