"She asked for it!". Gender-based violence, victim blaming and epistemic injustice

The essay explores the practice of victim blaming from a political philosophical perspective, in order to contribute to its conceptualisation and shed light on its main implications for the reproduction of structural injustices. After an analysis on the concepts of victim and victimisation, the link between victim blaming and epistemic injustice is presented and discussed. Then, the discussion focuses on victim blaming in cases of gender-based violence, highlighting the psychosocial and cultural mechanisms which allow its reproduction and hinting at its effects on victims. Finally, some promising theoretical resources are proposed for future research aimed to develop a political philosophical definition of the victim, the first step needed to contrast phenomena of victim blaming and epistemic injustice, inhibiting the reproduction of structural injustice.