Saewyc Elizabeth M, Miller Bonnie B, Rivers Robert, Matthews Jennifer, Hilario Carla, Hirakata Pam
Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Centre, School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Can J Hum Sex. 2013 Oct 1;22(2):95-105. doi: 10.3138/cjhs.2013.2041.
Media holds the power to create, maintain, or break down stigmatizing attitudes, which affect policies, funding, and services. To understand how Canadian news media depicts the commercial sexual exploitation of children and youth, we examined 835 Canadian newspaper articles from 1989-2008 using a mixed methods critical discourse analysis approach, comparing representations to existing research about sexually exploited youth. Despite research evidence that equal rates of boys and girls experience exploitation, Canadian news media depicted exploited youth predominantly as heterosexual girls, and described them alternately as victims or workers in a trade, often both in the same story. News media mentioned exploiters far less often than victims, and portrayed them almost exclusively as male, most often called 'customers' or 'consumers,' and occasionally 'predators'; in contrast, research has documented the majority of sexually exploited boys report female exploiters. Few news stories over the past two decades portrayed the diversity of victims, perpetrators, and venues of exploitation reported in research. The focus on victims but not exploiters helps perpetuate stereotypes of sexual exploitation as business or a 'victimless crime,' maintains the status quo, and blurs responsibility for protecting youth under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Health care providers and researchers can be advocates for accuracy in media coverage about sexual exploitation; news reporters and editors should focus on exploiters more than victims, draw on existing research evidence to avoid perpetuating stereotypes, and use accurate terms, such as commercial sexual exploitation, rather than terms related to business or trade.
媒体拥有塑造、维持或打破污名化态度的力量,而这些态度会影响政策、资金和服务。为了解加拿大新闻媒体如何描绘对儿童和青少年的商业性剥削,我们采用混合方法批判性话语分析方法,研究了1989年至2008年期间的835篇加拿大报纸文章,并将其呈现内容与关于受性剥削青少年的现有研究进行比较。尽管有研究证据表明男孩和女孩遭受剥削的比例相同,但加拿大新闻媒体主要将受剥削的青少年描绘为异性恋女孩,并交替将她们描述为受害者或交易中的从业者,往往在同一篇报道中兼具这两种身份。新闻媒体提及剥削者的频率远低于受害者,而且几乎完全将他们描绘为男性,最常称其为“顾客”或“消费者”,偶尔也称为“掠夺者”;相比之下,研究记录显示,大多数受性剥削的男孩称剥削者为女性。在过去二十年中,很少有新闻报道描绘出研究中所报告的受害者、犯罪者和剥削场所的多样性。对受害者而非剥削者的关注有助于使性剥削的刻板印象永久化,将其视为商业行为或“无受害者犯罪”,维持现状,并模糊了根据《联合国儿童权利公约》保护青少年的责任。医疗保健提供者和研究人员可以倡导媒体对性剥削的报道做到准确;新闻记者和编辑应更多地关注剥削者而非受害者,借鉴现有研究证据以避免延续刻板印象,并使用准确的术语,如商业性剥削,而非与商业或交易相关的术语。