When a story of intimate partner violence is in the news, many people are quick to ask the question, "why didn't she leave? " this type of reaction is an example of shifting responsibility to the injured party rather than the batterer, also known as: ?

Victim-blaming is a common reaction where people focus and pour all the blame on the victim of abuse instead of the perpetrator. People tend to call more the victim a martyr for staying in a relationship where they are abused instead of giving focus on the perpetrator who has been the initial wrong-doer in the situation.