I Think: The media subtly passes judgment on victims
Blogger, Bangalore
I blog about the everyday life of an urban Indian homemaker and her reactions to what’s happening in the world around her. So I blog against violence and intolerance, and against our use of tradition, culture and religion to justify anything that common sense might refuse to accept. I write against gender bias (a lot of this), including our biases against girl children even in educated families. I write against all stifling stereotypes.
There is a shame attached to sexual assaults, and the media seems to feel it too. They don’t even use the correct terms for sexual assault. The tone is almost always accusatory. Nearly always there is an attempt to explain why the perpetrator committed the sex crime. This reinforces the patriarchal idea that a sexual crime can be prevented by the victim, and when she fails to do so it is insinuated that the victim is somehow responsible.
The media makes no effort to avoid distracting from often brutal violence, and frequently describes the victim’s lifestyle, what she wore, what time she was out of her house, what kind of social life she has, whether or not she drank etc. What the media should be reporting is whether or not the assailant had a history of violence or sexual offences, and if there is no record then why it isn’t there? Did the police react promptly? Does the victim have support? Was she informed of her rights? This little change can begin to change the way society views sexual crimes — as violence, not as titillation. The correct term to use is not rape but sexual assault.
The media should treat sexual crimes like any other serious violent crimes. The trauma and violation should be stressed. There should be no attempt to justify the assault by mentioning the woman’s lifestyle, there should be absolutely no judgment passed on the survivor. There should be a mention of how serious violent criminals have a history of smaller — often unreported and unpunished — violent or sexual crimes.
Also, the media should mention that, generally, sexual criminals don’t expect the assault or abuse to be taken seriously. They expect the survivor to be shamed, blamed and silenced. Only a very, very small percent of sexual crimes are reported. The conviction rate is also very low and this too discourages survivors and their families from reporting.
