When Propaganda is Used Against Abuse Survivors

Propaganda isn’t just for politics or war; it’s a powerful tool that gets used to control narratives about abuse survivors, shape public perception, and protect perpetrators or systems. Here’s how it shows up:

🔄 1. Shifting Blame to the Survivor

• Tactic: Portraying the Survivor as unstable, vengeful, “angry,” or “bitter.”

• Effect: The public begins to see the Survivor as the problem instead of the abuser.

• Example: “Why did she stay?” or “She’s just trying to ruin his reputation.”

🗣️ 2. Minimizing the Abuse

• Tactic: Using language like “incident,” “dispute,” or “relationship troubles” instead of calling it assault, rape, or violence.

• Effect: It softens the seriousness of the crime and makes it easier to excuse.

🎭 3. Elevating the Abuser’s Image

• Tactic: Highlighting their career, achievements, or “good deeds” to overshadow the abuse.

• Effect: People think, “He’s such a good man; she must be lying or exaggerating.”

📉 4. Creating False Equivalence

• Tactic: Framing abuse as a “mutual conflict” instead of a power imbalance.

• Effect: Victims appear complicit; abusers appear less responsible.

🧠 5. Rewriting the Survivor’s History

• Tactic: Digging up old posts, relationships, clothing choices, or past mistakes to discredit them.

• Effect: People focus on the Survivor’s past instead of the abuser’s actions (a classic smear campaign).

📺 6. Saturating Media with a Counter-Narrative

• Tactic: Using PR, friendly journalists, or influencers to push a story that “corrects” or undermines the survivor’s account.

• Effect: Confusion. People don’t know what to believe, so they default to doubting the victim.

🪞 7. Weaponizing Group Identity

• Tactic: Saying the Survivor is harming the “cause,” the “family,” the “team,” or “the community” by speaking out.

• Effect: Silences victims by making them feel like traitors to their own group.

💬 8. Gaslighting at Scale

• Tactic: Repeating messages like “this is rare,” “it wasn’t that bad,” or “you’re imagining bias” through media, schools, or workplaces.

• Effect: Makes Survivors doubt their own reality.

🧩 9. Focusing on the “Perfect Victim” Myth

• Tactic: Pitting Survivors against each other (“she was believable, but you’re not”).

• Effect: Many victims self-silence because they know they won’t be seen as “perfect.”

🌊 10. Creating Fatigue Around the Issue

• Tactic: “We’re tired of hearing about this.” “It’s over.” “Move on.”

• Effect: The public loses empathy, and Survivors become isolated.

✨ The Counter to Propaganda: Survivor-Led Narratives

• Survivors telling their own stories in their own language.

• Clear, consistent education for the public about abuse dynamics.

• Building independent platforms so survivors aren’t at the mercy of hostile media.