TY - JOUR

T1 - “THEY ARE SEXUAL OBJECTS”

T2 - CONSTRUCTION OF FEMALE RAPE VICTIMS IN SELECTED NIGERIAN NEWSPAPERS

AU - Osisanwo, Ayo

AU - Ojo, Ronke

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022, Faculty of Social Sciences. All rights reserved.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Following the assumption that there is a particular way newspapers often use language to represent female rape victims (FRVs) and the insufficiency of existing studies on the linguistic representation of FRVs in Nigerian newspapers, this study critically discusses the linguistic and discursive tools that are deployed by selected Nigerian newspapers to represent FRVs in their reports. Aspects of Halliday’s transitivity system and Lazar’s notion of feminist critical discourse analysis served as framework. The framework was complemented with the use of Voyant tools to determine the preponderance of word choice in news reports. Rape reports published between January, 2020 and December, 2020 by The Punch, The Guardian, Vanguard and Daily Trust were purposively retrieved and constituted the data for this study. Data engagement revealed that FRVs were imbued with five representations: patriarchal preys, object of sexual gratification, anonymized and pseudonymized victims, objects of pity and victims of dual jeopardy. The social implications of these representations aligned with patriarchal practices such as androcentrism, incest, mental abuse and sexual assault while the gender biases implicated in the representation included the projection of female as inferior, powerless and emotional beings.

AB - Following the assumption that there is a particular way newspapers often use language to represent female rape victims (FRVs) and the insufficiency of existing studies on the linguistic representation of FRVs in Nigerian newspapers, this study critically discusses the linguistic and discursive tools that are deployed by selected Nigerian newspapers to represent FRVs in their reports. Aspects of Halliday’s transitivity system and Lazar’s notion of feminist critical discourse analysis served as framework. The framework was complemented with the use of Voyant tools to determine the preponderance of word choice in news reports. Rape reports published between January, 2020 and December, 2020 by The Punch, The Guardian, Vanguard and Daily Trust were purposively retrieved and constituted the data for this study. Data engagement revealed that FRVs were imbued with five representations: patriarchal preys, object of sexual gratification, anonymized and pseudonymized victims, objects of pity and victims of dual jeopardy. The social implications of these representations aligned with patriarchal practices such as androcentrism, incest, mental abuse and sexual assault while the gender biases implicated in the representation included the projection of female as inferior, powerless and emotional beings.

KW - discourse analysis

KW - female rape victims

KW - Nigerian newspapers

KW - Rape discourse

KW - sexual objects

KW - violence against women

KW - Literature studies

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85138604828&partnerID=8YFLogxK

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85138604828

VL - 2022

SP - 92

EP - 117

JO - Medialni Studia

JF - Medialni Studia

SN - 1801-9978

IS - 1

ER -