Rabat – A new study has established that media coverage of violence against women remains fairly inadequate and fails to inform the public of the broader issues related to women’s rights.
The study, published by the European Council, suggested that this trend is particularly true in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, where media coverage of violence against women is “out of context,” “weak,” and perpetuates negative stereotypes about women.
Titled “Violence against Women in the Media in the MENA Region,” the study presents data from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Lebanon.
Regarding Morocco, the study concluded that despite having all the legal frameworks relating to the preservation of women’s rights, media coverage in the country on violence against women remains suboptimal.
Reports on violence against women are rarely in news headlines and almost never benefit from debates and investigations that would serve to put them in context and present them as social phenomena, argued the study.
It added that on the few occasions where violence against women is highlighted in a public debate, the discussion tends to revolve around the severity of the sentence and whether or not the court should execute the perpetrator.
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The study goes as far as to claim that some journalists, politicians, and stakeholders taking part in these debates and covering violence against women tend to reproduce stereotypes and “objectify” women, even when the underlying aim behind the debate is to enhance women’s participation into the public life.
In addition, the study maintained that media coverage of gendered violence “stigmatizes” victims and often contains nuances blaming victims.
The “inadequate” reporting contributes to the distortion of the public’s perception of crimes against women by “minimizing their gravity,” the study noted.
Citing a list of techniques used in media coverage from the MENA region, the study found that journalists often use euphemisms in describing violent crimes against women, diminishing their impact by labeling them as “issues” or “incidents.
Without specifying the exact country where such belittling of violent crimes against women is commonplace, the study said that hosts of social entertainment programs promote violence against women by inviting victims on the same set as the perpetrators and go as far as to ask women to waive their rights to filing complaints.
It also noted the lack of media covering follow-up in the case of feminicides – murder crimes committed against women for being women -, explaining that in the MENA region, including Morocco, feminicides are covered during a short period that never exceeds 48 hours.
