Previous research has shown that rape myths are portrayed in news media reporting on rape cases. The myths use constructed stereotypical narratives to portray the victim and the offender in a manner that frames the victim negatively and moves blame away from the rapist. In the current study it is examined whether rape myths previously found to be portrayed in media are also present in Swedish newspapers reporting on wartime sexual violence. The research questions also include examining how prevalent the myths are and what their function becomes, as they relate to the theory of framing. The thesis focuses on the wartime sexual violence that is occurring in the Russia/Ukraine war in 2022-2024 and analyzes Swedish news articles framing of these cases. The study is conducted using a deductive content analysis where a coding scheme is determined through applying the theory of framing to the common rape myths discovered in a literature review of previous research on the topic at hand. The study found that framing rape myths occurred in the studied articles. The most common rape myths portrayed were related to explaining the causes of wartime sexual violence and making moral judgements about the crime. This was portrayed through depicting the perpetrator’s individual characteristics specifically. The most common rape myth was that the perpetrator was described as evil or using terms relating to evil and being a monster. The second most common rape myth framed the rapist as a victim, excusing the violence through referring to the war situation that the soldiers were living in, the age of the perpetrators as well as traumatic experiences that the offenders had to suffer through. The study implies that even though Sweden has a national identity of being a gender equal country, the Swedish news media reporting on wartime sexual violence does include the reproduction of rape myths. The reporting makes unrealistic constructions about rape and produces misleading information which hinders a discussion on structural or cultural causes for sexual violence, and portrays female victims in a hostile manner.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-533415 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Vikström Tunemar, Tilda |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för informatik och media |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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