ABSTRACT
Existing literature have decried the propensity to blame victims of rape which ultimately translates worryingly into a tolerance of crimes against persons. Being a lopsided and an understudied phenomenon, the present study sets out to explore the role of defensive pessimism and love, and sex perception on rape victim blaming among civil servants in Akwa Ibom State Civil Service Commission, Nigeria. Using a cross-sectional survey research design, 167 civil servants were recruited, comprising 84 males and 83 females, with mean age of 36.29 and standard deviation of 8.53. To measure variables of interest, three instruments: Perception of Love and Sex Scale, Attitudes Towards Rape Victims Scale, and the revised Defensive Pessimism Questionnaire were adopted. To analyze the information obtained from the measuring instruments, descriptive and regression statistics were employed, and results indicated that the less defensive pessimism civil servants reported, the more victim blame they exhibited. Findings also revealed that civil servants who perceived love and sex negatively reported more victim blame. From this study, a new link was formed between variables of interest and the need for adequate mass sensitization on the urgent need of condemning strongly acts of rape and sexual assaults, coupled with advocacy for desensitization on victim blame among "survivors" (rape victims).
