Judgments Toward Male and Transgendered Victims in a Depicted Stranger Rape

Davies, Michelle and Hudson, Jenefer (2011) Judgments Toward Male and Transgendered Victims in a Depicted Stranger Rape. Journal of Homosexuality, 58 (2). pp. 237-247. ISSN 0091-8369

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2011.540179

Abstract

There has been an increasing amount of research interest into perceptions of male rape in recent years. However, no research has assessed how people react when a transgendered person is raped. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of transgendered status and sexuality on victim blame and perceived severity in a depicted rape scenario. The sexuality of the victim was manipulated to include a heterosexual, homosexual, cross-dresser, female-to-male transsexual, and male-to-female transsexual. It was predicted that the heterosexual victims would be judged the most positively and that heterosexual male participants would make the most anti-victim judgments. One hundred thirty-three lesbian, gay male, and heterosexual members of the general population read a scenario depicting a rape and then completed a questionnaire measuring victim blame and perceived severity of the assault. Results conformed to the predictions. Results are discussed in relation to traditional gender roles and homophobia.


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