SIS: Don’t sensationalise headlines as they can mislead

NGO says daily's headline is insensitive to rape victims and their suffering.

PETALING JAYA: Vocal Muslim women’s rights group Sisters in Islam (SIS) has requested the media not to use sensational headlines as click bait to attract readers.

It says this often sends the wrong message and could prove insensitive to the suffering of rape victims.

Speaking to FMT, SIS executive director Rozana Isa said such headlines will also lead to missed opportunities to educate the public on important issues.

This was especially so when reporting on issues of violence against women.

Rozana was commenting on the Malay daily Sinar Harian’s article on Tuesday with the headline: “Rogol: Sedapnya hanya dua minit, tapi…”

The article said sexual crimes are reported every day by media portals but there was no end to such crimes.

It gave links to previous cases and quoted a crime analyst as saying the rapist often put the blame on the victim herself and his pleasure was not only in the act itself but also in the hours of meticulous planning of the crime.

Rozana said the ambiguity of such headlines and language used does not only mislead the public but also desensitises and normalises the violent act against women.

“In fact, their experiences in overcoming extreme trauma have not been portrayed in full in the newspaper article.

“Therefore, we call upon the media to reach out to NGOs such as the All Women’s Action Society (Awam), Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO), Women’s Centre for Change (WCC) and others for further dialogue and engagement.

“This would create better understanding regarding all forms of violence against women.

“This would enable the reporting of such incidents to be more encompassing and sensitive of the survivors’ experience.” FMT