Media coverage of violence against children in Jamaica

Who are we kidding? Media
Representations of Sexual Violence
Against Children in Jamaica
2nd Caribbean Child Research Conference,
23-24 Oct 2007, Kingston, Jamaica
Ms. Taitu Heron [1]
Manager, Social Development & Gender Unit, PIOJ
[1] The views expressed here are those of the author and do not
necessarily reflect those of the Planning Institute of Jamaica.

2
Objectives/questions for the paper
i. How does the Jamaican print media (the
Observer, the Gleaner and the Star) depict
children who suffer from sexual abuse?
ii. How is the newspapers’ understanding of
children and sexual violence against
children informed by a current prevailing
gender order, discourses on sexuality, and
cultural attitudes and practices towards
children?

3
Scope and Approach of the paper
1. conceptualising sexual abuse against children/definition, scope
and impact
2. giving an overview of the extent of sexual violence against
children in Jamaica
3. Analysing the role of the media within the context of an unequal
gender order and cultural attitudes and practices towards
children

4
Scope and approach continued…
4. Looking at how the media
generally presents or
reports on children
5. Looking at local and
international media
guidelines for reporting
sensitive matters and
focussed attention on how
selected Jamaican print
media depicts sexual
violence against children.

5
Definition of Sexual Violence against
Children or Child Sexual Abuse
Actions which constitute child sexual abuse includes
inter alia:
 Voyeurism (getting pleasure from watching children
naked)
 Exhibitionism (exposing one’s sexual parts or openly
having sex in the presence of children
 Exposing a child to pornographic material
 Kissing or touching a child with sexual undertones
 Fondling of breasts
 Suggestive touching of a child’s genitals

6
Definition of child sexual abuse
continued…
 Getting a child to fondle the
abuser’s genitals
 Masturbation with the child as
either participant or observer
 Oral sex
 Anal or vaginal penetration of
a child by a penis, finger or
any other object
 Using a child for prostitution
or pornography
Source: ANPPCAN, 2006

7
Reported cases of SVAC, selected years
Year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Reported Cases of Child Victims
of Sexual Abuse 903 805 772 951 945 809 883
Adult & Child cases of GBV
combined 1304 1218 1145 1308 1325 1092 1142
Child cases as a % of adult
cases 69.2% 66% 67.4% 72% 71% 74% 77%
Source: Economic & Social Survey, 2002-2006; JCF, Police Statistics Dept

8
Patients Seen in Accident and
Emergency Units of Public Hospitals For
Sexual Assault By Gender and Age,
2005-2006
2005 2006 (Jan-Sept)
Age M F Total M F Total
< 5 10 61 71 11 65 76
5-9 24 131 155 28 142 170
10-19 18 859 877 30 881 911
Total 52 1051 1103 69 1088 1157
Source: Ministry of Health, Jamaica

9
Child Sexual Abuse Cases at the Victim
Support Unit (2002-2006)
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Year
400
500
600
700
No.ofCasesHandled
Source: Victim Support Unit, Ministry of Justice
463
568
495
612
686

10
Patterns of Sexual Violence Against
Children in Jamaica 2002-2006
 Sexual violence accounts for roughly 70-75% for all major
crimes committed against children.
 Child Sexual Abuse cases accounts for 65-77% of the cases of
Gender-based violence.
 Almost 60% of the reported victims of all GBV cases were girls
under 18 years);
 Over 95% of the reported perpetrators are male, with roughly
50% under 18 years.
 The JCF has no reports of male victims while the A&E Units
reports males as well as females arriving for medical attention
as a result of sexual violence.
 An average of one-third of the cases reported are cleared up.
 Data disparities demonstrate that many cases go unreported.
Source: Economic and Social Survey, 2002-2006.

11
Patterns of SVAC continued…
 More than 50% of victims are abused by a family member or a
family associate/friend or a trusted individual in position of
authority.
 Significant number of cases show that family members
aid and abet the abuse.
 SVAC is intergenerational and is supported by
maladaptive belief systems within a family that sustains
the maltreatment and normalizes the occurrence.
 Children sexually abusing other children.
 More instances coming to light on cases of parents (esp.
mothers) encouraging transactional sex.
 More instances emerging on child trafficking.
 Street children are also sexually exploited and/or have been
sexually &/or physically abused.
 Child prostitution (ages 12-18 years)
Sources: Dunn 2001, Barrow 2004, Le Franc 2004, Williams, 2004, Lillywhite & Skidmore 2006.

12
The Impact of the Gender Order with
Effects on Meso & Micro Levels
Structural: the macro-
level. Political,
economic and social
structure & policy
environment, law
including cultural
gender norms&
ideology towards
children
that permeates society
& impacts institutions.
Institutional: formal
& informal gendered
or non-gendered
institutions &
organizations, social
networks, (educ.,
religious, NGO, etc)
in which gender
relations are
embedded. Print
media as
institutions are
here.
Interpersonal: the
depictions by the
newspapers as
institutions influence
the relationships
between adults &
children & as
gendered human
beings. Do they
challenge or
reinforce what’s
embraced on the
macro and meso
levels?
Individual:
How do the
norms and
values impact
the material
conditions of
children
especially girls?
How is that
related to
increases in
sexual violence
against
children?
Structural
Institutional
Interpersonal
Individua
l
Historical
Historical:
Unbroken culture of
violence and use of
the body for sexual
exploitation &
commodification.
Low moral fabric of
slave society
perpetuated racial
and human injustice
in practice, law &
governance
structures. No
deliberate break from
this model of social
relations.

13
Patterns of SVAC and the Gender Order
 Insufficient psychosocial support for victims of GBV in general
and SVAC in particular. Connected to overall under
estimation of psychological/emotional impact of violence
on well-being since recent enslavement to present day
less than 200 years later.
 SVAC also takes place as ‘forced consent’ to financial favours
from older men; or sexual service of young girls to Dons and
gun men. Reminiscent of enslaved past where planters
‘rented out’ enslaved women to visiting merchants, and also
had total access to enslaved women’s bodies from as early as
13 years. Rape was not considered a crime during slavery.
 SVAC is also gendered – based on power imbalances
between adult & child usually opposite sexes.

14
Patterns of SVAC and the Gender Order
 Sexual violation of a child is considered only a
misdemeanor thereby reinforcing the irrelevance of
children as citizens and as property of others. [to change
soon after over a decade of debate].
 SVAC is undergirded by a deep-seated belief in male
entitlement to the (female) body as both object and
property to facilitate male desires.
 SVAC is also accompanied by a belief that if abuse
occurs the victim somehow ‘invites’ it, ‘asks’ for it;
thereby redirecting the focus on the victim and
abdicating male responsibility for actions or paints men
as uncontrollable animals who are not responsible for
their ‘urges’.

15
Gender Order & prevailing cultural
attitudes towards children
 Dominant parenting style is authoritarian & punitive
disciplining of children.
 Coercive use of force, aggression, shouting, ‘downcrying’,
‘bad talking’ are preferred disciplinary approaches in rearing
children.
 Positive verbal communication is uncommon. Children should
not ‘back chat’, i.e. little or no right to voice one’s own view;
 Children “talk too much”, “ask too many questions”, “too faas”
 Children should be seen and not heard
 Why/how: anger displacement, redirecting frustrations,
generational patterns, limited space
Sources: UNICEF 2001, Evans & Davis, 1997, Smith & Mosby, 2003, Crawford-Brown 1997, Beckles, 2000, Williams,
2004.

16
attitudes as towards children continued…
 Children perceived as potential money earners
for parents.
 Boys – go outside and don’t cry, girls stay inside,
look pretty and help Mummy – host of other
socializing patterns that stem from this.
 Distorted gender socialization that doesn’t
facilitate positive and respectful relations
between boys, girls, men and women.

17
The Impact of an Unequal Gender
Order on Children
 On Boys: Aggressive, emotionally repressive, use
of force to resolve problems, use of force; self-
retreating, macho projection; low self-image;
confused gender identity, limited expressions of
masculinity.
 On Girls: Submissive, passive-aggressive, self-
retreating, body objectification, low self image;
confused gender identity.
Sources: Chevannes 1998, Ricketts 2000, Bailey 2002, Bailey & Branche et al, 1997.
A very debilitating environment for children to be raised in; facilitates
child sexual abuse.

18
attitudes towards children continued…
ORIGINS:
 (i) dogmatic and repressive Christian
socialization – children should be submissive to
authority figures without question or murmur.
 (ii) learned behaviour from recent experience of
enslavement, especially the wanton use of
corporal punishment.
 (iii) the connections between (i) and (ii)

19
The Impact of Sexual Violence on
Children
 General: severe mental health disorders that continue through to
adult life, incl. anxiety disorders, conduct disorders, chronic
depression. More severe where sexual abuse is penetrative.
 Post-traumatic stress disorder
 Re-enactment of the event
 Avoidance or withdrawal
 Victims tend to engage in more sexualized behaviour compared
to children who are not sexually abused.
 Since the abuse took place on the body – the body becomes the
enemy, e.g. disregard for one’s body, inability to have sex, or
engaging in sex often, body disassociation, gender identity
issues.
Source: Spataro et. al, 2004.

20
Impact continued…
 Survivors have difficulty in knowing where their
personal boundaries are, how to maintain them, or
protect them. Often vulnerable to further abuse.
 Problematic coping behaviours: prostitution, mind-
altering addictions, over-working, hyper activity.
 Negative side effects of SVAC, esp. incest can be
compounded by family members’ response.
 Physical: vaginal or rectal bleeding, swelling of
genital areas, problems with bowel movements,
recurring headaches and stomach aches, problems
standing or walking.

21
Other influences…
 Early exposure to sexual and
violent TV content (0 to 8 years)
 Early exposure to sexual activity
in immediate surroundings (0 to
8 years)
 Close and immediate family
members or friends also
exposed to violence/sexual
violence.

22
Guidelines for Media Professionals by
the World Health Organisation (1998)
1. First check, do no harm.
2. Check facts, even if deadlines are put at risk.
3. Be careful not to give false hopes especially when
reporting on miracle cures.
4. Beware of the vested interests. Ask yourself who
benefits from the story.
5. Never disclose the source of information imparted
in confidence, unless compelled to do so under
national law.
6. Be mindful of the consequences of your story. The
‘subjects’ will have to live with it long after you have
gone.

23
WHO Guidelines continued…
7. Be sensitive to situations involving grief.
8. Respect the privacy of the sick and their
families.
9. Respect the feelings of the bereaved,
especially when dealing with disasters.
Close up photographs or television images
of victims, survivors or their families should
be avoided wherever possible.
10. If in doubt, leave it out.

24
Guidelines by the International
Federation of Journalists (MMP, 2004)
1. All journalists and media professionals have a duty to maintain
the highest ethical and professional standards and should
promote within the industry the widest possible dissemination
of information about the International Convention on the Rights
of the Child and its implication for the existence of journalism.
(in our case, this should be expanded to include the Child Care
and Protection Act).
2. Media organisations should regard violation of rights of children
and issues related to children’s safety, privacy, security,
education, health and social welfare and all forms of
exploitation as important questions for investigations and public
debate.

25
Guidelines by the International
Federation of Journalists continued…
3. Children have an absolute right to privacy, the only
exceptions being those explicitly set out in these
guidelines.
4. Journalistic activity that touches on the lives and
welfare of children should always be carried out
with appreciation of the vulnerable situation of
children.
5. Journalists and media organisations shall strive to
maintain the highest standards of ethical conduct
in reporting children’s affairs and in particular, they
shall: …

26
They shall….
a) Strive for standards of excellence in terms of accuracy and
sensitivity when reporting on issues involving children;
b) Avoid programming and publications of images that intrude
on the space of children with information that is damaging to
them;
c) Avoid the use of stereotypes and sensational presentation
to promote journalistic material involving children;
d) Guard against visually or otherwise identifying children
unless it is demonstrably in the public’s interest;
e) Give children, where possible the right to access media to
express their own opinions without inducement of any kind;

27
They shall…
f) Ensure independent verification of information provided
by children and take special care to ensure this takes
place without placing child informants at risk;
g) Avoid sexualized images of children;
h) Use fair, open and straight forward methods of
obtaining pictures and, where possible, obtain them
with the knowledge and consent of children or a
responsible adult, guardian or caregiver;
i) Verify the credentials of any organisation purporting to
speak for or represent the interests of children;
j) Not make payment to children for material involving the
welfare of children or to parents or guardians of children
unless it is demonstrably in the interests of the child.
(Source: MMP, 2004)

28
Local guidelines – Draft Code of Practice
for Jamaican Journalists (2005) (CARIMAC, MSB, MAJ & PAJ)
 The document emerged out of various discussions on ethics and
professional standards in the Jamaican media. One such discussion
was a forum on Defamation Laws and Freedom of the Press
organised by the Research and Policy Group, Mona School of
Business in conjunction with CARIMAC (UWI Mona) and UNESCO as
part of the observance of World Press Freedom Day, May 2003. One
suggestion was the need for a new Code of Ethics and establishment
of a Media Complaints Commission to adjudicate complaints by public
against the media.
 The draft is based largely on the model of the ‘Code of Practice of the
Press Complaints Commission of the United Kingdom’ which, in turn,
is the model for the ‘Code of Practice of Caribbean Journalists’
adopted by Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean January 2003.
 ‘The Press’, and “the Media”, in this draft, are used interchangeably
to represent the mass media of communication, that is, print and
electronic media and all practitioners whose duties include the
gathering, editing, processing and dissemination of news and other
public information.

29
Draft Code of Practice for Jamaican
Journalists (2005)[1]
[1] The Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica also has a Children’s Code for Programming (est 2002) for broadcast media, including
subscriber television services.
Section 4 on Children
 Journalists shall not:
 Interview or photograph children under the age of 16 on a
subject involving the personal welfare of the child, in the
absence of and without the consent of a parent or other adult
who is responsible for the children (except under special
circumstances when it is clearly in the interest of the child).
 Report on the private life of a child based solely on the family’s
notoriety or the status of the child’s parents or guardians.
 Approach, photograph or interview children at school without
the permission of the school authorities.

30
Code of Practice continued
Children in sex cases
 The Press should not, even where the law does not prohibit it,
identify children under the age of 16 who are involved in cases
concerning sexual offences, whether as victim or as witnesses
or defendants in a trial.
 In any news report of a case involving a sexual offence against a
child:
 The adult should be identified.
 The term ‘incest’, where applicable, should never be used.
 The offence should be described as "serious offences against
young children", or similar appropriate wording.
 The child should not be identified.
 Care should be taken that nothing in the report implies the family
relationship between the accused and the child.

31
Code of Practice cont’d
Children in Criminal Cases
 In any news report of a crime in which a child is the perpetrator of
the crime, the child should not be identified.
 Children who are victims or witnesses to violent crime should not
be interviewed about what they experienced or saw unless it is
clearly in the public interest.
 Children should not be photographed or interviewed at crime
scenes or at protest demonstrations against criminal conduct.
Grief and trauma
 Journalists shall show respect for grief and trauma resulting from
violent crime, accident or tragedy and must act with empathy and
discretion when carrying out enquiries.
 Persons in shock or in deep grief should not be interviewed or
photographed unless it is demonstrably in the public interest.

32
Code of Practice cont’d
Victims of Crime
 Victims of fatal injury from criminal activity, accident
or tragedy should not be photographed or displayed
on television except where visual portrayal is
essential to public information about the scale of the
disaster.
 The media should take care to avoid sensational
reporting of violent crime.
 The media should not identify victims of sexual
assault or publish material likely to contribute to
such identification.
 Unless it is clearly in the public interest, the media
should generally avoid identifying relatives or
friends of persons convicted or accused of crime

33
Media Coverage of Violence (The Gleaner, The
Observer, The Star and X-News) Sept 2006 – Aug
2007
 55 reports of sexual violence against children
 7 reports of physical abuse
 25 reports of femicide (i.e. women killed by their
boyfriends/spouse)
 30 reports of gun violence
 17 reports on the issues of sexual violence against
children and violence against women
 21 reports of the wounding (gun and knife) involving
children as victims and/or perpetrators
 TOTAL: 155

34
Media Reports continued….
7 reports of physical abuse
(including beating, wounding,
stabbing). Examples:
 31 year old man beats up his
mother in law
 22 year old student stabs ex-
girlfriend in the abdomen and
neck
 (7 victims – female adults)

35
25 reports of femicide (i.e. women killed by male partners),
examples:
 Woman chopped to death by partner, severing her head, hands
and feet and he dumps her body parts in a pit latrine at a primary
school in another parish.
 Husband stabs his wife to death, bounds her feet and burns her
body then dumps her body in a pit latrine.
 Man strangles his common-law wife with an electrical cord,
bounds her hands and feet and stuffs her in a barrel leaving the
body to decompose.
 Husband shoots his wife in front of their son’s school, then
attempts suicide.
 Man stabs and chops girlfriend, slashes her through and pokes
her head in pot of hot milk, in the presence of her 2 children.
24 female victims; 1 male victim
 NB: 132 women have been brutally murdered by their
partners in 2006.

36
Media reports continued….
30 reports of gun violence (including
multiple murders, gang violence,
community violence, reprisal killings).
Examples:
 A group of gunmen shoot 5 family
members shot to death;
 2 gunmen shoot 3 family members in
the presence of children,
 Gun men shot 2 men, burnt their
bodies and dumped them in an open
lot.
40 male victims
26 female victims

37
Media Reports continued…
17 issue articles on the rising
problem of sexual violence
against children and gender
based violence. Examples:
 The NGO – Hear the Children
Cry
 The Children’s Advocate
 The Gleaner Editor’s Forum
 Special Report from Deputy
Police Commissioner

38
21 reports of wounding (gun or knife) involving
children as victims and/or perpetrators.
Examples:
 Teenage stabs fellow student.
 Children caught in crossfire of gang warfare.
18 male victims; 7 female
3 male “perpetrators”, 1 female “perpetrator”

39
Media Reports – Sexual Violence Against
Children
55 reports of SVAC
Examples:
 Parents give a 12 y-o daughter to 36 y-o man in exchange for
land;
 Father rapes 13 y-o daughter;
 18 y-o boy sexually assaults and buggers his 7 y-o sister.
 Two brothers repeatedly rape and impregnate 15 y-o sister with
family members’ knowledge.
 5 boys (aged 11 and 9 yrs) sexually assault a 7 y-o girl at
school.
 46 y-o man harbours & sexually assaults 13 & 14 y-o boys.
47 female victims, 18 male victims, 7 male victims/perpetrators; 5
victim/perpetrators.

40
Analysis of Media Representations
 Over the last decade attention has been paid to gender
analysis of media reporting on VAW as well VAC. (Carter, 1998,
Goddard & Saunders, 2000, Corbella & Collings 2007, Skidmore 1998, WMW, 1999, 2002, Bailey
2001).
 Why? Reports of violation of human rights in texts (textual
abuse).
 Criticisms of media perpetuating unequal gender order.
 Criticisms that media workers only write from a law
enforcement and criminal justice perspective and fail to
incorporate health, social risks involved.
 Criticisms of the media being insensitive to grief and victims’
trauma.
 Sideline the seriousness of the offence of SVAC in the name
of drama and sensationalism.
 Raising awareness and social conscience of media workers.
 Avenue to promote child rights.

41
Analysis continued…
 Most of the news focus on particular incident or set of allegations
and uses very formulaic reporting. Example:
“Ex-deacon to face trafficking charges”. The Director of Public
Prosecutions yesterday slapped 5 charges of traficking in
persons on 46 y-o deacon Donovan Jones and 3 male teenagers
charged jointly with him with the molestation of a 14 y-o school
girl. It is being alleged that there was an agreement for Jones to
pick up the girl from school…and the girl was sexually assaulted
in a van being driven by Jones and the incidents video recorded.
(The Gleaner, Sept 23, 2006)
OR: Man remanded on incest charges. 52 y-o father is charged
with sexually molesting his 13 y-o daughter….information is that
the child reported at school that the father had been having
sexual intercourse with her. The father was subsequently
charged. (The Jamaica Star, June 2, 2007)
This language often found in news reports often reduce the complex
and traumatic situation via a predictable repertoire of categories
and this becomes easy to overlook and consider trivial.

42
 Use of the passive voice ingrained in criminal reporting.
Example:
“Gang rapist sentenced to 25 years”. Allegations are that the
victim was abducted in front of an entertainment venue and taken
to a house in Grants Pen where was she was gang-raped by 10
men…after the all night ordeal, the victim was released and
placed aboard a motorcycle…the student was one of 10
women abducted and gang-raped and released over a 14-
day period in 2004.” (Gleaner, Oct 2006)
This erases the abuser as an active agent and shifts the
responsibility from perpetrator to victim. Another example:
“Two UTC students raped this weekend” (Observer, Sept 2006)
OR: “15 y-o fondled in class, Teacher did not intervene” (Gleaner,
Dec 1, 2006).

43
Analysis continued
 Case dominance of articles in contrast to issue articles on the
impact of SVAC, or even deconstructing its dimensions.
Example:
“Parent trap daughter swapping couple to return to court”.The
St Elizabeth couple charged with aiding and abetting carnal
abuse and exposing a juvenile to moral danger after allegedly
swapping their 12 y-o daughter for a piece of land is to return to
the Santa Cruz RM court on June 25”. (Jamaica Star, June 5,
2006)
 Only 17 issue articles and some were dramatized and
sensationalized. Example:
“Women under the gun”. Melissa hugged the ground in desperation
ass another jolt of pain shook her body. The agony. The terrible
agony seemed to swallow her whole. Her baby-father had vowed to
hurt her and this time he made good on his promise…Her lower belly
was an ocean of pain but she couldn’t scream”….she was already
thinking up a story to tell her parents.” (X-News April 2007).

44
Analysis continued
 Use of misleading and sensational titles trivializing the trauma of
SVAC. Examples:
Dutty wine rape? (Jamaica Star, Nov 9, 2006)
No under age lover! (Jamaica Star, June 14, 2007)
11 y-o boy given oral sex (Jamaica Star, Dec 21, 2006)
‘SEXTRA lessons’ (Jamaica Star July 11, 2007)
 Use of sensationalism and portrayal of carnal abuse as exotic
downplays the seriousness of the offense of SVAC. Example:
Older women seek services of toy boys. In what can be described as
an emerging form of prostitution, the services of school boys is being
solicited by older women…The ages of the involved ‘toy boys’
ranged from 14 to 17 years while the ages of the women range from
27 to 38… simple housewives to married businesswomen…entice
youngsters with monetary rewards and other gifts in return for sexual
pleasures. (Jamaica Star, August 17, 2007)

45
Analysis continued….
 Using language which blames the victim and trivializes the act of
carnal abuse. Example:
Teacher denied bail for carnal abuse. Teacher charged with 2
accounts of carnal abuse of a 12 y-o girl who is was assisting with
home work…The child’s mother is said to have confronted her after
hearing rumours of the relationship in the community. (Jamaica
Star, July 11, 2007)
 Providing too much information on an incident. Example:
Deadly love? A loving relationship turned deadly is what police are
eyeing as the cause of Wednesday night’s brutal execution of 17
y-o Kay Anna Bailey. Information provided on the type of
transport that the girl’s body was found in, the community in
which she lived, and she school she attended. (Jamaica Star,
Dec 1, 2006)

46
 Lack of sensitivity, denying a child personhood, providing too
much information and involving members of the victims family
into the report as ‘unfolding drama’, almost episodic, thereby
trivializing the trauma of the situation. Example:
School accused of cover up. Mom told of alleged assault of her 7
y-o daughter by 9 y-o boys 11 days after the incident.
Detectives… are probing allegations that 5 boys…sexually
assaulted a 7 y-o girl at Dunrobin Primary School in St Andrew.
…the mother of the girl is accusing the school of trying to cover
up the alleged assault… “How I feel, I start to cry same time, look
from when dis happen to my child and is now dem just telling
mi”…Yesterday its mother said she was informed by the
guidance counsellor on Monday …when she went to the school.
She said she returned to the school…but was not pleased with
the response of school officials… “Di principal nah give me nuh
good argument”, the exasperated mother told the Observer. She
said it appeared the principal, Robert Giles, was siding with the
boys. “Is like dem [the school- a cover up…” She said.
(Observer, Nov 13, 2006).

47
Other discrepancies noted
 Lack of specialist knowledge of SVAC or very little interest in
becoming aware of the aspects. Predominant use of general
reporters.
 Increasing use of interviewing of family members of a victim for
dramatic effect. This is so especially when law enforcement or
the judicial system is not adequately handling the case or
facilitating justice.
 Reference to child victims as ‘it’ for e.g. It’s mother, or one
reference to child and then mentioned thereafter in relation to the
accused or to a family member.
 Reference to sexual assault or carnal abuse at the onset of a
report, then language changes to a consensual arrangement
such as a ‘relationship’ or an ‘affair’.

48
Media, the Gender Order and the
Maltreatment of Children
 The media plays a critical role in reproducing violence and
perpetuating the normalization of violence.
 Children are considered voiceless non-persons.
 Generally, the media demonstrates use of narrow constructions
of masculinity characterized by aggressive pathologies and
uncontrollable sexuality and assists in its reproduction.
 Similarly limited by narrow understandings of femininity which
emphasize, victimization, subordination and the SVAC as a
normal burden for ‘unlucky’ children.
 The current role of the media buttresses the unequal gender
order
 The media’s general focus on simply laying out the facts fails to
raise any of the social, economic or moral ills associated with
SVAC and so does not quicken the public conscience in any way.
Therefore, complicit to sexual violence against children in the
way that stories are reported.

49
Conclusion
 Generally, the role of the print media can be
positive.
 Public judgment as the forerunner of public action
is derived by public awareness via a constructive
role of the media. Bailey (2001) outlines a number
of steps:
1. Building awareness of the problem
2. Developing a sense of urgency
3. Searching for solutions, encouraging debate,
discussing various angles of the problem.

50
Conclusion continued
4. Reacting and resisting the problem
5. Wrestling with alternative choices
6. Finally, achieving moral, emotional and intellectual
resolution of the problem.
 The media has made some way in nos. 1 and 2
but little attention has been given to the others,
despite local and international guidelines.
 Very little effort at deconstructing the complexity of
the issue.

51
Conclusion
Recommendations:
 The local code of practice for Jamaican journalists
needs to be put back on the agenda and enforced.
 Various media bodies such as the Media Association
of Jamaica and the Press Association work with
members on sensitization and training.
 Similar possibilities could be explored with state and
non-state actors.
 Associations should hold media workers
accountable and promote socially responsible
journalism.

52
References
 ALDERFER, Terri (2007) “Sexual Assault: Rhetoric and Reality” in McGill Tribune, September 9.
 BAILEY, Barbara (2001) “The Role of the Media in Reproducing Violence: Implications for Practice and Policy”.
Unpublished seminar paper.
 BOSWELL, Barbara (2000) “Representation of Gender-based Violence in the Media: A Case Study of
Two Cape Town Newspapers”. Unpublished conference paper.
 BROADCASTING COMMISSION OF JAMAICA, The Children’s Code for Programming. Available at
http://www.broadcastingcommission.org/doc2007/childrensprogramming.pdf.
 Downloaded on October 18,2007.
 CARIMAC & the Mona School of Business, University of the West Indies, Mona (2005) Code of Practice of
Jamaican Journalists and Media Organisations (Draft). Available at
 http://www.mona.uwi.edu/carimac/CodeOfPractice_JamaicanJournalists.doc. Downloaded on October 18, 2007.
 CARTER, Cynthia, BRANSTON, Gill and STUART, Allan, In News, Gender and Power (1998) “When the
Extraordinary Becomes Ordinary: Everyday News of Sexual Violence”. New York: Routledge Publishers.
 CORBELLA, Nicole and COLLINGS, Steven J. (2007) “ News About Child Sexual Abuse: A Systematic Analysis of
Reports in the South African English- Language Press in Social Behaviour and Personality, Vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 387-
98.
 CRAWFORD-BROWN,C. (1997) “The Impact of Parent-Child Socialization on the Development of Conduct
Disorder in Jamaican Male Adolescents, in J. L. Rooparine and J. Brown (Eds.), Caribbean Families: Diversity
Among Ethnic Groups (pp. 205-22). Greenwich, CT: Ablex.
 DUNCAN, Karen (2005) “The Impact of Child Sexual Abuse on Parenting”, Article no. 58, Vistas. Available online
at http://counselingoutfitters.com/vistas/vistas05/Vistas05.art58.pdf. Downloaded, September 21, 2007.
 GODDARD, Chris, & SAUNDERS, Bernadette J. (2000) “The Gender Neglect and Textual Abuse of Children in the
Print Media”, in Child Abuse Review, Vol. 9, pp. 37-48.
 LE FRANC, Elsie (2002) “Child Abuse in the Caribbean: Addressing the Rights of the Child” in Children’s Rights:
Caribbean Realities, ed. Christine Barrow. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers.
 MAY-CHAHAL, Corrine (2006) “Gender and Child Maltreatment: The Evidence Base”, in Social Work & Society,
Vol. 4, No. 1.
 LILLYWHITE, Ralph and SKIDMORE, Paula (2006)

53
References cont’d
 MOFFETT, Helen (2003) “Stemming the Tide: Countering Public Narratives of Sexual
Violence”, WOMANKIND. Available at
 http://www.womankind.org.uk. Downloaded on October 16, 2007.
 ROCK, Letnie, (2002) “Child Abuse in Barbados”, in Children’s Rights: Caribbean Realities,
ed. Christine Barrow. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers.
 SKIDMORE, Paula (1998) “Gender and the Agenda: News Reporting of Child Sexual
Abuse” in News, Gender and Power (1998), eds. CARTER, Cynthia, BRANSTON, Gill and
STUART, Allan. NY: Routledge Publishers.
 SMITH, D. E ., & Mosby, G. (2003) “Jamaican child-rearing practices: The role of corporal
punishment”, in Adolescence, No. 38, 370-381.
 SPATARO, Josie, MULLEN, Paul et al. (2004) “Impact of Child Sexual Abuse on Mental
Health”, in British Journal of Psychiatry, No. 184, pp. 416-421.
 WILLIAMS, Sian (2002) “’The Mighty Influence of Long Custom and Practice’: Sexual
Exploitation of Children for Cash and Goods in Jamaica”, in Children’s Rights: Caribbean
Realities, ed. Christine Barrow. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers.
 The Planning Institute of Jamaica, Economic & Social Survey 2006.
 The Ministry of Health, Annual Report 2005.
 US Department of Justice (2000), Statistical Report on Sexual Assault of Young Children
as Reported to Law Enforcement: Victim, Incident and Offender Characteristics, Bureau of
Justice Statistics.
 Selected articles – The Gleaner, The Jamaica Observer, X-News and The Star.

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