There is a distinction
Wendy McElroy has drawn a very important line. Victims Versus Victimhood.
It's like the difference between broke and poor. Broke is a temporary condition, inflicted on you by circumstances and easily rectified by a little hard work. Poor is a mental condition that weighs down on you and prevents you from getting a handle on your condition.
Being a victim is a matter of circumstance. Victimhood is a mental condition that tells yourself that you are being pushed down. Very rarely in this world today is it true. There is no concerted, coordinated effort to keep any group of people down. Except, of course, by the people who are telling you that you are being held down. And they are the only ones who are holding you down.
By telling you that you are oppressed, and telling you that they are the only ones that can rescue you, they give you the mantle of self-oppression and if you believe the bunk they put out, you willingly take on that yoke and oppress yourself.
Do you have a yoke on you? You should know, you most likely put it there.