False Beliefs About Rape Myths

According to Burt (1980), rape myths are defined as ‘prejudicial, stereotype or false beliefs about rape, rape victims and rapists’ that serve as a kind of denial and justify male sexual aggression towards women. Burt (1980) identified the examples of rape myths such as 1) “she asked for it”; 2) “it wasn't really rape”; 3) “he didn't mean to”; 4) “she wanted it”; 5) “she liked it”; 6) “rape is a trivial event”; and 7) “rape is a deviant event”. Rape myths vary among societies and cultures(Burt 1980). Rape myths are also highly related to why the rape cases are under-reported (Grubb and Turner 2012). However, they consistently follow a pattern, which they blame the victim for their rape, express a disbelief in claims of rape, exonerate the perpetrator