Behind the Headlines: Unpacking the Media’s Role in Gendered Violence

In recent months, stories of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) have become more frequent in the media. Whether it's happening more or just getting more attention, it's worrying either way. VAWG has been declared a national emergency in the UK - yet it feels as though many do not take it seriously. 

News articles use passive words to describe horrible acts committed by men against women and girls - for example, instead of saying a woman was murdered, reporters will use the word ‘died’. I noticed this in news headlines about the tragic murder case of Rebecca Cheptegei, an Olympian, who was doused in petrol and set on fire by her former boyfriend. Headlines used the phrases ‘burned to death’ and ‘dies from burns’. Why don’t we focus on the truth and use words that reflect what actually happened to Rebecca; ‘killed’, or ‘murdered’. Using incorrect language downplays the crime and doesn’t focus on the real issue of misogyny at hand. 

In cases where misogyny is recognised, the media will often look at the perpetrator as a ‘bad apple’, and cries of ‘not all men’ will come from various social media users, journalists and celebrities. In 2021, 79% of individuals dealt with by the Criminal Justice System were male. That’s not just a ‘bad apple,’ it’s the majority of the orchard. And the cases you see in the media aren’t isolated - 1 in 8 women attempt suicide as a result of experiencing domestic violence, and in 2023, 100 women were killed by men in the UK. These are just a few stats in the UK alone. So why is it so hard to name the real problem: misogyny? It’s time the media stops hiding behind vague language and tells the truth. 

This doesn’t just happen in the media though. Recently, the case of 72 year old Gisèle Pelicot went to court, who was drugged and raped over the course of 10 years by men hired by her husband. This is a chilling case, and extremely traumatic. In court, however, the rapes are being referred to as ‘sex scenes’. When I heard this, I was at a loss for words. Why can’t people bring themselves to call a rape ‘rape’, when it so obviously is? I’d like to bet that a kidnapping isn’t called ‘borrowing someone for a bit’. See how our use of language filters through all institutions, affecting how people perceive certain actions and intentions? 

The Sarah Everard case, during the pandemic, shocked the nation. Yet many insisted, fuelled by the media, that Wayne Couzens was merely a 'bad apple' in the Metropolitan Police (Met), ignoring the systemic issues at play. This includes celebrities like Davina McCall, who tweeted that ‘not all men’ are a threat - right after a woman was abducted, raped and murdered? Come on, Davina. Big Brother isn’t exactly keeping women safe here. 

This plays into a bigger issue; every time a terrible act of violence against a woman or girl happens, the focus is shifted away from the victims and the misogyny (and any other form of hatred or bias involved) and instead there is some huge discourse over whether different ethnicities or nationalities can coexist. It’s exhausting! I mean, we all know the script by now, right? Something awful happens, but the conversation goes everywhere except the real problem. 

We saw this happen with the terrible tragedy of the Southport stabbings this year. 3 little girls died and many other women and girls were injured. Many raised the point that the perpetrator targeted a ‘girly’ Taylor Swift dance class, which was in a house on a random, quiet cul-de-sac. Could it have been misogyny-fuelled? However, the attention was quickly brought onto the murderer’s race, with false lies being spread that he was the son of an asylum seeker; an illegal immigrant. We all remember the riots, the hate, the fear felt in communities of colour. This happened in 2024 - 3 little girls were killed, and the media instead focused on the far-right agenda. When the focus moves to race, we lose sight of the fact that when looking at the context of the tragedy, it’s likely that a large factor of this violence was gender-based.

But why does this happen? Is it because misogyny is a more insidious, less socially acknowledged or accepted form of bigotry and hate? Bigotry, such as racism or homophobia, is rampant, yet people are quicker to acknowledge that these are causes of hateful incidents. Domestic abuse or femicide is rarely seen as gender-based by the media. This is not to downplay these injustices; every form of hate intersects (interacts with and affects) with another, and no minority should be left behind. But it's time to stop letting these crimes be brushed aside. The conversation needs to start with the truth: this is about misogyny, and we need to call it what it is.

Has the media simply become more desensitised to these killings? We’ve seen far-right misogynists like Andrew Tate drive teenage boys and young men further into extreme ideologies, and the ‘global gender divide’ is widening. This is the idea that globally, young men are becoming more conservative whilst young women are more liberal. There has been a significant increase in the daily percentage of misogynistic tweets after the onset of COVID-19. Are we now getting more used to misogyny? You’d think that in 2024, we’d be going forwards - not backwards. But that’s simply not the case. The media can’t become too complacent.  

So what can we do? As we’ve seen, language is everything. It changes the way we view things and therefore how we act towards others and ourselves. The pen is, famously, mightier than the sword. Both the media and social media content creators must use accurate language - don’t say ‘died’, say ‘murdered’. Don’t say ‘sex case’, say ‘rape’, ‘sexual assault’, ‘sexual abuse’, ‘sexual harrassment’ - whatever it is, call it that! Don’t blame the victim and don’t excuse the perpetrator. There is never a good reason for their crimes, and so we should not offer them the liberty of being separated from them in writing 

We’re intersectional here. A cautionary tale from the Southport stabbings and following riots - don’t spread racist, generalised lies and false narratives about a perpetrator’s race, ethnicity or status. It incites even more hatred and division, and doesn’t help the real cause. 

And a message to journalists in particular  - don’t exploit these women for stories. Handle cases with the care they deserve and you could empower more women to speak out. 

It’s time for all of us - media, social platforms, and individuals - to call these acts what they are. Only then can we start to fight back against misogyny.

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