There is a problem with attitudes that blame the victim of sexual assault: these attitudes are widespread and show popular adhesion to assumptions about rape that have been criticized and combatted by feminists. These assumptions are known as “rape myths.” It is important to look at the role newspapers play in contemporary discourse around rape and the extent to which they reproduce rape myths or, alternatively, incorporate a feminist critique. This research examines how sexual assault is constructed in three English-language newspapers, The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, and The National Post in the year 2012. Using qualitative content analysis, themes of rape myths and the presence of feminist discourse are categorized. The power of language when describing rape in the media is recognized and a description of rape-supportive culture, within a feminist theoretical framework, is provided. The ultimate aim of this research is to identify and challenge myths and stereotypes surrounding rape as well as identify possible feminist discourse on rape in print news media in Canada.

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Rape and sexual assaults are a huge epidemic not only in the United States, but in the world as well. Victims come across all races, ethnicities, ages, religions, classes and cultures. With so many victims, people often investigate what causes people to commit these crimes in order to decrease the likelihood of future incidents occurring. Pornography is often argued for being a possible cause of sexual assaults. While many sex offenders do have large collections of pornography, there has not been any concrete evidence to support that pornography causes people to rape. Acceptance of rape myths also could play a large role in how people perceive the victims of sexual assaults causing them even more trauma as well as them being less likely to report the crime. With over 2000,000 cases of sexual assault reported each year, it is important to attempt to find any possible causes. The intent of this thesis is to explore any possible associations with attitudes on pornography and perceptions of rape myths. Through my analysis, the participants were asked about their attitudes of pornography and details on if they chose to view pornography or not compared with their perceptions of rape myths.

The current study examined the impact of education about rape myths and sexual consent law on the guilt and responsibility assessment of mock jurors in a hypothetical rape trial. Juror education had no effect on any of the measures and did not vary with alcohol consumption. In regards to alcohol, mock jurors always assigned more guilt to the defendant if the complainant was sober, regardless of his alcohol consumption. Mock jurors consistently found the defendant guilty when both were sober. Complainants were assessed more responsibility when both the complainant and defendant were sober and when they were both intoxicated. More responsibility was attributed to the complainant when she was intoxicated and the defendant was sober. The complainant was assessed the least responsibility when she was sober and the defendant was intoxicated. Findings suggest that educating mock jurors about rape myths does not have an effect on ratings of defendant guilt.

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This study aimed to examine how swedish tabloid press covered the sex crimes at music festivals that occurred in Sweden during the summer of 2016. The aim was also to examine if and how the press reproduces or opposes stereotypes and myths about sexual crime. The question examined was: How does swedish tabloid press portray victims, perpetrators, the festivals and sex crime?   To approach this we made a critical discourse analysis on 13 articles from the swedish newspapers Aftonbladet and Expressen, written during the time of the events. We found that there were many different and contradictory discourses about the sex crimes in our case. The victim was presented as innocent and without blame but there was also a discourse telling that women have a responsibility in making sure not to become a victim of sexual assault, by behaving and dressing right. The perpetrator was described as deviant and evil men, but also as men driven by lust not knowing what they were doing. They were also distant and indistinct in the text, which shifted the blame to the organizers of the festivals and to the police. Sex crime was overall presented as a serious phenomena. It was also presented as a new phenomena, both on the festivals and in the society. The crimes were presented as a problem isolated to festivals but also as a broader social problem. The festivals were described as unsafe places but also as safe places that had been soiled by the sex crimes.

Student Number : 0500547G - PhD thesis - School of Psychology - Faculty of Humanities / This study is aimed at understanding the role of assault severity, personality traits and rape myths in predicting rape victims’ psychological responses and coping styles. Specifically, the study assessed the mediating role of victims’ attribution in predicting psychological impacts of rape victimization and the coping styles. On the basis of theory, it was postulated that the severity of assault (as determined by either the use of physical force and/or the presence of weapons); intrapersonal resources of hardiness; and the acceptance of rape myths would have a direct influence on survivors’ psychological impact and on coping. The thesis provides comprehensive coverage of the prevalence of rape victimization; the trauma and psychological impacts of rape victimization; coping with rape victimization; and the theory on the role of social cognition (appraisal and attribution) in explaining victims’ responses to rape. The theoretical conceptualisation underpinning the study offers a unique integration of this body of knowledge within the South African context. In investigating the research question, two hundred and fifty adult black (African) South African women who had experienced rape in the previous month were interviewed about the event and their subsequent responses. The interviewees were drawn from Xhosa, SePedi and Zulu speaking communities. The study was located within the quantitative research tradition. A structured interview questionnaire was developed. Descriptive statistics were calculated and the emphasis of the analysis was in the area of the Structural Equation Model. The model was successful in terms of explained variance in accounting for the two types of coping; approach and avoidance coping dimensions followed by the psychological impact and attribution. The results showed psychological impact as explained through the symptoms of Hyperarousal, Intrusion and Avoidance had the greatest influence on coping of rape survivors. As hypothesized, the results confirmed that an increase in rape assaults severity resulted into increased levels of psychological distress. The findings indicated that internal styles of self-blame attribution (behavioural and characterological attribution) were prevalent among victims of rape in the present study. Although hardiness (commitment and control) dimensions were not found to significantly influence coping, an orientation of control and commitment amongst survivors was found to significantly influence the attribution styles. Furthermore, the control dimension was found to have a significant influence on victims’ psychological distress. Interestingly, the results revealed that acceptance of rape myths among survivors resulted in a decrease in psychological distress. The findings demonstrate the strength of the current study in the development and testing of theoretically based models of processing rape victimization recovery among rape survivors. The implications of the data are explored.

Som följd av mediernas felaktiga publiceringar av anklagelser mot Fredrik Virtanen under metoo-hösten 2017, gjorde Uppdrag granskning ett program där de granskade mediernaspubliceringar, som mötte stor kritik. Kritiken väckte vårt forskningsintresse för att genomföradenna studie. Syftet är att studera Uppdrag gransknings program “#metoo och FredrikVirtanen” med metoden MCDA för att ta reda på hur anklagelserna och de sociala aktörernablir representerade. Studiens vetenskapliga perspektiv grundas i genusteorin med fokus på hurkvinnor blir representerade vid sexualbrott. Tidigare forskning visar hur rape myths kommertill uttryck vid nyhetsrapportering av sexualbrott och det använder vi sedan för att sätta vårtresultat i relation till. Vi har utformat två frågeställningar för att reda på hurrepresentationerna i avsnittet ser ut. I analysen finner vi tecken på en orättvis representationav de sociala aktörerna. Däremot visar vårt resultat att Uppdrag granskning inte gör sigskyldiga till reproduktion av rape myths.

This research analyzes campus discourse at a university in south central Appalachia in an effort to highlight the role of communication in the prevention of sexual assault and its powerful effects on communities and individuals. Using a critical feminist lens, this qualitative case study identifies the communication goals, interpretations, and strategies of two important speech communities who participate in sexual assault discourse on college campuses—campus professionals who communicate about the issue of sexual assault (issue managers) and sexual assault survivors whose identity is shaped by sexual assault (identity managers). While both groups talk about the problem, the parties diverge on the core function of sexual assault communication. Findings from these speech communities suggest the need for targeted efforts to decimate rape myths on university campuses, as well as the necessity to create safe spaces for survivors to report and talk about sexual assault and form solidarity with other survivors.

Traditionally, rape has been viewed as a crime perpetrated by men against women. However, it is now recognised that males can also be victims of rape. The current research had several interrelated aims to; (i) provide a profile of both male and female rape victims, (ii) compare the characteristics of rape perpetrated against male and female victims, (iii) estimate the incidence of male and female rape within the general community, (iv) describe the reporting practices of rape victims, and (v) determine the relationship between rape and depression, suicide ideation, and suicide attempts. The community's level of rape myth endorsement was also explored. Rape myths were defined as attitudes and beliefs about rape, rape victims, and rapists that are generally false but are widely and persistently held, and serve to deny and justify sexual aggression against women and men. The present study compared rape myth endorsement levels concerning both male and female victims. However, it was first necessary to construct a rape myth questionnaire, the Rape Attitudinal Scale (RAQ), which minimised the methodological limitations of pre-existing scales. The current research utilised online methodology and, in total, 560 individuals participated in the research. It was found that almost two out of every five participants had been a victim of rape during their lifetime, with males accounting for 8.60% of the raped sample. Rape victims emanated from a variety of demographic backgrounds and the gender differences between the characteristics of the rape were discussed. Approximately one in seven rape victims stated that they had reported the rape to police, with half of those rape victims regretting informing the police of their experience. Almost twice as many female rape victims than male rape victims failed to report their rape to anyone. It was also found that victims of rape are more likely to report rape to authorities when the rape fits the