When Reporting Rape in India, a Focus on \'Shame\'

Several particularly hideous rapes in Haryana recently brought the issue of sexual assault on women, an all-too-common occurrence in India, back to the front pages of India's newspapers and news websites.

Many news outlets were quick to highlight a “blame the victim” mentality prevalent among police, politicians, schools and officials in India. Several also reported extensively from villages in that north Indian state and ran editorials decrying India's conviction rate for rape, which has actually declined as reported rapes increased, as shown in this report by The Hindu.

But focusing on the shame brought to the woman, rather than the illegality and brutality of the men's actions, seems to be pervasive, even in some Indian newsrooms. In the presentation of many of these articles, the emphasis still appears to be on the disgraced victim.

Just take a look at the illustrations and “rubrics,” (also known as “bugs” or â €œD.O.G.'s” for digital on-screen graphics), in common use. Rubrics are the little drawings or photos that are used over and over again to indicate that an article is part of series, or to quickly tell a reader what the story is about. The New York Times's “India's Way” series, for example, carried a rubric of an elephant with buildings on its back.

Sexual assault is so common in India that news outlets often use a rubric to go with articles about rape, or reuse an illustration, photo or “bug” whenever a rape story comes up. Often these seem to have a common theme.

No, it's not a gang of a dozen drunken men, grabbing a woman, as happened in Haryana recently, or one of men luring a little girl with candy to sexually assault her, as also actually happened, or even a more generic drawing or photo of a looming and lecherous man or group of men. Instead, almost inevitably, the art to go with a story about rape depicts a “shamed woman.” Sometimes, this wo man also happens to be somewhat scantily clad.

A screenshot of an image on the Times of India Web site.

The Times of India: A drawing of a woman, back to the reader, who is wearing nothing but a sari blouse on top, sitting and looking down, hands in her lap. She appears to have a black eye, and the floor nearby is strewn with refuse. The illustration was used to accompany this Oct. 16 story about khap panchayats who blame chow mein for rape, among other articles. (A cached version of the web page with that article is here.)

A screenshot of an image on the First Post Web site.

First Post: An image of a curly-haired woman, head in her hands and face turned from the reader, wearing nothing but a spaghetti-strap top, has become one of First Post's go-to images to illustrate rape stories, as in this October 17 article about a West Bengal minor who was gang-raped and then set on fire. (See a cached version of that page here.)

Photos of the covered head of the Dalit teenager from Hisar, who was raped by several men from her neighborhood, have become another common First Post illustration for rape. The photo itself has been enlarged to just show the bowed, dupatta-covered head of the victim to illustrate articles that are only peripherally related to her case, like this October 16 essay about rape being an unpl easant reminder of the “old India.” (See a cached version of that page here.)

A screenshot of a photograph on the Mid Day Web site.

Mid-day: A photo (clearly marked “representational pic”) which shows a young, thin woman, face in her hands, wearing a shirt, tight jeans and socks but no shoes, huddled in a corner in what appears to be an upscale home or business, was used to illustrate this October 15 article in which a politician tries to explain the Haryana's rape problem. (See a cached version of the article here.)

A scan of the Hindustan Times newspaper from Oct. 10, 2012.

The Hindustan Times took a different approach. The paper put all its rape coverage on one page Wednesday with the headline “India Shamed.” The rubric for the page, which also appeared on the paper's front page, is a male gender symbol, the circle with the arrow, with cartoon-ish devil horns drawn on it, which looks a bit like a Halloween invitation.