The behavior of a victim in the field of prevention of sexual violence on the Internet: a psychological aspect

Introduction

The realities of modern times allow us to conclude that the perpetration of violence, including sexual violence, is now taking on new features and opportunities as society changes. The combination of such changes (social, political, cultural, technological, etc.) contributes to the creation of a violent environment. A reinforcing factor, in this case, should also be considered the general psychological health of society, which is increasingly reducing the positive indicators.

Hence, victimology and victimization are gaining momentum and generate considerable interest among psychologists, educators, and lawyers.

Victimology is a field of knowledge about the victim of crime, patterns of formation of his personality, victimization and victimization of the victim's behavior and their manifestation in typical situations, as well as victim prevention measures at the general social, special criminological, and individual levels (Golina, & Golovkin, 2017). Victimology studies the victim concerning her moral, psychological, and social characteristics, which affect her vulnerability, and the situations that precede the crime, as well as the situation of the direct commission of the crime (Dolgy, Mudryak, & Omelchuk, 2017).

The key concept in terms of this science is the concept of the victim.

In general, a victim is a person who has suffered particular oppressions, i.e. suffered from objective factors.

The victim in victimology is perceived in a narrower sense and is treated as a person who directly or indirectly suffered any harm from criminal encroachment. This interpretation of the victim is convenient since it allows a comprehensive study of all its features and study the patterns of behavior of such a person, and thus helps to develop a mechanism to counter and prevent crime by correcting the behavior of potential victims.

It is reasonable to assume that each person is a potential victim, but the focus is on the actual victims because, in this case, there is a strong relationship between "cause and effect". At the same time, the victim's victim behavior has a special place in the list of possible reasons, as such behavior is the basis for committing an offense, in particular, one that is accompanied by violence.

Theoretical Framework or Literature Review

Numerous of works by domestic and foreign scholars in the fields of criminology, psychology, and pedagogy are devoted to the study of issues related to the research topic.

Thus, Golina and Golovkin (2017) was engaged in a comprehensive study of the victimhood of the person, comprehensively analyzing the theoretical and practical content of victimology.

In his research, the victimology as a science and educational discipline is examined, the categorical apparatus is worked out, and the characteristic of victimological features of commission of the basic categories of crimes is given.

In joint studies, Anisimov, Matusevich, and Shatrovay (2013) considered victim behavior as a bilateral symbiosis of aversive stimuli, i.e. carried out a comprehensive analysis of the mutual influence of negative factors on each other, which as a result form in the face of victim tendencies.

Kelbya and Leko (2015) considered victimhood in its practical manifestations: types, forms, and role in the process of committing a crime. Scientists have focused on the importance of preventive measures to eradicate victim behavior.

Dolgy, Mudryak, and Omelchuk (2017) in their works paid considerable attention to the separate concept of "victim", because it is a key element of "victim relations", and also touched on the essence of the concept of devictimization, victim situation. Considerable attention was paid to defining the phenomenon of criminal victimhood as a social, mental, and moral (spiritual) deviation from the norms of safe behavior. In addition, the researchers proposed to take preventive measures to restore the psychological and legal status of the victim by, in particular, the organization of international legal protection of victims of crime, harmonization of management, and treatment of victims of crime. 

Yurchenko (2004, 2013) studied the victim’s victimhood on the example of victims of committing serious violent crimes against life and health. It deepened the theoretical understanding of the concept, structure, and content of the victimogenic situation, as well as revealed its criminogenic role. The scientist also paid attention to the study of violence against children on the Internet, in particular, characterized the various risks for children and adolescents on social networks.

Shilina and Ivanov (2016) focused on the gender characteristics of victim behavior, thanks to which it was once again possible to prove that girls are more prone to victim behavior than boys.

Tulyakov's (2003) research was based on a theoretical analysis of the central problems of victimology as a promising area of socio-legal doctrine, with which you can establish control over crime. Based on this analysis, the author formed several provisions of the theory of victimology, the theory of criminal victimology, the theory of treatment of victims of crime.

 Romanenko's (2017) works distinguished, among various factors in the formation of victim behavior, the primary role of emotional imbalance, lack of experience, increased dependence on the reference group, adverse conditions of family upbringing. The scientist proposed the introduction of psychoprophylaxis of victim behavior of minors of a complex nature, which should include a cognitive component (providing the necessary knowledge about reality), emotional (forming an appropriate attitude to it), and behavioral (prevention of victim and socially desirable behavior).

Lefterov and Vakulich (2018) contribution to the development of knowledge about victimhood is aimed at establishing the psychological subtext of such deviant behavior. Much attention has been paid to the psychological aspect of the victimhood of women, children, and adolescents. The existence of a person as an individual in the Internet environment was also considered, in particular within the framework of the formation, development, and prevention of Internet addiction.

Despite the considerable array of theoretical and practical developments within victimology and psychology, comprehensive coverage of the issue of victim behavior in the field of sexual violence on the Internet, and its meaning for preventing such violence is missing.

Methodology

The methodological basis of the work consisted of both general scientific and non-experimental psychological methods, including, in particular, analysis, synthesis, dialectical, statistical methods, the method of observation, the method of studying the products of activity, etc.

Thus, the analysis and synthesis made it possible to make a general description and characterization of a person's victim behavior on the Internet, to identify the most effective ways to counteract the manifestations of such behavior and, as a consequence, to commit violence against a person.

The dialectical method revealed the general properties, connections, and patterns that arise in the manifestation of victim behavior on the Internet.

Besides, the comparative method made it possible to relate the victim behavior of the most likely category of victims of sexual violence on the Internet, namely the behavior of children and women.

Additionally, the methods of classification and grouping were used in the analysis of scientific approaches to determining victimhood, victims of sexual violence on the Internet, types of victim behavior of children and women, as well as in the study of various recommendations for the prevention of victim behavior.

Further, the systematic approach was used to achieve the fundamental unity of the theoretical and cognitive basis for understanding deviant behavior and the characteristics of victim prevention as a holistic social system.

The axiological method served as a basis for substantiating the value of sexual freedom and personal integrity of a person, his psychosexual culture, and their importance for the normal development of each individual and society as a whole.

The formal-legal method, in combination with the method of logical analysis, revealed the absence at the legislative level of a clearly defined mechanism for preventing the spread of victim behavior on the Internet.

Moreover, generalization, as a method, made it possible to identify the main problems and vectors of the development of prevention of manifestations of victim behavior on the Internet.

The observation method was also used to achieve the goal of the study. Thanks to this method, it was possible to identify such forms of manifestation of victimhood, which are most common in real life. These include, in particular, the creation of social media accounts with a large number of photos with naked body parts, the publication of various posts related to sexual topics, or even veiled topics of sexual violence.

Complementing the method of observation, the method of studying the products of activity combines different research and analytical procedures, the differentiation of which is based on the subject of knowledge of each of them. Within the subject of the article, appropriate conclusions were made based on research of photos, correspondence between the victim and the abuser on social networks, publications, in particular, on the official pages of the project stopsexting.ua in social networks (to identify the most pressing and problematic issues, as well as proposed ways to solve them).

An important place among the methods of cognition is the statistical method. Using this method, it was stated that, in Ukraine, the level of suffering from sexual violence on the Internet among children is unsatisfactory. With the help of statistics, it was also possible to establish the percentage of cases when children on the Internet showed victim behavior.

The method of prediction has suggested proposing measures that can reduce the level of sexual violence on the Internet by eliminating victim behavior as a catalyst for sexual assault and personal inviolability.

Results and Discussion

Victim behavior can, to some extent, be considered deviant. Deviant behavior is the actions and deeds of people who do not meet traditional socio-cultural, legal, moral norms, expectations, or patterns of behavior. Silmontaniously, the notion of proper, that is, traditional, habitual behavior is quite subjective and evaluative. What is normal for one person may be unusual for another.

 Deviant behavior is usually the negative actions and actions of an individual who comes into conflict with the prevailing rules, standards, and values in society.

The authors believe that the concept of deviant behavior also includes the inaction of the person. Thus, usually, a person must respond appropriately to the manifestation of another person's appropriate behavior or a certain situation. Instead, the absence of such a reaction indicates a deviation of the behavioral characteristics of the person from the established norm.

The classification of victim behavior as deviant, according to the author, is since the percentage of offenses given such behavior increases significantly. Thus, habitual behavior can usually become a catalyst for an offense, in particular, violence, only in the case of a combination of certain circumstances, while deviant behavior in itself can lead to corresponding negative consequences, which is not the norm.

 The victimhood of a particular individual is his potential ability to be a victim of the crime due to the negative interaction of his personal qualities with external factors (Shilina, & Ivanov, 2016).

According to the degree of connection with criminal behavior, victimhood can manifest itself in two forms: eventual (from the Latin "eventus" - a case) and decisive (from the Latin "decido" - a decision) victimhood. Potential victimhood means the possibility of becoming a victim of a crime in certain circumstances, cases, or situations. Decidental victimhood (victimhood in action) includes deviant behavior, goal-setting, which catalyze crime (Tulyakov, 2003).

Analysis of the literature shows that in many works, there are three main types of victim behavior:

1. active – the behavior of the victim who provoked the crime;
2. intensive – the commission of positive actions by the victim, which nevertheless led to the crime;
3. passive – inactive when the victim did not resist (Anisimov, Matusevich, & Shatrovay, 2013). 

Victim behavior is an external manifestation of victimhood. It is formed under the influence of genotype, life experience, and habitat. The subject of victim behavior has a set of individual psychophysiological features and individual psychological deformations that cause illusory perception and inadequate response to criminal danger (Golovkin, 2016). 

The reasons for victim behavior are pretty diverse. The general victimhood of a person depends on age, sex, type of activity, social status, individual victimhood - mental, psychological, and emotional stability of each individual. According to the authors, the fundamental factors in the formation and development of victim behavior are the social environment in which a person is, and his psyche, which, in turn, are formed based on a combination of different factors.

Significantly affects the victim status of a person's social status, his position in society. The so-called status victimhood is a tendency of a person, given his official position, the performance of some social functions, to become a victim of criminal encroachment. Here, victimhood is objective and largely depends on the social role, status of the person, which make him most vulnerable to criminal activity (Yurchenko, 2004). 

From a psychoanalytic point of view, the tendency to be a victim, ie the tendency to victim behavior, can also be explained by the presence of subconscious guilt or shame, the desire to be punished, the projection of their aggressive impulses on the offender, which can lead to a forced aggressive reaction of the latter, and, as a consequence, to the satisfaction of such impulses (Lefterov & Vakulich, 2018).

The transition of a person to a virtual existence on the Internet, provided by the digitalization of society, brings to a new level the importance of victimization. The Internet is a global network that allows you to develop and otherwise interpret a person's victimhood, that is, in a different way, reveals his potential to become a victim. This also applies to the commission of sexual violence on the Internet, i.e. forcing a person to commit several acts of a sexual nature against his conscious will.

Within this, victim behavior is manifested through communication with strangers or even acquaintances who in one way or another violate certain sexual topics, active support of such a topic of dialogue, posting on social networks candid and/or intimate photos, videos and posts, and more. These actions are the primary signs of victimhood because, in this way, a person shows his interest in the topic of sexual relations and openness to communication on the above topic.

At the same time, such default behavior is not intended to attract the attention of potential criminals or sex maniacs, but it is easier to establish contact with it, which can result in negative consequences in the form of "virtual" sexual violence on the Internet and its implementation physically in real life.

The habit of indicating geolocations can also lead to negative consequences, which will allow, in real life, for example, to follow a potential victim. This often happens when a criminal actually prepares to commit a crime offline with the help of the Internet.

According to the author, excessive coverage of personal life, hobbies, interests, etc. in social networks can have a detrimental effect, because, knowing such features of a person, it is easier for a stranger to gain trust and as a result provoke victim behavior.

victimhood in sexual violence, in particular on the Internet, are children, including adolescents, and women among the adult population.

It is worth noting that the issue of sexual abuse of children on the Internet in Ukraine is quite acute. Proinsight Lab (2021) together with the International Charitable Organization "Children's Rescue Service" (2021) and the Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for Children's Rights (2021) (hereinafter – the Commissioner) in December 2020 – January 2021 conducted a comprehensive statistical study on sexual violence against children and sexual exploitation of children on the Internet in Ukraine. According to this study, in particular, 27.2% of children were asked about naked parts of their bodies on the Internet; 22.3% - maintained a conversation with an adult stranger on the Internet; 18.9% - received a photo or video of a naked body; 13.3% - received a request to send a photo or video of their naked body; 7.3% - met with a stranger from the Internet live; 4.2% - talked to an adult stranger on the Internet about intimate relationships; 2.1% - offered to meet live and show themselves naked; 1.5% - received offers to show or touch a naked body when looking at the respondent through the camera; 1.3% - sent another person a photo or video of the naked body of the respondent; 0.7% - met a stranger from the Internet live, and showed their naked body or a stranger touched it; 0.4% - showed or touched their naked body when looking at the respondent through the camera (Figure 1) (Information and resource center "Childhood without violence", 2021).  

Figure 1. Sexual violence against children and sexual exploitation of children on the Internet in Ukraine (December 2020 – January 2021). Data provided by Information and resource center "Childhood without violence" (2021)

Children and adolescents are characterized by victimhood due to their gullibility, lack of relevant life experience and skills to counter the impact, unstable psyche due to its being at the stage of constant transformation and formation, etc. A significant factor in the emergence of potential victim behavior should also be considered psychosexual culture, which is absent in children of a certain age, and, therefore, some actions the child naturally does not consider as those that lead to the victimization of his behavior.

Thus, psychosexual culture is manifested in the field of sexual and intimate relationships, is formed during the assimilation of sexual and psychological knowledge in the context of age-related tumors, framed in the process of developing an individual value system and moral self-determination of the growing individual. Depending on how a person treats himself as a sexual being, his ability to become a victim of sexual violence through his behavior depends. The norm of sexual behavior includes several moral and ethical, psychological, religious aspects, and socio-cultural factors, and individual manifestations of sexual activity and sexuality as the embodiment of human desire for mutual assistance and commitment (Kiz, 2018). 

It is worth noting that psychosexual culture must be formed in a child through proper sex education according to his age. Such education will serve to prevent the child's victim behavior, and thus significantly reduce the risk of sexual abuse of the child. Common mistakes of sex education that lead to deviant behavior in the future are:

1. clamping of natural reactions (not only sexual but also directly emotional);
2. too strict upbringing, isolation from people of the opposite sex, which leads to a lack of necessary communication experience;
3. the formation of contempt for the opposite sex, the suppression of any manifestations of sexual nature and interest in the opposite sex;
4. smoothing of gender differences, a kind of sexual unification;
5. avoidance of questions about sexual characteristics and relationships, distorted coverage of sexual problems (Bondarchuk, 2006). 

The development of information technology has made possible a significant expansion of sexual crimes. Thus, although such crimes are not enshrined in law, there are quite common cases of cyber-grooming, sexting, sexton.

Cybegrooming refers to the establishment of a trusting relationship with a child for further sexual violence online or offline. By meeting and establishing contact with a child on social networks, online game chats, etc., criminals require them to perform certain sexual acts on camera. Such acquaintance may later develop into a personal meeting to commit physical sexual acts against the child.

Another type of sexual assault on the Internet is sexting – the exchange of sexual messages, photos, or videos using communication. The author is convinced that children fall victim to sexting precisely because of the lack of sex education because, in most cases, they do not see this format of communication through photos and videos as a real threat, but simply assume that it is an interesting and safe way to learn sexuality, learn something new, get compliments on their appearance with positive comments.

Sexting can turn into sextortion, namely the extortion of money or more new photos or videos of an intimate nature for fear of disseminating pre-existing material sent by the victim, which is pornographic in nature (Ioan, 2020). 

Problems in the child's sexual upbringing, the inability and/or unwillingness of parents (or other legal representatives and teachers) to provide reasonable and detailed (in terms of the child's age) answers to questions about gender and sexual characteristics can lead to seeking answers to these questions from others, especially on the Internet, which may provoke a child's contact with a potential threat to his or her sexual integrity and inviolability.

A high risk, in this case, is the child's misunderstanding of particular actions of a sexual nature of another person to his/her, which is also the result of lack of sexual education. According to the authors, in such circumstances, it is a matter of victim behavior in the event of inaction, because the child has no reaction aimed at eliminating such actions by, for example, stopping communication with the person, notifying parents, teachers about such actions, etc.

Such victim behavior of a child is unconscious because it is caused by a lack of relevant knowledge.

Prevention of child victim behavior is the responsibility not only of parents or other legal representatives of the child but also of law enforcement, other authorities, educational institutions, enterprises, institutions, and organizations dealing with children. Ensuring the proper sexual education of the child, and as a consequence of the formation of its psychosexual culture, can be ensured by introducing sexual education in schools for children and individual conversations or educational psychological and pedagogical lectures for parents.

These measures will help:

• to identify children who are prone to the formation of victim behavior or in which it is already formed and manifested in some way;
• to know children suffering from sexual violence or its initial manifestations;
• to give children an understanding of normal sexual relations (which as a consequence, in the future, in the case of encroachment on the sexual freedom and inviolability of the child, will lead to the ability to understand the illegality of the acts committed).

According to the results of the above-mentioned study by the Proinsight Lab Agency (2021), together with the International Charitable Organization "Children's Rescue Service" (2021) and the Commissioner (2021), it was also proposed, in particular,

• to acquaint children with the features of safe behavior on the Internet and social networks;
• to add to the education of children information about safe and hygienic use of social networks (skills of blocking accounts, filing a complaint to the support service, setting up the personal account as a private one, etc.), information about technical safety of the Internet – protection of personal data, the importance of memory remembering passwords, deleting the personal pages, etc. (use of protective functions of social networks), possibly in the format of trainings with the practice of skills;
• to inform about possible variants of situations of sexual violence and exploitation, reducing the stigma of the topic and preparing the ground for further readiness to act actively in situations of encounter with sexual violence / exploitation (Information and resource center "Childhood without violence", 2021). 

Prevention of victim behavior of the child is also the elimination of factors that may provoke its manifestation. For example, with the help of appropriate software, you can reduce the negative impact on the child by limiting the use of immoral or detrimental effects, Internet resources, computer games, applications, etc. Thus, this software allows you to control the information resources and messengers used by the child, as well as to limit his stay on the Internet.

Indicative of the prevention of victim behavior of children in Ukraine in the context of sexual violence is the introduction of various projects that are supported, in particular by the Commissioner, and provide counseling to children, as well as parents and teachers. First of all, we are talking about the information and educational campaign #Stop_sexting, which is works to protect Ukrainian children from sexual violence on the Internet. The campaign developed lessons for educational institutions on these issues, providing a chatbot, through which a child can report about sexual violence against him/her on the Internet, consult about proper and safe behavior in the event of a violation of personal integrity, etc.

All of the above measures should serve the purpose of educating the psychological stability of the child. Thus, Romanenko (2017) notes that comprehensive prevention of victim behavior of minors should be carried out in the following areas: the formation of legal awareness in the process of socialization of the child, the development of the ability to socio-perceptual prediction, the formation of behavioral strategies in victimological situations.

Given the vulnerability of the younger generation, we can say that preventive work with this group is of great importance. First of all, measures are not legal in nature but pedagogical, psychological, and medical (Yurchenko, 2013).

At-risk-to-adult women are more closely linked to society's established views on sexual violence. Gender attitudes, in particular sexism, will play a significant role in this issue.

The ideology of sexism justifies the domination of men, establishing its natural origin. Hostile sexism towards women determines sexual violence, physical aggression, anger, etc.

As a rule, mainly, the victim of sexual crimes among the adult population is a woman, which is why her victimization is pretty high.

The peculiarity of a woman's victim behavior is that it usually manifests itself through flirtation, and women either do not realize what their behavior can lead to, or misjudge the situation (are uncritical victims of crime).

Thus, a person often invests in the content of the relationship that is beginning to develop, the desired model of the behavior of the interlocutor, which is dreamed of, or this idea is formed based on personal life experience and often does not correspond to reality, while not perceiving important signals of inappropriate behavior (Singaivska, 2011).  

The commission of sexual violence is facilitated by such socio-status and psychological traits of women as:

• the specifics of behavior (behavior of a woman that can push, provoke a crime);
• a particular social or official position;
• the type of activity;
• personal qualities of a woman (temperament, character, intellect, etc).

The catalysts for the manifestation of victim behavior are alcohol or drug intoxication, mental disorders, etc.

Despite the development of modern society, the prevailing opinion in society is that a woman is guilty of committing sexual crimes. Indicators of such confidence directly depend on the environment in which the respondents are. Thus, according to the European Commission on gender-based violence, an average of 15% of women in the EU believe that violence is often provoked by the victim (from 6% in the Netherlands to 58% in Latvia). In Ukraine, this figure is 24% of the total number of respondents (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, 2019). 

Such statistics indicate, on the one hand, a subjective approach to the role of women as victims in terms of their victimhood, and, on the other hand, state the fact of such victimhood, thus indicating respondents' awareness of existing deviant behavior and awareness of its consequences.

Thus, in Ukraine, as well as around the world, there is a need for preventive measures that would reduce the possibility of formation and development of victim behavior.

Thus, victim prevention is one of the most critical areas in the fight against crime, when preventive efforts are implemented, not by the offender but by the victim (Kelbya, & Leko, 2015). 

Victimology prevention – is the maximum reduction of personal and role victimization through the development and implementation of measures to mobilize internal human capabilities; increase socialization and protection of the population; intervention in crisis criminogenic and victimogenic situations; providing assistance to victims by the state, etc. Victimology prevention is created to make citizens aware that crime is parasitic on their biopsychosocial defects. The purpose of prevention is to reduce these defects and shortcomings of behavior, not to give "bad" people a chance to take advantage of them and cause physical, psychological, or material damage.

Additionally, victimological prevention is aimed at increasing a person's responsibility for his personal life and actions, and legal entities – for the legality and safety of their activities (Golina, & Golovkin, 2017).

Victimology prevention should be implemented by approving at the state level an appropriate program of victim prevention, the development of which should involve, first of all, psychologists and specialists in sociology and criminology. Approval of such a program would allow developing a plan of measures for its implementation, which would include appropriate training (courses, training, lectures, etc.), the introduction of compulsory sex education, strengthening of socially important advertising on this issue, intensification of relevant prevention bodies and detection of sexual violence, in particular on the Internet.

Conclusions

Human behavior is a complex psychological phenomenon characterized by two-way relationships with the environment. On the one hand, human behavior is shaped by many factors, both internal and external, and on the other - human behavior can influence the events of reality. Deviant behavior, namely its variety as victim behavior, with a high probability leads to the commission of offenses against such a person, which under the typical behavior of a person could not happen.

As practice shows, children and women are the most vulnerable to sexual violence against them, in particular on the Internet, given their psychological characteristics.

Victim behavior on the Internet manifests itself in different ways. The most common forms include, in particular, acquaintance and maintenance of sexual communication with strangers / acquaintances, publication of photos of naked body parts, etc. Subconscious reckless, usually victimized, behavior on the Internet can lead to negative consequences in the form of sexual violence in real life, blackmail, various types of mental trauma, etc.

The main reason for the appearance and manifestation of victim behavior is an underdeveloped or inappropriate psychosexual culture of a person, which does not allow him to fully form the perception of himself as a person within a relationship that has a sexual connotation.

Influence on awareness and, as a consequence, on a person's victim behavior is an effective means of preventing sexual violence on the Internet.

Victimology prevention of sexual violence on the Internet can be divided into two groups: information and training in the development of psychosexual culture and information and training on the technical safety of the Internet. These groups should include measures to prevent the emergence and development of victim behavior, as well as to develop and consolidate the correct mechanism of action in the event of a person's predisposition to victim behavior. Such activities should consist of interviews, trainings, courses both with the potential victims themselves and with their parents / teachers (if the potential victim is a child), promotion of conscious behavior on the Internet, informing about the consequences of victim behavior.