Rapist 22, jailed for five years, Zambia Daily Mail

1. Show how media can subtly perpetuate stereotypes about gender-based violence.

2. As a basis for providing HIV analysis.

 

Trainer’s Notes:  The article fails to deal with the HIV dimension of gender based violence and does not mention the risks of HIV transmission following sexual assault.  It does refer obliquely to HIV when it mentions that the rapist stated that he was looking after orphans. The article also fails to provide the perspective of the rape survivor, but does quote the views of the rapist (“he is a family man and was keeping orphans”). The article perpetuates myths about rape, that it is a crime of passion when it uncritically quotes the magistrate saying that “men who cannot control their feelings at the sight of a woman.”

 

1. What other myths surround rape , how do these myths perpetuate gender stereotypes about women and men.

2. How important is HIV to this story ?
                                                                                                                                  

Training exercises:

1. Rewrite the article to incorporate an HIV perspective – trainees can include statistics on the prevalence of HIV, the levels of rape in Zambia and the risks of HIV transmission after rape.  Trainees can also investigate the availability of PEP following sexual assault and where it is available, can provide information to readers about how to access it. 

Links to Training Resources:  
Gender and HIV/AIDS: A Training Manual for Southern African Media and Communicators, Gender Links and the AIDS Law Project, Chapter 6 www.genderlinks.org.za/docs/training/hiv-training-manual/hiv-ch6.pdf