Vic Smith: I would say that the answer is in the way the song is performed and the way it is introduced.

If I knew how to make a thumbs-up sign on here I would give this comment a hundred.

I also find it hard to agree with the original comment that:
Trad Music almost always portrays women as victims

You can find plenty of songs that do that, and plenty that don't, including plenty of strong women characters in the Child corpus. Which ones you choose to perform is up to you, of course. And in any case the 'victim' variety can still provide a powerful commentary on modern day domestic violence, rape, murder, etc. (see Vic's comment again).