Representations of Child Sexual Abuse in Jamaica

The news media shapes public opinion on social issues such as child sexual abuse (CSA), using particular language to foreground, marginalise, or legitimise certain viewpoints. Given the prevalence of CSA and the impact of violence against children in Jamaica, there is a need to examine the representation of children and their experience of violence in the news media, which remains the main source of information about such abuse for much of the population. The study aims to analyse accounts of CSA in Jamaican newspapers in order to show how different representations impact public understanding of CSA. This study offers a new perspective around child abuse by using an eight-million word corpus from articles over a three-year period (2018–2020).

The study argues that media reports often fail to conceptualise and accurately represent children who have experienced abuse. Representations of children are generic, with their experiences often reduced to statistical summaries. Corpus analysis uncovered the use of terms which normalise sexual abuse. From the reader’s perspective, there was little emotional connection to the child or the child’s experience. The newspapers rarely report first-hand survivors’ experience of abuse, depriving these children of a voice. Instead, a marked preference is given to institutional voices. An issue of concern is a tendency towards sensationalism, with disproportionate attention given to cases involving celebrities.

By exposing these problems, the authors hope that news media in Jamaica can play a more positive role in heightening awareness around child abuse and allowing the voices of victims/survivors to be heard.