Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Sex-crime news 'damaging society'

Writeup by Anjira Assavanonda, for Asia Media
Excerpts:
=The media's improper reporting of sex crimes had led to a phenomenon of ''sexual adversity''

=It is worrying that society was being subject to daily news reports of sexual violence, as if it were a common occurrence.
=''The journalists may feel they are doing their job well, reporting fast and intensely. But they forget that it may destroy the victims' dignity,''
=''We're in a society where humans are commercial goods. Humans make news. And yet we don't care what happens after the news is published,''
=''If we continue to accept that into our culture, sexual adversity will never end.''

2 comments:

workhard said...

Thats true, it does damage individual credibility, there are innumerous ways of such kind of violence, one is the physical act itself which can be very damaging to the victims, the other are eveteasers, which have grown exponentionally in our cities..If they are not taken care of and strict rules laid down, then eventually it will lead to the physical act itself.

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Anonymous said...

hi. I don't think the problem is reporting sexual assaults against women. I think the problem is that these crimes are occuring at all. To say that we should not talk or report these crimes revictimizes the victim - first, because she was assaulted, and second, by implying that it is something that she should not talk about since by doing so, she is somehow being unpatriotic. It is violating the victim. The correct attitude (and about 200 years of research bears me out on this) is (1) have extensive education initiatives so society understands that a crime against a woman is a crime against society. It is not in any way the victim's "fault," and not because of how she dressed or spoke or whether she was in a pub or in the street at night. In fact, societies that cover their women up the most and have the highest restrictions over women, also have the highest rates of violence against women. These crimes are about power and subjugation, and the more women are subjugated, the more these crimes increase. It is very similar to bullying - unless you stand up to the bully, the bully never stops. (2) We should, as a society, support victims. Allow them to speak and share their experiences. In all countries, including western countries, the vast majority of women have experienced some kind of molestation and violence. The only way we can deal with this issue as a society is to discuss it, and make very clear that as a society, we find it completely objectionable (no ifs or buts)to in any way enter a woman's (or man's) space without explicit permission. (3) To say that talking about it somehow will reduce our "dignity" is wrongheaded. It is the ostrich policy of burying our heads in the sand. All women, all over the world, experience violence. The most informed method of dealing with this issue is education and discussion and information. Not secrecy.