Silencing of rape: treatment of rape events and rape victims by media and fiction

Sexual abuse affects over 120 million children globally (UNICEF, 2018). There has been a total of 48, 338 cases of rape of minors in India, with an increase of 336% from 2,113 in 2001 to 7,112 in 2011 (Gohain, 2013). In the US, almost half of female victims (46.7%) had been raped by an acquaintance...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shahid Ahmad, Shanthi Nadarajan, Ahmed Shamsul Bahari
Format: Article
Language:en
Published: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2020
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/14499/1/38609-122944-1-PB.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/14499/
http://ejournal.ukm.my/mjc/issue/view/1257
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1834432425974824960
author Shahid Ahmad,
Shanthi Nadarajan,
Ahmed Shamsul Bahari,
author_facet Shahid Ahmad,
Shanthi Nadarajan,
Ahmed Shamsul Bahari,
author_sort Shahid Ahmad,
building Tun Sri Lanang Library
collection Institutional Repository
content_provider Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
content_source UKM Journal Article Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
description Sexual abuse affects over 120 million children globally (UNICEF, 2018). There has been a total of 48, 338 cases of rape of minors in India, with an increase of 336% from 2,113 in 2001 to 7,112 in 2011 (Gohain, 2013). In the US, almost half of female victims (46.7%) had been raped by an acquaintance (Breiding, 2014), with assaults (55%) occurring at or near the victim’s house (Planty & Langton, 2013). Each time a rape victim dies, there is public outcry with both press and writers’ calling for action but this has not helped the cause. Largely because “rape is not just forcible intercourse; rape means to inhabit and destroy everything” (Sebold, Lucky, 2002). This research analyses headlines and quotations on sexual crimes from mainstream online news from 2018 to 2019 from India and Malaysia. Using Austin’s Speech act theory, the study compares the voices of rape victims and witnesses and argues for a reason and social responsibility. The findings revealed significant differences in discourse patterns, language use, and witness response. In providing a worm’s eye view, Indian press in appearing to speak louder for victims, create greater sensationalism compared to Malaysian press which often focuses on the culprit and process of law and quickly silences the matter. Given media sensationalism and agenda setting of both nations, there is the need for greater scrutiny on how media provides a voice to victims and helps raise awareness and social responsibility when reporting sexual crimes.
format Article
id my-ukm.journal.14499
institution Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
language en
publishDate 2020
publisher Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
record_format eprints
spelling my-ukm.journal.144992020-04-27T03:19:21Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/14499/ Silencing of rape: treatment of rape events and rape victims by media and fiction Shahid Ahmad, Shanthi Nadarajan, Ahmed Shamsul Bahari, Sexual abuse affects over 120 million children globally (UNICEF, 2018). There has been a total of 48, 338 cases of rape of minors in India, with an increase of 336% from 2,113 in 2001 to 7,112 in 2011 (Gohain, 2013). In the US, almost half of female victims (46.7%) had been raped by an acquaintance (Breiding, 2014), with assaults (55%) occurring at or near the victim’s house (Planty & Langton, 2013). Each time a rape victim dies, there is public outcry with both press and writers’ calling for action but this has not helped the cause. Largely because “rape is not just forcible intercourse; rape means to inhabit and destroy everything” (Sebold, Lucky, 2002). This research analyses headlines and quotations on sexual crimes from mainstream online news from 2018 to 2019 from India and Malaysia. Using Austin’s Speech act theory, the study compares the voices of rape victims and witnesses and argues for a reason and social responsibility. The findings revealed significant differences in discourse patterns, language use, and witness response. In providing a worm’s eye view, Indian press in appearing to speak louder for victims, create greater sensationalism compared to Malaysian press which often focuses on the culprit and process of law and quickly silences the matter. Given media sensationalism and agenda setting of both nations, there is the need for greater scrutiny on how media provides a voice to victims and helps raise awareness and social responsibility when reporting sexual crimes. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2020 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/14499/1/38609-122944-1-PB.pdf Shahid Ahmad, and Shanthi Nadarajan, and Ahmed Shamsul Bahari, (2020) Silencing of rape: treatment of rape events and rape victims by media and fiction. Jurnal Komunikasi ; Malaysian Journal of Communication, 36 (1). pp. 419-435. ISSN 0128-1496 http://ejournal.ukm.my/mjc/issue/view/1257
spellingShingle Shahid Ahmad,
Shanthi Nadarajan,
Ahmed Shamsul Bahari,
Silencing of rape: treatment of rape events and rape victims by media and fiction
title Silencing of rape: treatment of rape events and rape victims by media and fiction
title_full Silencing of rape: treatment of rape events and rape victims by media and fiction
title_fullStr Silencing of rape: treatment of rape events and rape victims by media and fiction
title_full_unstemmed Silencing of rape: treatment of rape events and rape victims by media and fiction
title_short Silencing of rape: treatment of rape events and rape victims by media and fiction
title_sort silencing of rape: treatment of rape events and rape victims by media and fiction
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/14499/1/38609-122944-1-PB.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/14499/
http://ejournal.ukm.my/mjc/issue/view/1257
url_provider http://journalarticle.ukm.my/