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Durham E-Theses Durham E-Theses `It's like wallpaper': Victim-blaming, sexual violence and the media ROYAL, KATHRYN,ELIZABETH How to cite: ROYAL, KATHRYN,ELIZABETH (2019) `It's like wallpaper': Victim-blaming, sexual violence and the media, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/13118/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 ‘It’s like wallpaper’: Victim-blaming, sexual violence and the media Kathryn Elizabeth Royal Abstract Research has long established that the media is inaccurate in its portrayal of violence against women, including sexual violence. It has been found to blame victim-survivors of rape, and create excuses for perpetrators. Research has also established that victim-blaming beliefs and rape myths exist within a significant proportion of the general public, and within members of our criminal justice system. Until now, little research has examined the consequences of such coverage on victim-survivors of sexual violence. This research therefore fills this gap. A total of 23 semi-structured interviews, 8 with specialist sexual violence support workers and 15 with victim-survivors of sexual violence, were conducted. A number of consequences of media coverage were identified. This includes consequences for mental health, such as the triggering of PTSD symptoms, as well as consequences for identifying and reporting sexual violence. As well as this, an analysis of a high-profile case of sexual violence was also conducted. A total of 204 articles reporting upon Ched Evans’ retrial for rape in October 2016 were analysed against guidelines produced for journalists reporting on violence against women by the National Union of Journalists. This analysis found that guidelines were often ignored, replicating the inaccurate coverage that previous research has highlighted. However, adding to such research is the argument that victim-blaming is more subtle than it once appeared to be in news coverage, arguably making it harder to challenge. This thesis therefore makes an original contribution to knowledge by examining modern, high-profile coverage of sexual violence cases, and how this coverage affects victim-survivors. 1 ‘It’s like wallpaper’: Victim-blaming, sexual violence and the media Kathryn Elizabeth Royal A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Sociology Durham University November 2018 2 Table of Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... 3 List of Tables and Figures ........................................................................................................... 9 Declaration and Statement of Copyright ................................................................................. 10 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. 11 Dedication ................................................................................................................................ 12 Chapter 1 – Introduction ......................................................................................................... 13 1.1 - Rationale and Research Questions .............................................................................. 13 1.2 - Context of the Research .............................................................................................. 16 1.3 - Defining Rape and Sexual Violence ............................................................................. 16 1.4 - Sexual Violence in England & Wales ............................................................................ 17 1.5 - Victims or Survivors? ................................................................................................... 18 1.6 - Structure of the Thesis ................................................................................................. 19 Chapter 2 – Sexual Violence .................................................................................................... 20 2.1 – Introduction ................................................................................................................ 20 2.2 - Sexual Violence ............................................................................................................ 20 2.2.1 - Feminist Theory .................................................................................................... 20 2.2.2 - Consequences of Sexual Violence ........................................................................ 25 2.2.3 - Rape Crisis Centres ............................................................................................... 28 2.2.4 - In the Criminal Justice System .............................................................................. 31 2.3 - Victim-Blaming, Victim Precipitation, Just World Belief and Rape Myths .................. 36 2.3.1 - Just World Belief ................................................................................................... 41 2.3.2 - Rape myths ........................................................................................................... 43 2.3.2.1 - Belief in Rape Myths ................................................................................................... 47 2.3.2.2 - Prevalence in the Criminal Justice System .................................................................. 49 2.4 - Summary ...................................................................................................................... 51 Chapter 3 – News Media ......................................................................................................... 52 3.1 – Feminist Engagement with Media Theory .................................................................. 52 3.2 - News media ................................................................................................................. 54 3.2.1 - Crime News ........................................................................................................... 55 3.3 - News Media Presentations of Violence Against Women ............................................ 56 3.3.1 - Acts of Violence Against Women ......................................................................... 57 3 3.3.2 - Victims .................................................................................................................. 58 3.3.3 - Perpetrators .......................................................................................................... 62 3.3.4 - False Allegations ................................................................................................... 64 3.3.5 - Celebrity and High-Profile Perpetrators ............................................................... 65 3.3.6 - Resistance to Rape Myths..................................................................................... 68 3.3.7 - Sport, Media & Violence Against Women ............................................................ 69 3.3.7.1 - Sport, Masculinity and Violence Against Women....................................................... 69 3.3.7.2 - Media Coverage of Sport and Violence Against Women ............................................ 71 3.4 - Abuse in Online Spaces ................................................................................................ 73 3.5 - Consequences of Media............................................................................................... 76 3.6 - Summary ...................................................................................................................... 81 Chapter 4 – Research Methods and Methodology ................................................................. 82 4.1 - Introduction ................................................................................................................. 82 4.2 - Feminist Approaches to Research ............................................................................... 82 4.2.1 - Feminist Methodology .......................................................................................... 82 4.2.2 - Semi-Structured Interviews .................................................................................. 85 4.3 - Media Analysis ............................................................................................................. 87 4.3.1 - Sampling and Data Collection ............................................................................... 90 4.3.2 - Analysis ................................................................................................................. 93
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