Media and Sexual Violence: Victims, Media Reporting, and Surrounding Background

Abstract

  This report examines sexual violence and sexual damage in Japan from the viewpoint of the current situation surrounding the media, especially from three perspectives: the perspective of victims, the perspective of the standpoint of supporting victims, and the perspective of reporting. Female journalists have been subjected to sexual assault and harassment by their male fellow reporters, who are primarily public authorities. For a female reporter to continue her work, sexual harassment occurs within the structurally dominant relationship she has with her interviewees. One of the reasons for the lack of improvement is that the Japanese media is an overwhelmingly male-centered organization, with only 20% of reporters being women, so the problems faced by female reporters have not been made visible. In addition, men dominate editorial decision-making, and journalism tends to be biased from a male perspective. This homosocial system is a factor in determining news value, which, as a result, lacks diversity. The homosocial structure of the media also influences the way sexual violence and sexual damage are reported and treated. When describing cases of sexual violence, some media use words such as “assault” and “roughness” to replace crimes such as forced sexual intercourse and rape, which can trivialize the damage and lead to the denigration of the victims. In the future, the media must work together with gender research to avoid reinforcing prejudice and discrimination based on rape myths, such as the idea that victims should remain silent and not expose their injuries publicly.