Blaming the Victim. Why We Don't Believe Victims and Protect Rapists

“It's your own fault.” “You provoked him.” “Next time, dress more modestly.” “What did you do to prevent him from hitting you?” This book is a large study on victim-blaming and an attempt to show how our culture, legal system, and psyche have formed a whole set of cognitive distortions and biases that allow rapists to remain unpunished by shifting the blame onto the victims. Former prosecutor and legal expert in sexual violence Deborah Tuerkheimer shares stories of people who have experienced sexual violence and examines these stories through the lens of trust: how do we decide, based on such fragile material, who is telling the truth? How do we choose which side to take: his or hers? And what can protect victims of violence from victim-blaming.