The Gladstone Observer has been reporting on the trial of a man accused of raping and sexually abusing his stepson, starting when the boy was 11 years old. The man has pleaded not guilty and the Gladstone District court has been hearing evidence since last week. Court reporting is no sinecure. It can be very difficult to cover...
The Australian’s report about a 58 year old man who allegedly broke into an 85 year old man’s house and sexually assaulted him – twice in one night – is another example of the male perpetrators of sexual violence being erased from headlines. NSW police report the 58 year old “was taken to Campsie Police Station...
News Mail reporting on domestic violence fails again. Christopher Willert violently assaulted his girlfriend. He grabbed her throat, dragged her into a hallway, smashed her head three times into a wall and dropped her on to the floor. Three hours later he did it again. He dragged her by the throat down a hallway and outside...
The Courier Mail reported that a 46 year old man has been charged with 77 different offences related to sexual abuse of children, including “seven counts of rape and one of attempted rape, 21 counts of indecent treatment of a child under 12, one count each of torture, deprivation of liberty, attempted bestiality and animal cruelty,...
Two articles, two headlines, same allegations. The Sydney Morning Herald headline called the crime what it is – rape – and made it clear the allegations were taken seriously by police. The first paragraph outlined the number of victims and the only reason the case is not going to court – that Edward Heath is dead....
Channel 9, twice in one day, mistaking a woman for a piece of property. Tareq Mikhael Setto is not charged with raping a car, he is charged with aggravated sexual assault against a 26 year old woman. She is a person, not a car. He’s an alleged perpetrator of brutal sexual assault, not an invisible...
Channel 9 again. My reading of this headline is that the article is about an invisible perpetrator sexually assaulted a house. But no, it’s a brutal sexual assault, committed by Stanley Robin Doolan who pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault, threat to inflict actual bodily harm, and using a knife to cause another male to fear physical...
Scottish newspaper, The Herald, provided a detailed analysis of a huge increase in serious crimes over the last few years. The headline focused entirely on the victims. The perpetrators of these crimes – overwhelmingly male – were invisible. It’s obviously important to ensure young girls are aware of the dangers of online crimes and given...
NME ran an article yesterday about James Arthur’s autobiography, Back To The Boy, under a headline that implies his girlfriend’s decision to end their relationship caused him to become addicted to sex. He’s quoted as saying, “I started bingeing on sex. I became as addicted to sex as I was to weed. I craved sex, I had to have...
The Cairns Post in yet another headline that endorses the excuses men make for their violence. Lots of people – men and women – get horny. They chose what to do with those feelings. This man didn’t commit sexual assault because he was horny, he committed sexual assault because he made the choice to do...