Perceiving Victimhood: Compassion for Survivor and Acceptance of Myths of Men Rape Across Pakistani Men and Women

Abstract

Male rape is often overlooked, especially in a misogynistic society like Pakistan where victims are frequently evaluated through the lens of rape myths. This study aims to examine the relationship between compassion for victims and male rape myth acceptance across both genders in Pakistan. It was hypothesized that there would be a relationship between study variables, and gender would moderate this relationship. In a cross-sectional research design, a sample of 120 adults was recruited through non-probability convenient sampling. To collect data, Male Rape Myth Scale (MRMS; Melanson, 1998) and Rape-Victim Empathy Scale (REMV; Smith and Frieze, 2003) were used. According to the results, acceptance of male rape was inversely related to compassion for victims. However, gender did not act as a moderator. The results of this study can be applied in various fields of psychology, such as forensic psychology, social psychology, sociology, and gender studies.