californiagrownSo a homeowner who get burglarized is not a victim?
You think in some cases victim blaming is okay?
I think two points need to be made here. I typed some of this out yesterday but I had just woken up so it probably wasn't very clear.
The first is that no matter what the crime, it is never the victim's fault. If it were the victim's fault, it wouldn't be a crime. A victim might have put him or herself in a place where the likelihood of a crime being committed to them is higher, but that doesn't make it their fault. Joe has the right to walk down the street with hundred dollar bills taped to his jacket, but that doesn't give anyone the right to take them. Similarly, people can take precautions to prevent crimes, like not wearing hundred dollar bills on their jacket or like putting your wallet in your pants' front pocket at the airport. The fact that someone doesn't take those precautions doesn't make the occurrence of a crime against them "their fault." While common sense does come into play, people have the right to be stupid and/or do what they want without fear of malicious action by others.
So, in my opinion, the victim is never 'technically' to blame. It was the actions of another that caused the crime, and the victim's actions (or inactions) regarding preventing the crime or decreasing the probability that a crime were to be committed are irrelevant.
The second is that because victim blaming - regardless of whether it is right or wrong to do so - is a societal construct, it adheres to societal rules. Thus, it depends on the nature of the crime and the way those crimes are perceived. Even though both crimes have victims, rape and theft are not the same. The 'common sense' victim blaming argument is unacceptable with respect to rape because rape is the ultimate invasion of personal privacy and security - you can't have more taken from you than that without dying. The difference between crimes and their effects in the eyes of the general populous makes victim blaming more acceptable for different crimes (even though, as I'd argue, victim blaming is typically wrong to begin with).
Hopefully that made some sense.