UU200: ETHICS AND GOVERNANCE

ESSAY COVERSHEET

COURSE UU200

Face to Face mode

MODE (FACE-TO-FACE or DFL)

YOUR NAME Shivika Shayal Ram

YOUR ID NUMBER S11160248

YOUR TUTOR’S NAME Mr. S.Sakai

10am to 12pm
TUTORIAL DAY AND TIME

ESSAY NUMBER AND TOPIC Question number 1

Victim blaming

DECLARATION: I declare that

this essay is my original work.
Due credit has been given to all
sources I used.
Signature and Date: Shivika Shayal Ram
15/12/19
Essay
Victim blaming is when the victim with whom any wrongful crime is commited with is held to be
fully blamed of the crime which is committed by perpetrators. Pacific island countries, currently
has some of the highest rates of victim blaming in regards to violence against girls and women,
which is a very serious problem that affects many individuals each year. These violence
includes, sexual violence and human trafficking and ( World Health Organization, 2016). Thus,
this essay aims to discuss more on victim blaming in the Pacific, arguments against victim
blaming with reference to theories of ethics of care and virtues ethics and ways to address the
issue of victim blaming with reference to Approaches of Governance. Victim blaming can lead
to women and girls being in two minds and delay to report violence.

To begin with, sexual violence refers to any form of sexual attempts like rape, sexual assault or
sexual abuse. while one may argue that this doings are not feminism., thus i argue that It is not
the victims fault that the crime was committed with them. Sexual violence are not caused by
going to late night parties or wearing small sexy clothes, Sexual violence are mostly caused by
culprit of sexual assault who takes advantage of the power they have in them. It can be argued
that men can't control their sexuality and that is the main reason that leads them to be
responsible for sexual violence. According to (r/Ask Feminists, 2013) men are responsible for
their actions and should be held accountable. For instance, in Fiji a 32 year old man was found
guilty and was charged with sexual assault and attempt to rape of a teenage 18 year old girl in
Navua (Savike. J, 2017). Sexual violence are mostly caused by criminals and not by poor safety
measures. According to (Taylor and Francis, 2011) Sexual violence has resulted in emotional
weakness of guilt, death, shame and stress-coping strategies. For instance Leigh Mears, a 14
year old girl, who was from Australia, was murdered on 3 November 1989. Leigh went to attend
a 16 year old boy's birthday party near Stockton beach, Leigh was sexually assaulted and raped
by a group of boys after Her naked body was found in the sand dunes nearby the following
morning, with severe genital damage and a crushed skull. Leigh's murder received considerable
attention in the media. Initially focusing on her sexual assault and murder, media attention later
concentrated more on the lack of parental supervision and the drugs and alcohol at the party,
and on Leigh's sexuality. The media Showed this murder to the general public in such a way that
this murder has been cited as an example of victim blaming.

Furthermore, sexual violence results in human trafficking of girls and women. Human trafficking
refers to trade and recruitment of girls and women’s for the purpose of forced sex slavery and
exploitation. Trafficked girls and women encounter high rates of sexual violence, which includes
sexual assaults, physical body torture and horrific living conditions. Trafficking leads to serious
mental health problems which includes depression, anxiety, drug and alcohol addiction and
traumatic stress disorder. For instance, as reported over the past five years, Fiji is a main transit
country where women and girls are subjected to sex and forced labour. According to ( Swarens.
T, 2018) estimately 4.8 million women and girls were trafficked in the commercial sex trade in
the year 2016. Thus, i argue that it is not the victim's fault that they have been trafficked, I
contend that in sex trafficking, the trafficker knowingly recruit girls and women in order to
pressurise them to engage in sexual activities. Behind the scenes, many of the developing
nations in the Pacific experience problems in recruiting their own Families, in which girl's and
women's family members, taxi drivers, foreign tourists, crew on foreign fishing vessels and
other businessman are involved and are allegedly exploiting girls and women in the Pacific in
sex trafficking (United States department of State, 2018). Since, human trafficking has became a
major problem in the Pacific which results in victims to be blamed for the consequences,
members of the community should engage with government and implement legal measures to
protect girls and women's who are trafficked for sexual activities in order to prevent this type
of crimes in the Pacific.

In addition to that point, with the reference of ethics of care, firstly, I contend that every
individuals, mainly girls and women are interdependent and has the right decide what they
want to achieve in their life, they should be free in the society with no fear of becoming a victim
of any violence. Women and girls of the Pacific should not prioritize their self interest. Secondly,
I believe that every individuals should be given genuine care especially to those women and
girls who are most vulnerable in our society. Girls and women’s should be treated with genuine
care, especially those women and girls who are closest to us such as family, relatives, friends,
neighbours, local community and so on. Girls and women’s should not be treated as an object
that can only be used for sexual activities.

Apart from ethics of care, with reference to virtue ethics, all men's who are involved in such a
hilarious crimes must become a integrity person. A good character is acquired by applying a
standard of moral excellence in their work life as well as private life and relation and become
integrity person. Men’s should have habituation where he can only acquire virtues by doing a
good and right actions all the time. As revealed by you can not say that the new born baby is
honest person and he will not commit such crimes, but rather he will become honest only by
practicing honesty and good doing in his entire life.

Nevertheless, governance is a process of decision making through which decisions are

implemented. Thus, by looking at the types of violence taking place in the Pacific with girls and
women it can be said that there is a poor self governance in some perpetrators. Men who are
involved in this type of crimes have bad self governance as they are taking advantage of their
power of being a man. Poor community governance is also practiced in this scenario as people
in the community blames the victim when such incidents takes place. Instead of helping girls
and women to report such cases and give them justice, people of the community
hold victims of negative events responsible for those outcomes (Eigenberg and Garland, 2008).

To conclude, by blaming the victim’s to be the only person responsible in case of rape, sexual
violence, human trafficking and other sexual activities can not only cause severe psychological
pain and damage for the victim but it can also cause stress, guilt, shame and even death.
Although this essay shed some light on the difficulties victims of sexual harassment and rape
have to face and deal with after being victimized of such violence, recommendations regarding
the victim blaming and sexual activities was also made. These were based on the members of
the community and government should engage in to implement legal measures to prevent such
crimes in the Pacific in years to come.
Reference

 I need clear arguments against victim blaming, please. : AskFeminists

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskFeminists/comments/1q61oc/i_need_clear_arguments_a
gainst_victim_blaming/

 Eigenberg and Garland, 2008 Blaming the Victim of Acquaintance Rape: Individual,
Situational, and Sociocultural Factors
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6348335/

 Swaren. T, 2018How many people are victims of sex trafficking?

https://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/2018/01/11/human-trafficking-statistics-
how-many- people-victims/1013877001/

 United States Department of State, 2018 Trafficking in Persons Report – Fiji Times, 28

June 2018
 Savike, J. (2017). Man, 3 Juveniles Face Court For Sexual Assault, Rape Charges. Fiji Sun,
p.2.

 Barr, P. (2011). Posttraumatic growth in parents of infants hospitalized in a neonatal

intensive care unit. Journal of Loss and Trauma: International Perspectives on Stress &
Coping, 16, 117–134.
 Carrington, Kerry (1998). Who killed Leigh Leigh? A story of shame and mateship in an
Australian town. Sydney, New South Wales.: Random House Australia. ISBN 978-0-09-
183708-2