The Shropshire Star reported that police have arrested a man and charged him with the sexual assault of a woman in Newdale.
Once again, the woman is less important than the location. Her experience of being sexually assaulted is erased and replaced with an innocuous alleyway. Men’s violence against women is real, it has real victims and real perpetrators. And while most rapists are not strangers in alleyways, they are men who know and often claim to love the woman they rape, this woman’s experience was real and terrifying. She deserves better than headlines like this.
Journalism like this damages the victims being erased from the story and the public understanding of the truth of men’s violence against women. It also diminishes public trust in journalists’ ability and willingness to tell the truth about the crimes they are reporting. There is no excuse for this kind of reporting.
FixedIt is an ongoing project to push back against the media’s constant erasure of violent men and blaming of innocent victims. If you would like to help fund it – even $5 a month makes a big difference – please consider becoming a Patron
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