“Coming Clean” on Duty of Care: Australian Print Media’s Representation of Male Versus Female Sex Offenders in Institutional Contexts

Abstract

Public opinion about sexual abuse of minors is greatly shaped by mass media and the way individual cases are reported. This paper examines Australian print media's representation of sex offenders, focussing particularly on the sex of the offenders and aiming to shed light on some of the misconceptions and deep-rooted prejudices within the population at large. Given the multi-faceted nature of sexual offences, this paper focuses on sexual offences committed by both males and females against minors in the context of a companion breach of duty of care. In order to explore the effect that linguistic tools can have in the Australian print media's way of reporting sexual abuse cases, twenty-nine newspaper articles published in Australian dailies were selected for analysis. The analysis of these articles reveals a marked bias in the manner in which sexual offences perpetrated by males, as opposed to females, are reported, suggesting a male monopoly on sexual abuse. We argue that this biased representation, which hinders adequate profiling of sexual offences against minors, may stem from an androcentric view of sexuality and from the systematic denial of female agency when it comes to sex.

The New Portrayal of Female Child Sexual Offenders in the Print Media: A Qualitative Content Analysis

“…The qualitative content analysis utilized 29 Australian newspaper reports published between 1999 and 2010. Similar to the previous studies, Landor and Eisenchlas (2012) found markedly different characterizations between female and male offenders. In particular, pejorative gender labels were used for males (e.g., "paedophile", "pervert") and not for females, despite similar offenses having been committed.…”

“…Regarding the second theme, accountability, the articles highlighted the negative psychological impact the abuse had on the victim. This was in contrast with previous research that has found that female child sexual offenders are often portrayed as "lovers" who "seduce" their victims and get involved in a "willing" relationship, in which their behavior is often mitigated or minimized (Chiotti 2009;Hayes and Baker 2014;Landor 2009;Landor and Eisenchlas 2012). The articles reviewed for the current study did not portray female offenders in a similar light.…”

“…Only four studies to date have explored the textual representation of female child sexual offenders in the media (Chiotti 2009;Hayes and Baker 2014;Landor 2009;Landor and Eisenchlas 2012).…”

“…In addition, while male offenders were depicted as predatory in 22% of reports, female offenders were reported as predatory in only about 2% of reports; rather, females were portrayed in a caregiving role to the victim or as having an emotional connection to the victim (e.g., "in love"). Landor and Eisenchlas (2012) explored the reporting of sexual offenses committed by male and female educators. The qualitative content analysis utilized 29 Australian newspaper reports published between 1999 and 2010.…”

“…The portrayal of female child sexual offenders appears mostly to downplay or romanticize the abuse, often ignoring the imbalance of power between the child and offender. The portrayal of female child sexual offenders is an important topic since the misconstruction may marginalize or silence victims of female-perpetrated abuse (Hetherton 1999), hinder the timely and safe reporting of offenses by victims (Hayes and Baker 2014) and avert attention from correctly profiling sexual offenders (Landor and Eisenchlas 2012). With the apparent shift in gender roles toward more egalitarian roles, and the ongoing implementation of macro-level policies, the study aimed to achieve an up-to-date understanding of how female child sexual offenders are portrayed in the print media across western society.…”