Media Coverage of Sexual Crimes: A case study

Abstract

Newspapers have been carrying the key responsibility of disseminating information to the general public and, as a consequence, exert a great influence on public opinion. When it comes to sex crimes coverage, patriarchy and sexism still has great influence, as it is clear the given roles to both female victim and male perpetrator, usually filled with myths and stereotypes. With this idea, the purpose of this study is to identify sexist patterns and stereotypes in news media when reporting sexual crimes regarding two rape cases occurred in Brazil and Ireland. Through a content analysis of different and selected Irish, British and Brazilian publications, newspapers were noticed to present both victim and perpetrator in two different but equally sexist manners.