Framing safety of women in public transport: A media discourse analysis of sexual harassment cases in Bangladesh

Author:

Mowri Seama1ORCID,Bailey Ajay12

Affiliation:

1. Utrecht University, The Netherlands

2. Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India

Abstract

This paper analyzes the role of print media in framing incidences of sexual harassment in public transport; particularly in the context of Bangladesh, where gender-based violence is highly prevalent in the public sphere. This article uses Douglas’ cultural theory to reflect on media practices and its institutional power to reframe the social problem through risk and blame attribution. We conducted a discourse analysis of 71 news articles extracted from four of the widely circulated and influential newspapers of Bangladesh. Our findings reveal that the hegemonic discourse of gender-based violence in public transport is systemic and/or primarily reliant on legal recourse. By contrast, discourses presenting sexual harassment as symptomatic of broader gender inequality is less frequent. Moreover, these media platforms belong to an assemblage of patriarchal social-power holders that collaborate with established law and order to facilitate a blame game, thereby relieving the same stakeholders of ownership and accountability. Given the power of news media in constructing meta-narratives of safety (and nudging policymakers), journalists must tread responsibly on issues of blame, women’s safety, and their rights to the city.

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Subject

Sociology and Political Science,Communication

Reference59 articles.

1. ActionAid International (2011) Women and the City: Examining the Gender Impacts of Violence and Urbanization Action Aid. Available at: https://actionaid.org/sites/default/files/actionaid_2011_women_and_the_city.pdf (accessed 8 July 2021).

2. ActionAid International (2014) Safe Cities for Women: from reality to rights Available from https://actionaid.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Safe-Cities-for-Women-From-Realities-to-Rights-1.pdf (accessed 8 July 2021).

3. Qualitative Media Analysis

4. A Gendered Perspective of the Shelter–Transport–Livelihood Link: The Case of Poor Women in Delhi

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