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    BREAKING: Nearly Abducted Tennessee Woman Just The Latest In A Growing Trend Of Victim Denying

    A 25-year old woman went to police after she was nearly kidnapped by a stranger. However, she has recently come forward to report the police aren't taking her story seriously. A classic case of what is called victim denying; a growing trend with dangerous societal repercussions.

    A 25-year-old woman reported to police that she was nearly abducted as she walked to her home in Spring Hills, Tennessee on Tuesday morning.

    WSMV Nashville broke the story, stating in their report that the woman (who is choosing to remain anonymous for security purposes), was on her morning walk when a man she did not know, but is believed to be a white man in his 30's, came out of nowhere and tried to abduct her.

    "She was able to force her way free, and in doing that, she received a bruise to her face," said Lt. Justin Whitwell with the Spring Hill Police Department.

    Police scoped out the area, however, in a follow-up article with WSMV, the woman complained the police weren't taking her case seriously, despite the physical bruises she received in the attack.

    "When I turn[ed] around, his hand just came and connected with the side of my face. It hit me so hard that I fell down...[but the police] actually told my parents that they believe that I did that to myself," she said.

    She goes on to state she was interrogated for hours, and is regretting going to the police at all.

    "I had nothing to gain. At first, I didn't want to talk to anybody. I wasn't trying to get news coverage, I wasn't trying to bring any attention like this to myself. Something happened to me. Someone attacked me, and I'm not going to make it up," she said.

    But this regretful reporting is not unique, and neither is the victim denying.

    Victim Denying

    Victim-blaming has become a prominent social issue, but victim denying is increasingly unrecognized and unreported.

    Victim denying goes beyond victim blaming because it is not just telling victims their trauma is their fault, rather, it is telling victims their trauma is insignificant, or worse, not believing it happened at all. The media and entertainment industry's construction of a "victim typology" can be isolated as the prime cause.

    For example, a study out of Mississippi State University on crime TV shows, found female victims are portrayed as white, young, single, childless, and as someone who often does not know her offender. The study goes on to point out, this increases the general public's tendency to deny, specifically when they hear from a victim who falls outside what they are accustomed to seeing in the media and on TV.

    "Proof" Doesn't Stop Victim Denying

    While the Spring Hill woman's trauma has less substantial "proof," the victim denying phenomena occurs with even the most obvious of victims.

    Such was the case with kidnap victim, Amanda Berry. For over a decade, Ariel Castro tortured Berry, Michelle Knight, and Gina DeJesus in his Ohio home with starvation, beatings, and rape. Two months after her heroic escape, Berry made her first public appearance at Cleveland's Roverfest, where she was seen with family and friends and dancing on stage with rapper Nelly.

    The next day, however, multiple news sources began to question how a survivor of torture could be seen in her first public appearance partying. Comments on the coverage of her appearance included, "it looks like those ten years of Castro raping and beating her were nothing," and "after watching this video I'm convinced that Amanda was probably happy with a lot of the relations she had with Castro."

    We will never lack victims to judge. But as victim denying continues, it's obvious this judgment is ensuring victims will continue to be stuck in a torturous déjà vu of a socially constructed captivity. Read more examples of victim denying below:

    Watch kidnap Victim Michelle Knight break down while defending the CA kidnap victim

    View this video on YouTube