Two-fifths of Czechs believe that victims of rape may be partly to blame for the crime

At least two-fifths of Czechs believe that victims of rape may be partly to blame for the crime, for example because of flirtatious behaviour, drunkenness or the way they dress, according to the outcome of a survey presented in the Czech lower house on Tuesday by Amnesty International.  The number of Czechs who hold this view is declining; only seven years ago, more than three-fifths of Czechs said that in some cases the victims provoke the attack by unsuitable behaviour. Amnesty’s Irena Hůlová stressed that in all cases, the perpetrator is solely to blame for the rape. Shifting the blame from the perpetrator to the victim deepens their trauma, justifies the perpetrators' actions and diminishes the gravity of the crime, she said.