'Shaping the Visual' of Gender- Violence
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‘SHAPING THE VISUAL’ OF GENDER -BASED VIOLENCE How visual discourse on intimate partner violence and European anti-violence initiatives construct accounts of the social world PhD THESIS Birgit Wolf July 2013 Autonomous University of Barc elona, Department of Audiovisual Communications and Advertising 2 ‘SHAPING THE VISUAL’ OF GENDER BASED VIOLENCE ‘SHAPING THE VISUAL’ OF GENDER BASED VIOLENCE How visual discourse on intimate partner violence and European anti-violence initiatives construct accounts of the social world PhD THESIS Birgit Wolf 2013 Supervised by Dr. Josep M. Català (UAB) and Dr. Birgit Sauer (University of Vienna) Presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy, Doctorate in Audiovisual Communication & Advertising, at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Dep. of Audiovisual Communication & Advertising [signature] [signature] [signature] Birgit Wolf, PhD Candidate Dr. Josep M. Català, Advisor Dr. Birgit Sauer, Co -Advisor Developed with the support of Univers itat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) (Beca PIF, full scholarship) ‘SHAPING THE VISUAL’ 3 OF GENDER BASED VIOLENCE 4 ‘SHAPING THE VISUAL’ OF GENDER BASED VIOLENCE Wolf, Birgit. 2013. 'Shaping the visual' of gender-based violence. How visual discourse on intimate partner violence and European anti-violence initiatives construct accounts of the social world. PhD thesis. Barcelona (Spain): Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. ‘SHAPING THE VISUAL’ 5 OF GENDER BASED VIOLENCE Resumen: Si tenemos en cuenta todos los esfuerzos realizados para resolver el generalizado fenómeno social de la violencia contra las mujeres, hemos de considerar que la información, el aumento de la concienciación sobre este tema y el rol de los medios de comunicación constituyen los puntos clave de las más importantes convenciones y declaraciones internacionales para erradicar la violencia contra las mujeres. Desde 1970, los movimientos de mujeres en contra de la violencia, han hecho contribuciones esenciales para que se reconozca que la violencia contra las mujeres constituye una violación de los derechos humanos esenciales, y es uno de los puntales básicos en el campo de la prevención de la violencia y de la toma de conciencia sobre estos aspectos. Por tanto, las respectivas iniciativas que se han ido tomando, incluyendo las que se componen de material audiovisual, son de una gran importancia, más si tenemos en cuenta que para la población europea, la televisión es la fuente más importante de información sobre violencia doméstica contra las mujeres. Además, la misma violencia de género es también la forma más frecuente de violencia contra las mujeres en Europa (European Commission, 2010a). Si miramos las representaciones en los medios de comunicación, podemos observar como diferentes programas y formatos muestran una narratividad visual similar que se basa en clichés e imaginarios sociales sobre la violencia doméstica, mientras que la naturaleza sistemática del problema permanece oculta (Bonilla Campos 2008; Boyle 2005; Geiger 2008; Lopez Diez 2005, Taylor 2009). Consecuentemente, existe una falta de claridad en el discurso mediático audiovisual que no permite la comprensión de la complexidad social de la violencia doméstica de los hombres contra las mujeres. Por lo tanto, la representación visual de la violencia de género es una muestra crucial de la creación discursiva de significado social, que surge de las iniciativas que pretenden acabar con este fenómeno social, así como de una práctica discursiva en curso y bastante cliché en los medios de comunicación. Así, las imágenes difundidas por los movimientos de mujeres en contra de la violencia, constituyen el objeto de estudio principal de esta tesis doctoral. Se analiza el material audiovisual proporcionado por los movimientos anti-violencia con el propósito de conocer las supuestas representaciones alternativas que se forman como una réplica a la mirada ‘malestream’ de los medios de comunicación sobre este tema. Reconociendo la dimensión simbólica, estructural y directa de la violencia de género y partiendo de una perspectiva feminista, se analizarán las contribuciones del discurso del material audiovisual producido por las iniciativas “anti-violencia” en un periodo de cinco años (2007-2011) a nivel Europeo, y específicamente en Austria y España. Como la transposición de la complejidad, las raíces sociales y los contextos de la violencia de género en la pareja constituyen una tarea bastante ambigua, el análisis pretende revelar como las iniciativas anti-violentas dan forma a los aspectos sociales de la violencia de género de los hombres contra las mujeres, permiten identificar casos de buenas prácticas y descubren el significado subyacente de los conceptos ideológicos que se encuentra en sus materiales. 6 Resumen: Abstract Considering the efforts to resolve the widespread societal phenomenon violence against women, information, awareness raising and the role of the media comprise one of the key targets by the most important conventions and declarations to overcome violence against women. The women’s anti-violence movement since the 1970s has made essential contributions to the recognition of violence against women as a human rights violation, and is a crucial player in the field of violence prevention and awareness raising issues. Therefore the respective initiatives including the audio- visual material is of major importance, even more so as among the Europeans television counts for the most important source of information about domestic violence against women, the most frequent form violence against women (European Commission, 2010a). Looking at the media representations in general, we can observe how different programmes and formats are depicting rather similar (visual) narratives of clichéd imagination on intimate partner violence, whereas the systemic nature of the problem mostly remains hidden (Bonilla Campos 2008; Boyle 2005; Geiger 2008; Lopez Diéz 2005; Taylor 2009). Subsequently, there is a lack of clarity within audio- visual media discourse enabling the comprehension of the social complexity of male- to-female intimate partner violence. Therefore, the visual of gender-based violence constitutes a crucial account of discursively created social meaning, emerging from the initiatives to overcome the societal phenomenon as well as from an ongoing and rather clichéd discursive practice in the media. Accordingly, the imagery disseminated by the players of the women’s anti- violence movement constitutes the core object of this PhD thesis, by analysing visual material provided by the anti-violence movement to obtain insights about the supposed alternative representations appropriate for contrasting the ‘malestream’ gaze of the media on the subject. Recognising the direct, structural and symbolic dimensions of gender-based violence and applying a feminist and dispositive perspective, the contributions to visual discourse through the audio-visual material of anti-violence initiatives will be examined in a five years time period from 2007 to 2011 on the European level, as well as on the country level of Austria and Spain. As the transposition of the complexity, the social roots and contexts of intimate partner violence constitutes a rather ambiguous undertaking, the analysis aims to disclose how anti-violence initiatives shape the social accounts of male-to-female partner violence, identify good practice examples and underlying ideological concepts enclosed in their material. Abstract 7 8 Abstract Preface and appreciations We have suffered violence. We are not ashamed to say it. We want it to be known. (Dones de vol, undated) The transformation from victim to survivor and then to activist is seen as an ideal trajectory and of great empowerment. My interest on this transformation goes back to the 1980s, and became more professional when I got involved in the anti-violence movement about ten years ago, delving deeply into the realities of massive violence in anti-trafficking in an women EU project situated in Italy. Since then I have also collaborated with the Autonomous Women’s Shelter Network in Austria. When I came to Barcelona to study for my PhD, I was deeply impressed by the vivid activist community, especially of Dones de Blanc and La Plataforma contra les violències de gènere, therefore I immediately joined these groups. The open and respectful mind of the Catalonian women’s groups inspired me to speak up, not only as a gender researcher and communication expert, but above all as an activist and survivor of intimate partner violence. Now, a distance of more than twenty years separates me from this grave experience; my work life, my academic career and ten years of activism has motivated me to dedicate my research to the awareness raising and disclosure of still existing myths about the phenomenon in all its complexity. Still, I am thankful to have found conditions, support and self- empowerment that enabled me to stand on my own, bring up my daughter in a peaceful home, to pursue my career, to continue my studies at the university