Tips & Tools

Sexual Violence

Rape is violence, not "sex." Reporting on sexual assault means finding not only the language but the context and sensitivity to communicate a trauma that is at once deeply personal and yet a matter of public policy; immediate and yet freighted with centuries of stigma, silence and suppression. Reporting on sexual violence requires special ethical sensitivity, interviewing skills, and knowledge about victims, perpetrators, law and psychology.

Dart Resources

  • Announcement

    Award for Outstanding Media Contributions to Trauma Psychology

    The APA’s Division 56 is now accepting nominations for outstanding media contributions to trauma psychology. The deadline is April 15, 2013.

  • Special Report

    The Steubenville Rape Case: Social Media on Trial

    By Rachel Dissell

    Without social media, the 16-year-old victim might never have even known she was raped. Rachel Dissell explores the new frontiers of the case she covered for the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

  • Special Report

    Intimate Partner Violence: Behind the new DOJ Numbers

    By Whitney Eulich

    As Congress debates reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, a new DOJ report shows a dramatic drop in IPV incidence. But are the numbers accurate?

  • Dispatch

    Kate Bramson: Rallying Around Rapists

    By Kate Bramson

    As the Steubenville sexual assault case takes the spotlight, a Dart Award-winning journalist looks back on another small-town rape case involving a high school athlete.

  • Speech

    The Power of Listening

    By Andrew Hogg

    In 2009, former news editor of the Sunday Times and the Observer Andrew Hogg spoke to journalism students at the City University in London about the treatment of torture victims. In the wake of the London High Court decision allowing three Kenyans to sue the UK government for torture they suffered during the 1950s and 60s Mau Mau revolution, we revive this illuminating speech.

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Outside Resources

  • Reporting On Rape and Sexual Violence

    Chicago Taskforce on Violence Against Girls & Young Women

    The Chicago Taskforce on Violence Against Girls and Young Women saw a need to create a Media Toolkit that addresses common issues stemming from how media currently structures news around rape and sexual violence, and how journalists can better report on these issues.

  • Futures Without Violence: Domestic, Dating and Sexual Violence

    http://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/content/action_center/detail/754

  • A Frustrating Search for Justice

    Center for Public Integrity

    An investigation of the institutional barriers to justice for victims of sexual assault on college campuses.

  • Child Sexual Abuse

    National Center for PTSD

    A National Center for PTSD Fact Sheet. It details the effects of sexual abuse on children, and adults exposed to sexual abuse as children.

  • Men and Sexual Trauma

    National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

    A fact sheet defining sexual assault among males and giving an overview of its immediate and long-term effects.

  • Sexual Assault Against Females

    National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

    A fact sheet defining sexual assault among females and giving an overview of its immediate and long-term effects.

  • Sexual Assault FAQs

    WomensHealth.Gov

    Answers to frequently asked questions about sexual assault from the United States federal government source for women's health information.

  • Cardinal Law

    Boston Phoenix

    Complete coverage of the 2002 Catholic Church priest sexual abuse scandal.

  • Telling the Truth About Rape

    Poynter Online

    A series of essays by journalists exploring the coverage of sexual assault.

  • Covering Tragedy

    ABC Radio

    2007 Ochberg Fellow Lisa Millar talks about trauma journalism on the National Media Report.

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