Media representations of male perpetrators of violence against women and children: a decolonial feminist analysis

Abstract

Rates of violence in South Africa continue to be on the rise, and impact negatively on society at large. The struggle to end this violence requires more nuanced understandings of its root causes, which has led to a call for a more holistic and collaborative approach to bring more effective and sustained change. Therefore, public and private institutions together have begun to seek more transformative approaches to this social injustice. Here, the emphasis is on media, as an important institution of social discourse, and a possible vehicle for awareness and consciousness. However, contemporary narratives within mainstream media reports on incidences of violence in society seem to be undermining efforts for social justice. Previous studies have argued that this is because media is a reflection of the society it operates in, often reproducing and legitimating problematic notions and representations of violence, instead of challenging them.