A Crisis of Identity: Revisiting the Legal and Ethical Framework Governing Media Reportage of Sexual Violence

[...]it suggests that there are differences applicable with respect to survivors as opposed to cases of sexual assault leading to death and/or murder. [...]it illustrates the differences in norms applicable to the reporting of child sexual assault. Given that the victim has the right to exercise her...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Economic and political weekly 2021-07
Main Authors: Mehta, Megha, Joshi, Mukta
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Crime
Ethics
Murders & murder attempts
Privacy
Privacy, Right of
Rape
Right of privacy
Sex crimes
Sexual abuse
Sexual harassment
Social aspects
Violence
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Summary:[...]it suggests that there are differences applicable with respect to survivors as opposed to cases of sexual assault leading to death and/or murder. [...]it illustrates the differences in norms applicable to the reporting of child sexual assault. Given that the victim has the right to exercise her agency in speaking out even in cases where a criminal offence has taken place, in which the rights of the accused are arguably much more sacrosanct, it is extremely unreasonable that a specific provision is not available for a victim who has chosen to undertake civil recourse. [...]given how reluctant internal complaints committees tend to be in awarding justice to victims, it is very likely that the lack of explicit agency will lead to victims being informally barred from speaking out about the complaint. The common interpretation of the section also leads to a fallacious situation where filing a complaint of sexual harassment (regardless of whether or not it results in conviction) would bar a victim from speaking out forever. [...]there ought to be an explicit exception similar to the one in Section 228A of the IPC, which allows the victim to authorise publication of details regarding the incident.
ISSN:0012-9976