WUNRN
UK - The Leveson Inquiry in will make recommendations on the future of press regulation and governance consistent with maintaining freedom of the press and ensuring the highest ethical and professional standards. http://www.levesoninquiry.org.uk/
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jan/24/leveson-inquiry-sexist-media-stereotypes?CMP=twt_gu
UK - LEVESON INQUIRY MUST ADDRESS
SEXIST MEDIA STEREOTYPES, SAY WOMEN'S GROUPS
Alexandra Topping - 24 January 2012
Leveson Inquiry:
Anna van Heeswijk (Object), Jacqui Hunt (Equality Now), Heather Harvey (Eaves)
and Marai Larasi (End Violence against Women). Photograph: Graham Turner for
the Guardian
The Leveson Inquiry must
address "sexist stereotypes" in the media, which could "condone
violence against women and girls", according to a group of key women's organisations.
Speaking at the Leveson Inquiry,
a representative of the group accused some media outlets of feeding into myths
about rape, which they argued could prevent some women coming forward to report
the crime.
"The media creates, reflects
and enforces attitudes in society. Those who work in the media should be
conscious of this and should actively seek not to reproduced attitudes which
condone violence against women or girls," said Marai Larasi from End
Violence Against Women, a coalition of 40 women's organisations.
Representatives
of the women's groups Equality Now, Eaves, Object and End Violence Against
Women called on Lord Justice Leveson to ban highly sexualised images in newspapers, which they
argued would not be broadcast pre-watershed on television.
Newspapers including the Sun, the
Daily Star and the Sunday Sport were criticised for "relentlessly"
objectifying women, portraying them "as a sum of sexualised body
parts", said Anna van Heeswijk, from anti-objectification of women organisation
Object.
"We have to ask ourselves
what kind of story does it tell to young people when men in newspapers wear
suits, or sports gear, are shown as active participants, while women are
sexualised objects who are essentially naked or nearly naked," she said.
The groups are calling for any
new regulation of the press to ban pictures of naked or semi-naked women in
newspapers, arguing that the images would not be allowed in the workplace and
should not be sold in an "unrestrained" manner at "children's
eye-level".
Van Heeswijk
accused tabloids that carry photographs of semi-naked women on page 3 of
"creating a culture of fear which silences … anybody speaking out against
the portrayal of women as sex objects". She cited the example of former MP
Clare Short who was branded a "fat" and "jealous"
"killjoy" by the Sun when she spoke out against Page 3.
Several
newspapers were singled out for criticism during the evidence given by the
women's groups. The Daily Telegraph was criticised for a report which they said suggested a man had murdered his wife
after she changed her Facebook status to "single", and said too often
media reports of violence against women focused on the behaviour of the victim.
A Daily Mail report about six
footballers being jailed after gang raping 12-year-old girls in a
"midnight park orgy" was criticised for the use of the word
"orgy" and for referring to the victims as "Lolitas".
Larasi told the inquiry: "Put the word 'orgy' in something and what you
immediately do is grab the attention, it's becoming titillating. The focus
stays on the woman and what she did or didn't do."
When asked previously about this
article a spokesman for Associated Newspapers said it appeared on Mail Online,
not in the Daily Mail, and was based on a court report from a reputable news
agency that contained the words "orgy" and "Lolitas".
The groups also called on
Leveson, charged with investigating the regulation of the media following the
phone-hacking scandal, to replace the Press Complaints Commission with an
independent body "with teeth" that women and women's groups could
complain to directly. The reporting of violence against women and girls needs
to be more balanced and more context needs to be provided about its frequency,
they added.
Journalists should also receive
training on the "myths and realities" about violence against women
and girls, and there should be a code of practice for the way "case
studies" are dealt with, the groups said.
Jacqui Hunt from Equality Now
said the groups did not want to curtail the freedom of the press but wanted
more responsibility. "Freedom of the press, yes it's really important,
it's key but we have to find a way of making sure that women are not sidelined
[and] objectified," she said.