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The relentless media reporting on GBV (Gender-based violence) issues contributes to bringing GBV cases to light, resulting in more robust accountability measures from governments on GBV prevention and response. For instance, media coverage on acid attack cases sparked a clamour for action following the public outrage. Likewise, continuous news reports on the increased GBV cases during the lockdown followed by Covid-19 have further renewed public discussion on GBV.
Since responsible media coverage on GBV issues can be instrumental in triggering public response and holding institutions and local governments accountable, WOREC conducted a 3-days- media training program to build journalists' capacity to report on GBV issues. The training was conducted from June 16 to June 18, 2021, in which twenty-six journalists from 11 districts participated.
Most of the journalists, who participated in the training, stated that although women and girls are subjected to different forms of violence every day, many GBV cases remain under-reported due to the lack of commitment from the local governments and concerned authorities to combat GBV.
"Despite repeatedly approaching the police to file a complaint against her relatives for accusing her of being a witch and attempting to burn her alive, the police refused to register her complaint. The case was finally registered only after I wrote three news stories on the incident," said Man Lal BK, a reporter from Siraha.
Recalling a similar incident, Mikayil Aalam, a reporter from Sunsari, also shared how the police authority dismissed the rape survivor's plea for filing a complaint against the perpetrator and instead asked her to go home. "The police agreed to register the complaint only after I wrote the news article about the incident," said Aalam.
Aalam further said that although dowry, child marriage and witchcraft are rampant in the villages, neither elected representatives in the local government nor the police officials are gender-sensitive towards the survivors. As a result, survivors are often blamed and held responsible for the violence against them while the perpetrators' behaviour is excused or justified.
"It is infuriating and disappointing to see how police and the local representatives are complicit in enabling perpetrators to get away with their abuse of power, without severe repercussions. In most of the GBV cases, the police themselves refrain from registering complaints on GBV cases and even ask the survivors to settle the matter with the perpetrators outside the court," said Deepak Kumar Pandey, a reporter from Mahottari district.
Pandey also said that while reporting the GBV issues, the reporters often get cold shoulders from the police, community members, and representatives, making it challenging to get the required information to write news reports. "At times, although reporters are aware of cases of violence against women taking place, reporters don't get accurate information due to the lack of cooperation from the police," said Pandey.
While the 'victim-blaming' trend and a lack of solidarity from the local government and the police have made it challenging for the journalists while reporting on GBV cases, reporters also turned attention to how most newsrooms don't prioritize GBV issues as their main agenda.
"Many women and girls are subjected to different forms of violence every day in our society, but only the most severe cases of violence with fatal outcome receive media attention, and that is the main problem," said Durga Karki, senior journalist, who was also the facilitator of the media training.
A 2016 report by the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) shows that 7 percent of women and girls aged 15-49 had experienced sexual violence. Thus, based on the NDHS survey report, a minimum of half a million Nepali women have experienced sexual violence. Yet, looking into the statistics on the prevalence of rape, this number seems like the tip of the iceberg since many gender-based violence (GBV) cases remain under-reported.
Govinda Khadka, a reporter from Dang, said that there is a hierarchy of topics in the newsroom, where the political news is given the most importance. At the same time, issues regarding women, girls and children are often confined to news briefs. "It's high time that the newsrooms should make a commitment towards combating GBV by giving importance to GBV issues in their media," said Khadka.
Karki also suggested that the newsrooms should focus on developing more news articles/ contents that include a whole spectrum of GBV, data on the prevalence of violence against women and girls, counteracting myths and outdated attitudes, and quotes/bytes from experts to educate readers/viewers.
Along with addressing the need for more media coverage on GBV issues, the facilitators in the media training also turned attention to flaws in Nepal's news media when addressing the GBV issues. "The journalists should be mindful of the way they cover GBV topics and how they portray the alleged perpetrators and survivors," said Sunita Mainali, program coordination at WOREC and one of the facilitators of the training.
Media coverage of incidents of gender-based violence in Nepali media is usually characterized by prejudices and inappropriate language. Many news reports on sexual violence include unnecessarily sensational and stereotyping illustrations and language and disclosing too many details of the survivors.
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Caption: A spread of images used in news articles and opinion pieces on sexual violence, taken from the different Nepali Media houses.
"The media has power in shaping how sexual violence is perceived by the audience. Therefore, it's high time that the reporters and editors should be gender-sensitive while covering GBV issues. Insensitive and unethical media reporting of GBV will only contribute to victim shaming," said Mainali.