Women Who Abuse: Female killers prone to harsher judgement
SHAH ALAM - Women are seen soft, kind and nurturing thus when something violent and aggressive occurs, society gets into shock mode and is appalled by their actions.
People tend to jump the gun and “attack” all out when they hear a female perpetrator at hand, and more often than not, victims of the case would likely involve children, husbands or family member - someone who they are trusted to care for.
Is it true that cases involving female culprits tend to get a wider, more sensationalise coverage? Sinar Daily talks to two senior reporters on the matter.
Society tends to judge female killers or perpetrators harshly when news reports of their murders make headlines, said Harian Metro crime journalist Hafidzul Hilmi Mohd Noor.
“It is unfortunate but it can't be helped because generally speaking, society views women as the more gentle gender.
“Women have always been taught to present an ideal image to the public eye, so if a woman differs from the ideal, it automatically generates an unfavourable sentiment towards her,” he told Sinar Daily.
Women were criticised unfairly, he said, from the get go - even more so when they commit heinous crimes.
The full story or the bigger picture rarely matters while motives such as postpartum depression, bipolar disorders and even victims of abuse themselves were all secondary, he said.
Hafidzul said it only came down to the fact that “a woman committed murder”.
“The first thing that comes across the reader’s minds is how could a woman do such a thing to their victim.
“Physical attractiveness plays a key role in how people sympathise with female killers. The less attractive they are, the harsher the commentary,” he added.
He said what drove them to murder will rarely be taken into account.
The root of the problem is women as a whole are underrepresented and often stereotyped in news media, through self-reinforcing gendered division of duties and representation in society.
Broadcast journalist and gender equality activist Tehmina Kaoosji shared that such scanty representations then hinge around quoting female sources more frequently in a caregiving role, enshrining women’s status as caregivers, as opposed to men’s status as leaders and breadwinners.
“Murderous women clearly challenge these established gender norms and are not considered ‘normal’. This, in turn, has traditionally fuelled media, medical and public curiosity.
“News reports about murderous women are thus, a product of journalistic assessments of newsworthiness, which are firmly grounded in long-standing gender and race typifications.
“As mentioned, since women are most often highlighted in media for ‘nurturing’ acts and roles, female murderers are then disproportionately framed as ‘aberrant’ or ‘evil’,” she said.
She said lack of gender progressive journalism ethics and standards leads to misrepresentation and underrepresentation of essential information to help contextualise murderous women’s actions.
To Tehmina, this lack of gender progressive journalism rears its ugly head in the form of poor headline choices, which focus on victim blaming or sensationalisation.
She cites the recent case of a 15-year old that was charged with murdering her own newborn.
News reports failed to acknowledge how she was a victim of statutory rape as well as highlight the injustice of her being charged with murder in the first place.
“Reports should have emphasised that Malaysia's Child Act 2001 strictly stipulates that a child alleged to have committed an offence should not be arrested, detained or tried.
“In comparison, cases of male-perpetrated murder and violence against women and the news articles that report on them tell an entirely different story – a story in which female victims are viewed as responsible for their treatment at the hands of male attackers,” she explained further.
At the end of the day, she said that the media was merely a reflection of social norms and standards.
Tehmina said social attitudes around victim blaming women for male violence and murders don’t change overnight, and the law is even slower to change.
However, she said as the law can be strongly influenced by social movements, it’s essential for media as well as readers to highlight such deeply discriminatory coverage regularly.
Commitment to agenda setting and framing of gender based violence by the media can change entrenched attitudes and promote overall gender equality and safety for women over time.
