Oh Leah, you do like to live dangerously on these sorts of topics don't you? Lol
I'm going to say this for all to hear and fully understand: IT IS NEVER THE VICTIM'S FAULT. That part is simple and I don't think that anyone here disagrees.
However, there are always steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of becoming a victim. Saying so is not victim blaming, it is arming people with the knowledge and tools to protect themselves. This applies to all types of crime. Now, if after the fact you tell the victim, "Well you shouldn't have done that/should have done this instead." That is victim blaming. Preparing people ahead of time is common sense. Big difference.
Examples: "Don't walk down the dark alley late at night alone, you could be attacked." Preparing a person. "Well of course you got attacked, you walked down a dark alley at night. What did you expect?" Victim blaming.
"Here's how to defend yourself from an attack." Preparing. "If you had a weapon/knew martial arts this wouldn't have happened." Victim blaming.
As for institutional accountability vs personal responsibility my only issue is when people say that they have NO responsibility to protect themselves. When it's the bar's fault that the drunk guy fell outside and hit his head. When the only question asked is "what can the system do for me?" Instead of "what can WE do TOGETHER?"
I was raised to believe that the first person responsible for my wellbeing is me, not the school, not the government, not the police, me.
We'd all like to live in a world where we don't have to think about this kind of stuff. A world where we don't need weapons or the ability to defend ourselves. A world where I could stand in a dark alley in Chicago in a suit made of $100 bills and no one would even think of taking them from me but that is not the world we live in yet. Some day maybe that world will exist but until that time I'm going to prepare myself for what can happen in the world I live in now. I'm going to learn how to mitigate risks and protect myself from bad things happening to me. It is not victim blaming to suggest that others do the same.
