"Kom ihåg att ALDRIG skämmas!"

Skamdiskursen i vittnesmål om sexuella övergrepp

Abstract

Shame and guilt have followed victims of sexual assault for centuries. However, since the 70s, feminist work has started to change the view of who is responsible for assault. Within Dammen brister, the Finland-Swedish MeToo-campaign, the witnesses often mention shame: to explain an (in)action or the process of recovery, or as a common enemy for victims to overthrow. I argue that the witnesses utilize a specific feminist shame discourse, according to which it is the perpetrators and not the victims who should feel ashamed, while recognizing that shame is still a common result of sexual assault and may affect victims in various ways. A shift of the responsibility for sexual violence from the perpetrator to the victim is undoubtedly a victory for feminism. Still, it is worth to be cautious not to make shame a self-evident outcome of rape, for that could restrict the victim’s right to her own experience and become a necessity for her trustworthiness.