Gender bias of the general public regarding sexual victimization: a study using case vignettes in Japan

Background: From a victim support perspective, researching public perceptions of sexual violence is critically important, since these perceptions can influence judicial decisions and media coverage. However, a few studies have examined the public awareness of the gender bias in the perpetrator-victim relationships.Objective: We conducted a survey to investigate whether the general public in Japan perceives sexual violence differently depending on the genders of the perpetrators and victims.Methods: We surveyed 137 members of the Japanese general public aged ≥18 years (48 men, 89 women, aged 19-73 years). Participants completed a cross-sectional online survey describing four short case vignettes with four different gender patterns regarding the perpetrator and victim of sexual violence. Participants were asked to rate the psychological impact on the victim in each vignette and to indicate whether the victim would be considered having experienced psychological trauma, and whether the victim could have escaped without being victimized.Results: Participants' responses showed that they regarded the 'man perpetrator-woman victim' situation as having the greatest psychological impact. When the perpetrators were women, the participants described lower psychological impacts.Conclusions: These results revealed that the general public perceives sexual violence differently depending on the genders of the perpetrator and victim, especially when the perpetrator is a woman.