Himpathy in the Social Representation of Gender-Based Violence by the Italian Press. A Content Analysis of 16 National Newspapers through the years 2020-2023

Abstract

Male violence against women – recognised as a violation of human rights by the Istanbul Convention – is rooted in structural power asymmetries between men and women and is reflected, legitimised and reproduced by culture, which is permeated by stereotypes and prejudices. News media, in particular, often convey a distorted representation of the phenomenon as male violence against women is frequently framed as a private, individual and episodic matter, rather than as a problem of collective importance. Furthermore, the perpetrator is represented as only partially responsible, since the framing of the phenomenon offered by press tends to portray him as driven to action by the woman’s “misconduct” or by an irrepressible impulse. This article presents a summary of the main findings of a quantitative-qualititave analysis of an extensive database consisting of articles published on these topics by the 16 most widely distributed newspapers in Italy. We argue that these articles use rhetorical strategies that tend to distribute the responsibility of violence between the victim and the perpetrator. Thus re-victimizing the women who have suffered violence while, at the same time, offering empathy towards their offender.