MA Erasmus Mundus Master
Journalism, Media and Globalisation
(joint degree)
Where Is My Justice?:
How exemplification in news media influences public
attitudes towards policy support for male rape victims
by
Aletta Dominica D’cruz
Student ID: 11896604
Master’s Thesis
Graduate School of Communication
Master’s programme Communication Science
Supervisor/Examiner: dhr. T.E. Powell MSc
Date of completion: 30th May 2018
Abstract
Men have historically been subjected to sexual violence, especially during armed conflict. However, for the longest time they have remained invisible as victims, both in the news media and international policy responses towards gender-based sexual violence in conflict zones. Exemplars in news media have largely focused on women as victims of sexual violence, while male victims are generally overlooked or stereotypically labelled as
perpetrators of this violence - hence shaping public attitudes towards women-centric policies. This perception of 'gender identity' has led to the discrimination of male victims of sexual violence, hence excluding them from the discussion. This study, with the help of an
experiment presented participants with three different conditions in the form of news articles about sexual violence during armed conflict: namely female-only exemplars, male-only exemplars and gender-neutral exemplars. Results of the study showed no statistically significant effect of the conditions on the perception of rape as a gendered crime and on support for male rape policies. The study however has important implications for media professionals and policy support influencers.
Acknowledgment
I would first like to thank my thesis advisor dhr. Tom Powell of the Political Communication Faculty at The University of Amsterdam. Tom was always open and willing to answer all my doubts whenever I ran into a trouble spot or had a question about my research. He
consistently allowed this paper to be my own work, but steered me in the right the direction whenever he thought I needed it. His constant support and encouragement has gone a long way in helping me making this paper a success.
I would also like to thank all my friends and colleagues who willingly lend a helping hand when it came to recruiting participants for the experimental survey. Your contribution has been highly appreciated.
Finally, I must express my very profound gratitude to my parents for providing me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement throughout my years of study and through the process of researching and writing this thesis. This accomplishment would not have been possible without them. Thank you.
Introduction
Rape and sexual violence during armed conflict has been an ongoing social problem that is as old as war itself. Over the years, the two seem to have become synonymous with each other, as increasing accounts of sexual violence in armed conflicts have attracted the attention of both, the media and international human rights organisations. The seriousness of the issue is well demonstrated in numbers recorded by the United Nations, which states that between 100,000 and 250,000 women were raped during the three months of the Rwanda genocide in 1994. The agency also estimates that more than 60,000 women were raped during the civil war in Sierra Leone (1991-2002), at least 40,000 in Liberia (1989-2003), up to 60,000 in the former Yugoslavia (1992-1995), and at least 200,000 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1998 (United Nations, 2018).
Whether it is the news media or non-governmental organisations working in the area of human rights, stories of sexual violence, including victim testimonials are now a common sight (Sivakumaran, 2007; Touquet & Gorris, 2016). Additionally, women and children, both of whom have historically been victims in such circumstances, seem to dominate the
narrative. It should therefore come as no surprise that a global women's movement and policymakers led to the recognition of rape as a war crime before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the 1990s (Touquet & Gorris, 2016). The term 'gender-based violence' was coined by international law to bring to attention 'violence against women' and sexual violence. With exclusive focus on women and children as victims,
'gender-based violence' has therefore often been used to only discuss acts of violence suffered by women alone, most likely at the hands of men, which also reflects in international policy documents on conflict-related sexual violence.
Research however has repeatedly demonstrated that conflict-related sexual violence is not only suffered by women and children, but also by men. Studies over the years have pointed out to evidence which demonstrates that sexual violence against men in conflict is significantly higher than was initially presumed (Sivakumaran, 2007; Touquet & Gorris, 2016). A recent report published by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees notes that between 19.5 to 27 per cent of male survey respondents in key 3RP countries confirmed having experienced sexual harassment or unwanted sexual contact as boys (Chynoweth, 2017). Fortunately, international law, with the UN Special Tribunals and the 1998 Rome Statute, began to recognise male victims of sexual violence with gender-inclusive definitions, hence making space for them within international policy. Application of these definitions however are largely left to the discretion of prosecuters and judges, leaving a large gap in the process of justice for these victims.
A number of studies have indicated that social problems and the media have shared a direct relationship, where when the media portray a situation as a social problem, it rises on the public and policy agendas (Soroka, Farnsworth, Young, & Lawlor., 2012). Consequently, it results in important consequences for public opinion, social policy decisions, and collective action (Best, 2010; Dearing & Rogers 1996). Additionally, it was the media and the
international women's movement that helped the adaptation of policies for female victims of conflict-related sexual violence post the Yugoslavia conflict (Jeltsen, 2014). Keeping this influencing power of the media in mind, this study aims at assessing whether gender-inclusive international policies and public support for male rape policies can be promoted with gender-inclusive news reports on victimization. Pertaining to the issue at hand, the media often carries testimonies of victims, who act as exemplars in the eyes of the audience.
The current study aims at analysing the effects of these exemplars on rape policy support decisions, by making them more gender inclusive.
The study first intends on determining whether gender stereotypes perpetuated by exemplars in the news media in reports about sexual violence affect the framing of victims and perpetrators in the public subconsciousness. Further, the study will look at the
relationship between these media reports and public participation towards policy support, determining whether gender-inclusive news reports garner attention towards male victims of sexual violence during conflict, with increased support for male rape policies. The study will therefore aim to answer the research question: How does gendered victimization in media
coverage of sexual violence during conflict affect public attitudes towards policy support for male rape survivors?
Exemplification Theory: Media and the Use of Exemplars
In-depth journalism, especially focusing on reporting social issues, can be challenging to journalists as they attempt to explain complex realities, while at the same time perform their duties of providing fact-based information. In order to meet this
challenge news reporters have been adopting to the trend of enriching their stories with two types of information: statistical numbers of those affected by said social issue and vivid description of the manner in which these people were affected (Gibson & Zillmann, 1994). For example, when talking about the ongoing conflict in Syria, a news report from The
New York Times states that "as many as 20,000 people fled from the besieged Syrian
enclave of eastern Ghouta," while also providing vivid imagery in the form of textual descriptions and victim testimonials saying, “We were dying in there” (Homsi & Cumming-Bruce, 2018). This statistical information is also known as 'base-rate
information', while the victim testimonial can be categorised as an 'exemplar’ (Zillmann, 2009). Further breaking down these concepts, base-rate information can be defined as the "general descriptions of the number of people or things involved in a given social
phenomenon," while exemplars are "case descriptions or specifications of singular incidents that fall within the realm of a particular social phenomenon and that exhibit the pertinent properties of this phenomenon to some degree" (Zillmann, Gibson, Sundar, & Perkins, 1996, p. 427).
Focusing mainly on images and stories portrayed via media reports and their effect on public perceptions, this paper is largely grounded in the exemplification theory
(Zillmann, 2009) and supported by a number of studies which have shown that recipient perceptions on social issues are largely affected by the use of exemplars in the media (Aust & Zillmann, 1996); Brosius & Bathelt, 1994; Gibson & Zillmann, 1994; Lefevere, De Swert, & Walgrave, 2011; Yu, Si, & Cho, 2015). For example, when talking about rape and sexual violence, the media tend to exemplify the issue using female testimonials or focussing largely on women victims, while male victims of rape barely get any attention in comparison (Yapici, 2018). Arguably, one can say that the problem of rape is largely faced by women statistically. Illustrating this further, a 2017 CNN report citing United Nations figures stating that about 120 million girls around the world - slightly more than one in 10 - have been raped or sexually assaulted by the age of 20. Additionally, around 35 per cent of women have experienced physical or sexual violence (Senthilingam, 2017) . However, a focused discussion from the perspective of a single gender add to pre-existing perceptions and stereotypes on the issue created by society.
According to scholar Zillmann (2009) the exemplification theory addresses how people form and modify their beliefs about various issues, by relying more on exemplars rather that base-rate information. When it comes to stories of rape and sexual assault in the
news, it has been observed that exemplars used are almost invariably women, hence creating the belief that the sexual crimes are a ‘women-only’ issue. However, on ground reports published by international human rights organisations have pointed out that a large number of men also suffer crimes of sexual violence. Even though these instances are sometimes reported as an afterthought, they are important to make note of (Hennessey & Gerry, 2012). News stories usually use exemplars to interest and capture the attention of their audience towards a particular topic. A number of studies has shown that such use of exemplars have the capacity to influence the manner in which the public perceives social issues (Aust & Zillmann, 1996; Brosius & Bathelt, 1994). Exemplars within the news media can be generated using vivid imagery, either with the help of photographs, film or case history information - all of which are considered to appeal to the emotions of people and arouse their responses with regards to the issue at hand (Zillmann & Brosius, 2000). Information presented in this format, according to scholars, is more "memorizable, accessible and retrievable," as compared to non-vivid information, largely grounded in statistical data, hence playing an influential role on public opinion of certain issues (Zillmann & Brosius, 2000). A number of studies have defined the effect of exemplars in different ways, ranging from perceived news credibility to news persuasiveness to (perceived) public opinion towards social issues that are exemplified in the news. The conclusions from these studies further strengthened the claim that the use of exemplars has a strong effect on the formation of public opinion (Daschmann, 2000; Lefervere, De Swert, & Walgrave, 2012).
In the context of the exemplification theory, research states that most studies focused on minimising or excluding the influence of prior attitudes on the effects of media exemplification (Zillmann, Gibson, Sundar, & Perkins, 1996). For this purpose these studies were mostly designed using fictional events. In real life however, most social issues
comes with pre-existing beliefs, as elaborated by Yan and Liu (2016) in their study of media exemplification effect on pre-existing perceptions of issue prevalence and group images using the case of Chengguan-vendor conflict.
Gender Stereotypes, Rape and the Media
Policymakers and scholars have increasingly pointed out that gender norms have been used to mobilise wartime violence (DeLaet, 2008). Gender in this context as defined by the United Nations, can be constituted as the "social attributes, challenges and
opportunities as well as relationships associated with being male and female. These are constructed and learned through socialization; they are context- and time-specific and changeable. Gender affects power relations in society and determines what is expected, allowed and valued in a woman and a man in a given context" (United Nations, 2017).
In talking about international organisations and their policies for victims of sexual violence during conflict, DeLaet (2008) points out that the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 illustrates the limitations of current efforts by international organisations to address gender in post-conflict settings. She states that, "although
Resolution 1325 represents progress in the sense that it signals a commitment to the needs of women in war-torn societies, it also demonstrates a limited understanding of the
complex ways in which gender norms shape conflict dynamics and peace processes" (p. 323). This limited sense of understanding is largely visible in how the United Nations exemplifies these crimes, supported mostly by stories and testimonials of female victims – which is then further illustrated by the news media.
Focusing on male rape and sexual violence during conflict, research identifies that a gender bias, which prioritises male strength and dominance discourages men from reporting themselves as victims. This renders them invisible from both media and
scholarly accounts of war and conflict (Sivakumaran, 2007; DeLaet, 2008; Touquet & Gorris, 2016). Additionally, according to a report by the UNHR, data on the sex of perpetrators of sexual violence during conflict are scarce, as researchers have historically assumed that perpetrators are male (Chynoweth, 2017). The report further states that a handful of studies indicate that women are sometimes involved in the perpetration of conflict related sexual violence; some of which has been documented in a number of conflicts including Bosnia, Liberia, the US invasion of Iraq, and the Rwandan genocide (p.15).
In order to further illustrate and generalise the lack of adequate media coverage of male victims of sexual violence, the author decided to compare results of a simple
keyword search in Google news. Spanning over the time period March 2017 - March 2018, around 1,800 results were found for the phrases "male victims” + sexual violence. In comparison around 3, 440 results were found for the phrases "female victims" + sexual violence. Further, search results for phrases "perpetrated by men" + sexual violence stood at around 140 articles and phrases "perpetrated by men" + rape stood at 258 articles. The search results for "sexual violence against men" stood at 340 articles, while results for "sexual violence against women" stood at 11,100 articles. These results were conducted on March 27, 2018 and are most likely to change with the passage of time. However, the vast disparity between media coverage of male and female victims of rape and sexual violence is highly pertinent for this study and in establishing gender stereotypes associated with these social issues.
Stereotypes can be defined as a set of traits, beliefs that reflect expectations about members of different social groups. However, even if there is an overall difference between these groups, not all individual exemplars in these groups will necessarily differ from each other. For instance, on average, men are stronger than women, but we all know
individual men and women for whom this may not be true or for whom the difference is even reversed. Yet the stereotypical perception that a particular feature characterizes membership of a specific group typically leads people to overemphasize differences between groups and underestimate variations within groups (Ellemers, 2018).
Stereotypes are used by the human brain to make sense of the world in a way, where stereotypical expectations help identify, interpret, evaluate and categorise people as sharing the same category-based features (Amodio, 2014). Stereotypes have the tendency to form an extremely powerful filter of objective information processing, especially about men and women (Fiske & Taylor, 2013) making them resilient and hence hard to change once formed. For example, when discussing sexual violence against men and boys in armed conflict and media coverage of the issue, researcher Sivakumaran (2010) quotes author Dubravka Zarkov, in context of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia as saying, "The international media, so fervent in reporting rapes of women, shied away from the topic of sexually assaulted men. Pictures of the starved bodies of Muslim men from the camps run by Bosnian Serb forces were on the front pages of international magazines, as were photos of tearful, raped women. But nobody published a photo of a raped man. The national press within former Yugoslavia offered a similar picture. Rape of women were newsworthy; rapes of men were not" (p.261).
Additionally, independent researcher Gorris (2015) in her paper on male victims of conflict related sexual violence quotes Chris Anderson, executive director
of MaleSurvivor, an organization that serves male survivors of sexual trauma and their loved ones, as expressing his wish for a, "shift away from language that focuses on casting males as exclusively perpetrators of violence and females as exclusively victims of
violence, towards a language that is more gender inclusive, recognising that both men and women can be both victims and perpetrators of violence" (p.420)
One can therefore say that rape myths and stereotypes are perpetrated by media reports, which reinforces the relationship between media portrayals of the social issue and the manner in which the public perceives rape (Berrington & Jones, 2002). Studies further state that stereotypical images portrayed in the media are often internalised by not only the public, but also by various authoritative bodies involved in the process of law and justice (Berrington & Jones, 2002). Additionally, research has also stated that vivid and dramatic exemplars, illustrated mostly using case histories, are more likely to attract their audience, are more persuasive and are better remembered (Gibson & Zillmann, 1994).
Taking the above mentioned literature into consideration, one can therefore assume that media portrayals of rape - its victims and perpetrators, plays an important role in shaping the perceptions of society. The author therefore hypothesizes that:
H1: Media focus on gendered exemplars while portraying victims of sexual violence results in stereotypical perception of rape as a ‘gendered crime’.
Exemplars, Media Effects and Public Opinion
Society as a whole largely depends on the media to gather and disseminate information about a number of issues; especially those that are beyond direct experience. Additionally, previously mentioned literature in this paper has also established that the news media tends to use exemplars to attract their audience, especially when reporting on social issues. Taking these two aspects of journalistic strategies and news reporting, a number of communication scholars have established theories that draw a connection between the media, its role in attitude formation and its effect on public perceptions. One such theory is that of cognitive priming (Fiske & Taylor, 2013) which has been used in the context of measuring media impact and its effects on both, public perception and policy
support behaviour. Elaborating further, (Iyengar & Kinder, 1987) define media priming as the process used by the media to shape the standards that are eventually used by the public to make political judgements.
Explaining the underlying cognitive mechanism of media priming effects, Willnat and Zhu (1996) in their study analysing newspaper coverage and public opinion in Hong Kong, quoting a number of previous studies, state that the idea or information that "recently and frequently activated concepts come to mind more easily that concepts that have not been activated by prior stimuli" (p.232). Therefore based on the notion of heuristic information processing, media priming theory, when make judgements about a particular issue, the public tends to base their decision on pieces of information that are fresh and easily retrievable. In order words, when faced with complex decisions, people rarely spend time analysing the issue at hand, hence taking mental short-cuts (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974). One can therefore conclude that when analysing public perceptions formed by the impact of exemplars in the news, certain factors such as frequency,
vividness and recency play an important role in influencing exemplar accessibility, which in turn influences social judgments, which may be carried out in the form of policy support behaviour (Busselle & Shrum, 2003).
Keeping these effects of media exemplars, public perceptions and policy support behaviour in mind, along with previously discussed literature on stereotypical gendered coverage of sexual violence in the media, we can hypothesize that:
H2: Media focus on male exemplars as victims of sexual violence results in higher level of support for male rape policies.
H3: Gender-neutral exemplars of victims of sexual assault in the media will result is better acceptance of a new gender-neutral definition of rape.
Methods
Design
To test our hypotheses, we conducted an online survey embedded experiment. Participants were randomly assigned to three conditions, which were differentiated based on the exemplars used. These conditions focused on a male victim, a female victim and both, a male and female victim respectively.
Participants
A total of 200 participants were recruited over several social networking sites. Participants had to be 18 years of age or above, with no nationality restrictions that were needed to be considered before making the decision to volunteer for the study. Participants were told that they would be involved in a study about “rape and sexual assault
perceptions” aimed at recording their opinions on gender and the media. Because of the sensitive nature of the issue in the question, participants were also made aware of the fact that the study design involved testimonials from victims of sexual assault, which may graphically describe their experiences. Participants were also informed that an open survey would be valid for a period of four hours, after which incomplete surveys would not be recorded. They were also told that they were free to drop out of the study anytime they wanted to, without having to provide a reason for their decision. In the end fifty of these participants had to be excluded from the final analysis, because they dropped out before completing the survey. An additional 21 participants had to be excluded as they failed the manipulation check, which involved them having to identify the name of the ‘victims’ in the stimulus presented to them in the form of a news article. The current study argues that exemplification of victims of sexual assault within news articles affects public support towards laws and international policies for rape victims. It was therefore important to
determine whether participants made note of the gender of the victim mentioned in the stimuli. The final sample therefore included 129 participants.
The sample was representative of a varied population ranging across different age groups (18 years and above), genders, sexuality and educational backgrounds.
Stimuli
Having worked as a journalist for four years, I decided to compose and design the stimuli myself in the form of news stories. Elements for these stories were picked up from existing news items and reports published by international organisations, to ensure that the stories were as close to reality as possible.
The stimuli were based in context of the ongoing conflict in Syria to ensure memorability, considering the frequency of related news stories in the media. This was important to the study mainly to ensure that participants could easily recall the social context and their association with it was immediate – aimed at establishing stereotypes perpetuated by the media. Care was taken to maintain similarities between all three
conditions, with the only difference being a change in the names and genders of the victims portrayed within them. Images within the articles were chosen mainly to correspond with the gender of the victim mentioned in the story. While it was easy to find an image to correspond with female victims with a simple google search, finding an image of a male victim of sexual assault or one that had both a male and female victim proved to be difficult. For these stimuli therefore, attempt was made to find silhouettes, which didn’t give away emotion, but only an outline indicating the gender of the person concerned. The news articles were kept to a reasonable length (male stimulus = 469 words female only
stimulus = 471, gender-neutral stimulus = 467 words) adequate to clearly depict the issue, while ensuring that participants didn’t grow tired while reading them. Relevance of the news item and manipulation of the victim exemplars, along with their effect on the support for male rape policies, were determined with the help of an informal pilot test run among peers.
Procedure
Upon entering the survey, participants were first asked to choose a gender and sexual preference that they best identify with it. After this they were then asked to answer a set of questions that measured existing gender stereotypes in the context of rape and sexual assault. The next step was to present them with questions that determined their current level of participation in policy support actions pertaining to general social issues and if there was cynicism associated with these actions and the possible effects they might have on the awareness and laws associated with these issues.
Participants were then randomized to one of the stimulus conditions, which were presented to them in the form of a news article. Immediately before the stimulus,
participants were clearly told they would be viewing a news article, which they should pay careful attention to as subsequent questions may be based on it. There was no restriction on the time they were allowed, to finishing reading the article. The next question was a
manipulation check to determine whether participants read the article presented to them.
The next series of questions were aimed at determining the dependent variables. Change in perception towards victims of rape, support for a gender-neutral rape law and support for policies aimed solely towards male rape victims were presented to participants. At the end of the survey, participants were asked to provide basic personal information like
age and level of education. They were also requested to share their feedback on the survey experience, if any.
Measures
The current study first needed to focus on measuring several variables at the beginning, before participants could move to the dependent variables after being exposed to the stimulus. An important variable to measure was pre-conceived gender stereotypes with regards to victims of sexual assault, created via the media, society and culture. Participants were asked to complete two statements with the first name or pronoun that came to mind. These statements were descriptions of a situation of sexual assault, intended to activate stereotypes associated with the gender of victims and to facilitate the encoding and categorization of these perceptions. Those respondents who identified both men and women as victims in the statements were coded as having no stereotypes and hence labelled gender neutral. Similarly, those who identified men alone as victims, were also coded as having no stereotypes. Participants who identified women alone in both statements were coded as participants demonstrating strong stereotypes. The present sample largely displayed stereotypical perceptions associated with gender victimisation of sexual assault (M = 1.34, SD = .723, women as victims = 104, men as victims = 6, gender neutral = 19). To further support stereotypes, participants were also asked to measure their level of worry with regards to self-identification situations of sexual assault. This was measured with the help of four items (e.g., “It is the middle of the night and you are being followed to your car by a stranger, who has been commenting on how attractive you are”; 1 = Extremely worried, 5 = Not at all worried; α = .80)
Further, to establish the level of involvement that participants have with regards to policy support for social issues, respondents were presented with a multiple-choice
include: participation in online campaigns (Percent = 14.7%), signed an online petition (Percent = 17.9%), participated in a protest march (Percent = 4.9%), donating to or
volunteering with a NGO (Percent = 11.1%), posted or shared relevant news articles online (Percent = 21.6%), discussed ongoing social problems (Percent = 29%). The percentage of those who responded with none of the above was a mere 0.7%.
After viewing the stimulus, participants answered questions that measured the key dependent variables. Perceptions towards victims of rape during war were measured with three items (e.g., “Rape and sexual abuse is a crime that majorly affects women”; 1 = Strongly agree, 5 = Strongly disagree; α= .48). While Cronbach alpha for this particular variable is lower than the expected level (α= .70), this particular variable is an important part of the current study and was hence considered in determining results of the
hypotheses. Support for policy focused on male rape victims was measured using five items (e.g., “Participate in an online campaign for male rape survivors”, 1 = Extremely likely, 5 = Extremely unlikely; α = .86). Participants were also informed that there is a drive to include male victims in the United Nations definition of rape and hence
consequent policies for victims of sexual assault during conflict, to create a gender-neutral framing. They were further asked to state if they believed this was a good idea (yes = 82.2%, no = 2.3%, maybe = 13.5%).
Analyses
A series of four analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were conducted to examine mean differences between the different conditions for the dependent variables of perceptions towards rape victims and support for male rape policies. Data are mean ± standard error in all the ANOVAs interpreted in the results section.
A binary logistic regression was conducted to determine whether the three stimuli presented to participants during the study were significant predictors of the level of support they displayed towards male rape policies.
Results
A logistic regression was performed to ascertain the effects of gender, stereotypes and the three different stimuli on the likelihood that participants will support male rape policies. The logistic regression model was statistically significant, χ2(3) = 10.589, p = .014. The model explained 10.5% (Nagelkerke R2) of the variance in support for male rape policies and correctly classified 61.2% of cases. The three different stimuli did not show any statistical significance as a predictor variable (p = .131).
Of the three predictor variables, only gender was statistically significant (p = .006). Males were 3.38 times more likely to support male rape policies than females.
Next, a two-way ANOVA was conducted to examine the effects of the conditions that participants were exposed to and the presence of stereotypes towards victims of sexual assault and on the perception of rape as a ‘gendered’ crime.
The interaction effect between stereotypes and the three conditions on perceptions of rape as a gendered crime was not statistically significant, F(2, 123) = .594, p = .553, partial η2 = .010. An analysis of the main effect for the three conditions indicated no statistical significance F (2, 123) = .237, p = .790, partial η2 = .004. An analysis of the main effect for stereotypes towards victims of sexual assault also indicated no statistical significance, F(1, 123) = .804, p = .372, partial η2 = .006. See Table 1
The unweighted marginal means of "perception of rape as a gendered crime" for each stimuli, namely female-only exemplars, male-only exemplars, and gender-neutral exemplars were .613 ± .129, .693 ± .083 and .617 ± .093, respectively.
The findings therefore do not support H1, which states that media focus on
gendered exemplars while portraying victims of sexual violence results in stereotypical perception of rape as a ‘gendered crime’.
Table 1
Conditions x Presence of Stereotypes Factorial Analyses of Variance for Perception of Rape as a ‘Gendered’ Crime
Source Df F η2 p
(A) Conditions 2 .237 .004 .790 (B) Stereotypes 1 .804 .006 .373 A x B (Interaction) 2 .594 .010 .553 Error (within groups) 123
A second two-way ANOVA was conducted to examine the effects of the conditions that participants were exposed to and the presence of stereotypes towards victims of sexual assault on the level of support towards male rape policies.
The interaction effect between stereotypes and the three conditions on perceptions of rape as a gendered crime was not statistically significant, F(2, 123) = .592, p = .555, partial η2 = .010. An analysis of the main effect for the three conditions indicated no statistical significance F (2, 123) = .216, p = .806, partial η2 = .004. An analysis of the main effect for stereotypes towards victims of sexual assault also indicated no statistical significance, F(1, 123) = .153, p = .697, partial η2 = .001. See Table 2
Table 2
Conditions x Presence of Stereotypes Factorial Analyses of Variance for Support Towards Male Rape Policies
Source Df F η2 p
(A) Conditions 2 .216 .004 .806 (B) Stereotypes 1 .153 .001 .697 A x B (Interaction) 2 .592 .010 .555 Error (within groups) 123
The unweighted marginal means of " level of support towards male rape policies" for each stimuli, namely female-only exemplars, male-only exemplars, and gender-neutral exemplars were .512 ± .132, .432 ± .085 and .406 ± .096, respectively.
The findings therefore do not support H2, which states that media focus on male
exemplars as victims of sexual violence results in higher level of support for male rape policies.
A third two-way ANOVA was aimed at examining the effects of the conditions that participants were exposed to and the presence of stereotypes towards victims of sexual assault on the acceptance of a gender-neutral framing of the definition of rape by the United Nations.
The interaction effect between stereotypes and the three conditions on the acceptance of a gender-neutral framing of the definition of rape was not statistically
significant, F(2, 123) = 1.141, p = .323, partial η2 = .018. An analysis of the main effect for the three conditions indicated no statistical significance F (2, 123) = .409, p = .665, partial η2 = .007. An analysis of the main effect for stereotypes towards victims of sexual assault
also indicated no statistical significance, F(1, 123) = .000, p = .986, partial η2 = .000. See
Table 3
The unweighted marginal means for each stimuli, namely female-only exemplars, male-only exemplars, and gender-neutral exemplars were 1.190 ± .193, 1.344 ± .125 and 1.406 ± .140, respectively.
A final two-way ANOVA analysis was aimed examining the effects of gender and the conditions participants were exposed to on the acceptance of a gender-neutral framing of the definition of rape was conducted. The interaction effect between gender and the three conditions was not statistically significant F(2, 123) = 1.028, p = .361, partial η2 = .016.
The findings therefore do not support H3, which states that, gender-neutral
exemplars of victims of sexual assault in the media will result is better acceptance of a new gender-neutral definition of rape.
Table 3
Conditions x Presence of Stereotypes Factorial Analyses of Variance for Gender-neutral framing of definition of rape
Source Df F η2 p
(A) Conditions 2 .409 .007 .665 (B) Stereotypes 1 .000 .000 .986 A x B (Interaction) 2 1.141 .018 .323 Error (within groups) 123
Discussion
This study investigated the role of exemplars in news media, especially with regards to victims of rape and sexual violence and its effect on perception of rape as a gendered crime, along with public support for male rape policies. The paper therefore aimed at assessing whether gender-inclusive international policies and public support for male rape policies can be promoted with gender-inclusive news reports on victimization, using the context of a well-known conflict in Syria.
The results of the study show that exemplification within news reports had no significant effect on the perception of rape as a gendered crime, nor did it have any
significant effect on public support towards male rape policies. The results further showed that participants demonstrated a high percentage of a ‘stereotypical viewpoint’ of rape and sexual assault victims. However, their support for male rape policies could not be
significantly determined based on the different exemplars used within the study. This has been incosistent with past research illustrating the power of exemplars.
Contrary to studies in the past, which have proved a strong positive relationship between exemplars and their effect on public opinion towards social issues (Daschmann, 2000; Lefervere, De Swert, & Walgrave, 2012), the current study indicates that exemplars in the news do not significantly affect public opinion. However, it is important to keep in mind that the context of the current study is different from those of previously conducted research. Most research conducted in the area of rape and sexual abuse in armed conflict, as per observation, have been qualitative research designs. The current study therefore potentially offers a new study design that could be further explored in the future.
That said, there are notable limitations of this study. First, after putting participants through an elimination process, in order to filter out incomplete responses and those who
failed the manipulation check, the sample size reduced to 129 participants – a number that is low and does not count for adequate representation. It was important to eliminate these participants even at the risk of obtaining a relatively small total sample size as the
manipulation check was put in place to determine whether participants spent some time with the exemplars as part of the conditions. Being the central focus of the study,
participants who failed to spend time with the conditions would not display effects of the exemplars on the dependent variables. Additionally, it is also important to make note of the fact that the current study was distributed as a web-survey via social networking site. Research states that web-surveys have serious drawbacks in representativeness (Silber, Lischewski, & Leibold, 2013). An under-sized study, according to researchers may not have the capacity to produce useful results (Lenth, 2001). Similar studies in the future would greatly benefit from an adequately represented sample size.
Secondly, considering the study’s intention to explore the effects of exemplification in news articles based on rape and sexual violence and the consequent perception of rape as a gendered crime, it would have been interesting to analyse the moderating effects of gender on these variables and the stimuli. However, the unequal distribution between male and female participants posed as a limitation in exploring these effects. Similar studies in the future would benefit from controlling participation and ensuring adequate and equal representation of both binary genders. Additionally, it would also be interesting to explore the moderating effects of non-binary genders in comparison, to their binary counterparts.
Measuring gender stereotypes was an important part of the current study. Though the current measure used to explore this variable did prove to be successful in obtaining relevant responses, which helped code stereotypes, it would be largely beneficial for
similar future studies to have a developed and tested scale that measures gender stereotypes with regards to victimization of sexual violence more thoroughly. Such a scale could prove
beneficial to a number of studies that focus on stereotypes and public perception of rape and sexual violence as a gendered crime.
While the current study design measured levels of worry with regards to self-identification situations of sexual violence, this variable was not directly used to measure the effects of exemplars. It would be interesting to explore both the moderating and mediating effects of this variable, as it helps measure emotions with regards to sexual violence.
Lastly, it is important to note that while rape and sexual violence is a global phenomenon, culture plays an important role in understanding these crimes in its entirety (Kalra & Bhugra, 2013). Due to logistical restrictions and the lack of resources,
participants for the current study were recruited over social networking sites, open to all nationalities and geographical areas. The study would however benefit from taking cultural influences into consideration while exploring the effects of exemplars within the news media. These influences could be controlled for by restricting participation to selected geographical areas, which can then be compared against each other for deeper analysis. Additionally, the topic of rape and sexual violence is a sensitive issue and attempting to measure public perceptions of rape as a gendered crime, along with support for male rape policies, could potentially attract socially desirable responses. Considering the fact that the questions measuring both dependent variables were explicit in its wording, responses to them could potentially have been affected by social desirability, which should be taken into consideration. Future research could explore potential implicit measures using implicit association tests, which could be more sensitive in detecting the dependent variables of the study.
It would also be noteworthy to design the current study with stimuli that are shorter to read and crisp in making the relevant point to the participants. A short stimulus might potentially encourage participants to spend more time with the conditions, hence ensuring lesser elimination of respondents during the data analysis process.
Before concluding, I briefly address the implications of the study for changing perceptions and consequently affecting public decisions with regards to policy making. While the findings of the current study do not demonstrate any statistical significance, it is important to explore the limitations of this paper in future research opportunities. As stated earlier, culture plays an important role in shaping perceptions about victims of rape and sexual assault. Studying multiple cultures and identifying these differences in perception could help determine and explore different variables that affect public policy support decisions on a global level.
Additionally, the current study demonstrated a high level of gender stereotypes when it comes to victims of rape and sexual assault. The media plays a large role in perpetuating these stereotypes, considering the effect it has on perceptions of public opinion. In order to help develop better and all-inclusive policies, media professionals could potentially consider providing a more gender-neutral coverage of rape and sexual assault.
In conclusion, the statistically insignificant effects demonstrated by the current study raises questions with regards to exemplification within news reports and its effect on public perceptions and policy support. The fact that the current study does not support findings from previous research, makes it important to look at, as it opens up possibilities to identify and measure new variables which could provide news organisations and
international human rights organisations alternative avenues in which they can use exemplars for presenting stories of rape and sexual violence.
Bibliography
Amodio, D. (2014). The neuroscience of prejudice and stereotyping. Nature Reviews Neuroscience,
15(10), 670-682. doi: 10.1038/nrn3800
Atkeson, L. R. (2003). Not All Cues Are Created Equal: The Conditional Impact of Female Candidates on Political Engagement. The Journal of Politics, 65(4), 1040-1061.
Aust, C., & Zillmann, D. (1996). Effects of Victim Exemplification in Television News on Viewer Perception of Social Issues. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 73(4), 787 - 803. doi:10.1177/107769909607300403
Berrington, E., & Jones, H. (2002). Reality vs. myth: Constructions of women's insecurity. Feminist
Media Studies, 2(3), 307 - 323. Retrieved from
https://doi.org/10.1080/1468077022000034817
Best, R. (2010). Situation or Social Problem: The Influence of Events on Media Coverage of Homelessness. Society for the Study of Social Problems, 57(1), 74-91.
Brosius, H.-B., & Bathelt, A. (1994). The Utility of Exemplars in Persuasive Communications.
Communication Research, 21(1), 48-78. doi:10.1177/009365094021001004
Busselle, R., & Shrum, L. (2003). Media Exposure and Exemplar Accessibility. Media Psychology, 5(3), 255-282. doi:https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532785XMEP0503_02
Chynoweth, D. S. (2017). "We keep it in our heart" Sexual Violence Against Men and Boys in the Syria
Daschmann, G. (2000). Vox pop & polls: The impact of poll results and voter statements in the media on the perception of a climate of opinion. International Journal of Public Opinion Research,
12(2), 160-181. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/12.2.160
Dearing, J., & Rogers, E. (1996). Agenda-setting (Vol. 6). Sage Publications.
DeLaet, D. L. (2008). Gender, sexual violence and justice in war-torn societies. Global Change, Peace
& Security, 20(3), 323 - 338. doi:10.1080/14781150802394055
Ellemers, N. (2018). Gender Stereotypes. Annual Review of Psychology, 69, 275-298. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122216-011719
Fiske, S., & Taylor, S. (2013). Social Cognition: From Brains to Culture. Sage Publications.
Gibson, R., & Zillmann, D. (1994). Exaggerated Versus Representative Exemplification in News Reports: Perceptions of Issues and Personal Consequences. Communication Research, 21(5), 603-624. doi:10.1177/009365094021005003
Gorris, E. A. (2015). Invisible victims? Where are male victims of conflict-related sexual violence in international law and policy? European Journal of Women's Studies, 22(4), 412-427. doi:10.1177/1350506815605345
Hennessey, T., & Gerry, F. (2012). International Human Rights Law and Sexual Violence Against Men
in Conflict Zones. United Kingdom: Halsbury's Law Exchange, LexisNexis Butterworths.
Homsi, N., & Cumming-Bruce, N. (2018, March 15). ‘We Were Dying in There’: Thousands of Syrians
Flee Rebel Enclave. Retrieved March 26, 2018, from The New York Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/15/world/middleeast/syria-ghouta-civilians-evacuation.html
Iyengar, S., & Kinder, D. (1987). News that Matters: Television and American Opinion. Chicago, US: University of Chicago Press.
Jeltsen, M. (2014, July 29). A Look Back At The Trial That Made Rape A War Crime. Retrieved May 20, 2018, from Huffington Post UK: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/rwanda-genocide-rape_n_5602108?guccounter=1
Kalra, G., & Bhugra, D. (2013). Sexual violence against women: Understanding cross-cultural
intersections. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 55(3), 244 - 249. doi:10.4103/0019-5545.117139
Lefevere, J., Swert, K. D., & Walgrave, S. (2011). Effects of Popular Exemplars in Television News.
Communication Research, 39(1), 103-109. doi:10.1177/0093650210387124
Lenth, R. V. (2001). Some Practical Guidelines for Effective Sample-Size Determination. The American
Statistician, 55(3), 187 - 193. doi:10.1198/000313001317098149
Nations, U. (2014, March). Background Information on Sexual Violence used as a Tool of War. Retrieved May 20, 2018, from United Nations:
http://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/rwanda/pdf/Backgrounder%20Justice%202014.pdf
Nations, U. (2018, May 2). Outreach Programme on the Rwanda Genocide and the United Nations. Retrieved from United Nations:
http://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/rwanda/about/bgsexualviolence.shtml
Senthilingam, M. (2017, November 29). Sexual harassment: How it stands around the globe. Retrieved May 27, 2018, from CNN Health:
https://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/25/health/sexual-harassment-violence-abuse-global-levels/index.html
Silber, H., Lischewski, J., & Leibold, J. (2013). Comparing Different Types of Web Surveys: Examining Drop-Outs, Non-Response and Social Desirability. Metodološki zvezki, 10(2), 121.
Sivakumaran, S. (2007). Sexual Violence Against Men in Armed Conflict. The European Journal of
Sivakumaran, S. (2010). Lost in translation: UN responses to sexual violence against men and boys in situations of armed conflict. International Review of the Red Cross, 92(877), 259-277.
Soroka, S., Farnsworth, S., Young, L., & Lawlor., A. (2012). Mass Media and Policymaking. In E. Araral,
Routledge Handbook of Public Policy. London ; New York: Routledge Handbooks Online.
Touquet, H., & Gorris, E. (2016). Out of the shadows? The inclusion of men and boys in
conceptualisations of wartime sexual violence. Reproductive health matters, 24(47), 36-46. doi:10.1016/j.rhm.2016.04.007
Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases. Science,
185(4157), 1124-1131. doi:10.1126/science.185.4157.1124
United Nations. (2017). Guidance on Gender and Inclusive Mediation Strategies. United Nations.
Willnat, L., & Zhu, J.-H. (1996). Newspaper Coverage and Public Opinion in Hong Kong: A Time-Series Analysis of Media Priming. Political Communication, 13(2), 231-246. Retrieved from
https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.1996.9963109
Yan, Y., & Liu, J. (2016). Effects of Media Exemplars on the Perception of Social Issues With Pre-Existing Beliefs. Journalism & Mass Communication Quartely, 93(4), 1026-1049. doi:10.1177/1077699016629374
Yapici, C. (2018, May 9). Beautiful Soul Narrative and Gendered Understanding of Armed Conflict :
Case Study of the Rwandan Genocide. Retrieved May 27, 2018, from Modern Diplomacy:
https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2018/05/09/beautiful-soul-narrative-and-gendered-understanding-of-armed-conflict-case-study-of-the-rwandan-genocide/
Yu, H., Si, J., & Cho, J. (2015). Effects of emotional exemplars in responsibility attribution-framed news reports on perception and evaluations of social issues. Asian Journal of
Zillmann, D. (1999). Exemplification theory: Judging the whole world by some of its parts. Media
Psychology, 69 - 94.
Zillmann, D. (2009). Exemplification theory: Judging the whole world by some of its parts. Media
Psychology, 1(1), 69 - 94. doi:10.1207/s1532785xmep0101_5
Zillmann, D., & Brosius, H.-B. (2000). Exemplification in communication: The influence of case reports
on the perception of issues. Mahwah, NJ, US: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Zillmann, D., Gibson, R., Sundar, S. S., & Perkins, J. W. (1996). Effects of Exemplification in News Reports on the Perception of Social Issues. Journalism & Mass Communication Quartely,
