Rape and Media Coverage in Hungary and in the United Kingdom Expanding on the FRA’s Violence against Women Survey

Abstract

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) released its Violence against women report in March 2014. According to the report there are large differences among the EU member states in the prevalence of reported gender-based violence. This motivates the exploration of what the explanations behind such differences may be. Existing literature shows several factors that may influence the willingness to report violence. The aim of the thesis is to analyse one of these factors - media -, and explore whether there is a difference in the way newspaper articles frame gender-based violence in Hungary (low-prevalence country) and in the United Kingdom (high-prevalence country). From Hungary, Magyar Nemzet and Népszabadság, and from the UK, The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph are analysed (the analysed time period is 2012-2014). The focus of the thesis is narrowed down to one particular type of violence, rape, and the theoretical foundations are social constructivism and framing theory. The design of the thesis is qualitative text analysis and framing theory is used as a tool to analyse how rape as a problem, the causes of rape, and the possible solutions to rape, are framed in the two analysed countries. The results of the analysis show that there are important differences between the countries in media coverage regarding the length, detail and focus of the articles. However, one aspect that earlier researchers have pointed to, so called victim-blaming, was not prevalent in either country. Further implications of the results (e.g., regarding reporting behavior) are also discussed in the thesis.