Women's Hostility Toward Women and Rape and Sexual Harassment Myths

Abstract

Women can contribute to the perpetuation of sexual violence when they support victim-blame. Participants were 155 college women who completed a questionnaire assessing hostility toward women; the beliefs that rape is caused by victim precipitation, male sexual needs, and male pathology; and victim-blaming sexual harassment beliefs. Significant relations were found for hostility toward women and the other measures, controlling for general hostility. The tendency of some women to support rape and sexual harassment myths may be based on the level of hostility toward women as a group.