Framing safety of women in public transport: A media discourse analysis of sexual harassment cases in Bangladesh

IF 2.3 1区文学 Q1 COMMUNICATION

Media, Culture & Society Pub Date : 2022-07-21 DOI:10.1177/01634437221111913

Seama Mowri, A. Bailey

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引用次数: 2

Abstract

This paper analyzes the role of print media in framing incidences of sexual harassment in public transport; particularly in the context of Bangladesh, where gender-based violence is highly prevalent in the public sphere. This article uses Douglas’ cultural theory to reflect on media practices and its institutional power to reframe the social problem through risk and blame attribution. We conducted a discourse analysis of 71 news articles extracted from four of the widely circulated and influential newspapers of Bangladesh. Our findings reveal that the hegemonic discourse of gender-based violence in public transport is systemic and/or primarily reliant on legal recourse. By contrast, discourses presenting sexual harassment as symptomatic of broader gender inequality is less frequent. Moreover, these media platforms belong to an assemblage of patriarchal social-power holders that collaborate with established law and order to facilitate a blame game, thereby relieving the same stakeholders of ownership and accountability. Given the power of news media in constructing meta-narratives of safety (and nudging policymakers), journalists must tread responsibly on issues of blame, women’s safety, and their rights to the city.

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构建妇女在公共交通中的安全:孟加拉国性骚扰案件的媒体话语分析

本文分析了平面媒体在塑造公共交通性骚扰事件中的作用;特别是在孟加拉国的背景下，基于性别的暴力在公共领域非常普遍。本文运用道格拉斯的文化理论对媒介实践及其制度性力量进行反思，通过风险归因和责任归因来重构社会问题。我们对71篇新闻文章进行了话语分析，这些文章摘自孟加拉国广为流传和有影响力的四份报纸。我们的研究结果表明，公共交通中基于性别的暴力的霸权话语是系统性的和/或主要依赖于法律追索权。相比之下，将性骚扰视为更广泛的性别不平等症状的论述就不那么频繁了。此外，这些媒体平台属于家长式社会权力持有者的集合，他们与既定的法律和秩序合作，促进指责游戏，从而减轻了相同的利益相关者的所有权和责任。鉴于新闻媒体在构建安全元叙事(以及推动政策制定者)方面的力量，记者必须负责任地处理责任、女性安全和她们对城市的权利等问题。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Media, Culture & Society Multiple-

CiteScore

6.40

自引率

12.10%

发文量

101

期刊介绍： Media, Culture & Society provides a major international forum for the presentation of research and discussion concerning the media, including the newer information and communication technologies, within their political, economic, cultural and historical contexts. It regularly engages with a wider range of issues in cultural and social analysis. Its focus is on substantive topics and on critique and innovation in theory and method. An interdisciplinary journal, it welcomes contributions in any relevant areas and from a worldwide authorship.