Guidelines for the media

Guidelines for the media in addressing the issue of
child sexual abuse
• Media should bring the issue of child sexual abuse into the realm
of public knowledge and public debate. It is important that the
issue of sexual abuse is presented as a serious violation of rights,
not only as an offence against children.
• Media should, through sensitive and meaningful projection and
coverage of the issue, be instrumental in creating a sense of moral
indignation and outrage over incidents of child sexual abuse.
Media should also take care to ascertain the facts, context and
circumstances. A report on such sensitive issues should not be
filed based on superficial interviews with persons supposedly
witnesses to the incident.
• Media should desist from the temptation to sensationalize or
exaggerate a particular incident of child abuse.
• When media reports an incident of sexual abuse it should also
report subsequently on actions taken by concerned authorities and
continue to report till action is taken to punish the abusers.
• Media should not unwittingly glorify the act of sexual abuse by
giving undue prominence to the perpetrator.
• The victim should not be further victimized or made to relive the
trauma he/she has been through.
• Under no circumstances should the media disclose or reveal the
identify of the victim. Masking techniques should be used wherever
the victim is made to give a first person account of his/her
experience. The victim, relatives and concerned persons must be
assured of confidentiality.
• Media should not create a prurient interest in the sexuality of the
child by image or innuendo
• The child should not come across as a passive entity.
• Besides drawing attention to the problem of child sexual abuse,
the media also needs to enlighten the public as what can be done
to prevent such incidents, and what needs and must be done if
such an incident has taken place, including providing information
on legal or other remedies.
• Media should provide its target audience with full knowledge about
the rights of the child and the legal remedies available to a child in
the unfortunate event of a case of child sexual abuse occurring.