Media Forum “Through the Eyes of Survivors: Media Reporting on Gender-Based Violence”

The findings of research exploring how women survivors of gender-based violence perceive media reporting were presented at a professional forum for journalists, editors and media experts held in Sarajevo. Entitled “Through the Eyes of Survivors: Media Reporting on Gender-Based Violence,” the forum was organized by UN Women in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Mediacentar Sarajevo.

The forum provided a platform for presenting the findings and discussing how survivors’ perspectives can be more meaningfully integrated into journalistic and editorial practices. The discussion also drew on the experiences of editors and journalists from different parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who were interviewed by Azra Husarić Omerović and Selma Zulić Šiljak. Insights into existing newsroom practices broadened the understanding of reporting challenges beyond media content to include production, organizational and staffing constraints.

According to Selma Zulić Šiljak of Mediacentar Sarajevo, the author of the research, one of her strongest impressions was that there are still people within the media community who have a sound understanding of the professional boundaries that should guide reporting on violence against women.

She particularly highlighted the words of one editor, who said: “The fundamental rule when reporting on violence is that there is no ‘other side’.”

After nearly ten years of working in this field and seeking new arguments and approaches, Zulić Šiljak said that, with the support of UN Women in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a methodology was developed to convey audiences’ messages to the media.

As part of the research, interviews were also conducted with women survivors of gender-based violence. Their reflections on how they perceive media coverage of violence against women revealed several very clear messages.

“The first is: ‘Do not only tell us what happened - give us information that can help us.’ As one participant said: ‘Those of us who have experienced violence already know what it is; we know what it looks like. What we need are concrete guidelines and something we can rely on,’” said Zulić Šiljak.

The way the media report on gender-based violence plays an important role in shaping public understanding of the issue, as well as the environment in which survivors decide whether to speak out and seek support, emphasized Jo-Anne Bishop, UN Women Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Recognizing this important role, UN Women in Bosnia and Herzegovina has placed partnerships with the media at the heart of its work to end violence against women and girls, Bishop added.

“Responsible reporting protects survivors’ dignity and enables their voices to be heard without exposing them to secondary victimization. This forum provides an important opportunity to work together with media representatives from across the country to strengthen human rights-based, survivor-centred and trauma-informed reporting,” said Bishop.

She added that this cooperation would continue to be strengthened through the Gender Equality Accelerator, recognizing the media as powerful allies in preventing violence and transforming harmful social norms.

The research found that survivors are largely dissatisfied with how the issue is approached and reported. They are also able to distinguish clearly between responsible reporting and sensationalist coverage that makes them feel frightened and unsafe.

According to Fatima Bećirović, one of the researchers and an expert in responding to gender-based violence, the conversations with survivors demonstrated how following media coverage can be both helpful and threatening to them.

Media coverage can be helpful when survivors hear that violence is a criminal offence and realize that they are not alone in facing such experiences. Such content may encourage them to leave an abusive situation and seek assistance, thereby helping to prevent more serious consequences for both them and their children, Bećirović explained.

“On the other hand, for survivors, following information in the media is not simply about following an individual case. It can affect their sense of safety and lead them to fear that they, too, could one day become the subject of media coverage. This raises concerns about their privacy, what information could be made public, and the potential violation of both their own dignity and that of their children,” said Bećirović.

She recalled the message that one focus group participant addressed to journalists: “When writing about violence, imagine that you are writing about your own daughter.”

Survivors expect the media to shift the focus away from perpetrators and towards survivors’ rights and dignity, she added.

“What can frighten, distress and retraumatize survivors is the inclusion of excessive detail about how the violence occurred, as well as comments they may read on social media and online news platforms that justify the perpetrator while questioning the survivor’s responsibility. This also happens when the media disclose too much personal information or attempt to portray an abusive relationship as a romantic one in which jealousy and/or separation led to an escalation and a fatal outcome,” Bećirović emphasized.

She stressed that reporting on violence is never neutral. It can heighten fear, deepen mistrust and leave survivors trapped in violence. However, when reporting is professional, it can support survivors on their path out of violence and may even save someone’s life. She also noted that media headlines and reporting can trigger powerful reactions, ranging from distress, anger, fear and helplessness to the reactivation of trauma.

The professional forum brought together representatives of the media community to discuss how survivors’ perspectives can be more meaningfully integrated into journalistic and editorial practices.

Selma Melez-Pezo, a journalist with Detektor, said that although she works in a newsroom where professional standards must be upheld, it is always important to hear the findings of new research and adapt reporting and research practices accordingly.

“We know how sensitive reporting on violence is, yet media outlets often resort to sensationalism in pursuit of clicks, which is completely unacceptable,” said Melez-Pezo.

She added that the media forum had opened a new perspective on reporting for her, emphasizing that survivors must remain at the centre of coverage and that, when reporting on violence, there is no “other side.”

This activity is organized under the Gender Equality Accelerator Joint Programme, implemented by the United Nations agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina: UN Women, UNDP, UNFPA and UNICEF, with the financial support of the European Union and the governments of Denmark and Sweden, in cooperation with the Agency for Gender Equality of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Centre for Gender Equity and Equality of Republika Srpska and the Gender Centre of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.