Public Opinion About #MeToo Victims and Offenders: A Nationwide Experiment.

Shi, Luzi

During the #MeToo movement, many sexual assault survivors are discredited because of their delay in disclosure or failure to report to the police. The current study investigates which factors influence public opinion towards sexual assault victims and offenders by analyzing data from a national factorial survey. Results show disclosing the offense immediately to the public, reporting to the police, and having a witness are positively related to punitive attitudes towards the offender, via increased perceived credibility of the victim. The results highlight the importance of understanding extralegal factors in shaping stereotypic views about sexual assault in the #MeToo era.

SEX offenders; SOCIAL support; SOCIAL media; REGRESSION analysis; VICTIM psychology; SURVEYS; MATHEMATICAL variables; SEX crimes; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; CASE studies; FORECASTING; SOCIAL attitudes; PUBLIC opinion; POLICE

Violence Against Women, 2022, Vol 28, Issue 12/13, p3154

1077-8012

Academic Journal

10.1177/10778012211054868