Journalist and activist Jane Gilmore calls for better standards in journalism when reporting violence against women at TEDX talk, July 2017. “Journalist are failing at our job,” she said during her presentation.

“We failed the society that depends upon us for the truth”

Jane Gilmore called for a change in the way journalists are held accountable for mis-reporting domestic violence cases, referencing several articles and incidents in which headlines and reporting “fail the victims who have already been through far too much”.

How the media covers domestic and sexual abuse was the subject of research by the University of Wollongong in March of this year. This research found that media in “all Australian states was more likely to frame domestic violence as an individual event rather than a systemic problem,” with 78% of reviewed articles describing events as isolated incidents in a relationship.

Further research was conducted by Our Watch and Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety Limited (ANROWS) in 2016, “Myths and misrepresentations still find their way into reporting,” The report said. 15% of incident-based reporting includes victim blaming, like ‘she was drinking,’ flirting/went home with the perpetrator’,’ was out alone,’’ they were arguing’; 14.8% of incident-based reporting offers excuses for the perpetrator.

Claire Mooney, a spokesperson for Women’s Support and Information (Wire) discussed the impacts this style of reporting has on victims. Ms Mooney spoke on how “the more salacious something is, the more it will get coverage”. Research shows 61.8% of incident-based reporting was in relation to a homicide and nearly 75.8 % of reporting focused on physical intimate partner violence.

Reports from Our Watch and ANROWS, reflected the reliance of law enforcement in media context, “police were the most frequently quoted or paraphrased source across all media items on violence against women.” Mooney spoke on how law enforcement has a “gender imbalance”.

“Women do feel victimised by the law enforcement process and that their voices aren't heard.”

Advocate for domestic violence Cathy Oddie, spoke on the “complete lack of understanding of the complex dynamics of domestic abuse” the media has.

“Media continues to reinforce victim blaming myths.” Oddie said. Expanding on how the media is focused on “why someone did not feel safe to leave relationship or what clothes they were wearing the night they were raped,” rather than the perpetrators actions.

The 2016 report showed “Around 15 percent of incident-based media items included information about the behaviour of women some within the context of the incident and some more broadly, much of this information implied that women were, at least partially, responsible “

Cathy Oddie didn’t dismiss room for change, “the media still has a long way to go in changes they could make to improve their reporting, things are much better than they were fifteen years ago”.

 Our Watch published “How to report on violence against women and their children “ in 2019, a national guideline for journalist to follow. Journalists are expected to be held more accountable.  

Found here

·       Keep the perpetrator in view

·       Keep the tone respectful and appropriate

·       Use evidence based language

·       Use appropriate image and footage

·       Call on experts for comment

·       Always include support options

·       Know the law

·       Contextualise the story

If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au

For counselling, advice and support for men who have anger, relationship or parenting issues, call the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491.