The human cost of sensationalist, headline grabbing coverage of child sexual abuse
When media recently included some comments of the Victorian Premier, and of others, seemingly speaking on behalf of my brother, a deceased victim of child sexual abuse, the misappropriation was devastating.
Words and facts matter
At the Victorian Premier’s long press conference on Wednesday 28th June, he described historic child sexual abuse at Beaumaris Primary School as
“vile, evil and incredibly damaging abuse”
“unique and evil goings-on.”
“Without question, given there were multiple victims, multiple offenders, multiple predators at one time and also — without cutting across [legal] processes that are alive — a sense of collusion between those [offenders] … it is tragically a unique set of circumstances.”
These words of the Premier guaranteed most major newsrooms in Victoria would not only run with his comments, but also run with it as the story of the moment. And a flurry of media reporting did ensue over the next two days but first, let’s pause and reflect on how devastating those few words of the Premier were for me, and others.
The Premier’s most emotional and evocative statements focused on the perpetrators
Journalism plays an important role in raising public awareness of the scale and impact child sexual abuse has on so many, that fuels positive social change.
Focussing on perpetrators and demonising them as being monsters - “predators”- ignores the facts that the majority aren’t psychopaths or paedophiles, but are humans that live, walk and work amongst us. The three perpetrators who sexually abused my brother were teachers, coaches and members of organisations dedicated to the care of children, and doing good work in their local community.
Instead of dehumanising perpetrators and those who protect them, the media can and must fuel positive social, political and legal change. Putting the facts of the devastating human and social impacts of child sexual abuse in the headlines, and at the centre of every coverage, even when politicians tempt them to do otherwise. Covering:
- prevalence and associated health outcomes
- what are governments and society doing to support survivors of child sexual abuse,
- what existing recommendations, from Royal Commissions, other inquiries and peak bodies, governments are yet to act on, and
- what are survivors, their families and communities saying they need governments and society to do.
Instances of child sexual abuse the Premier views as being unique.
The Premier has no knowledge of the scale of historic child sexual abuse that occurred at Beaumaris Primary School, and how it compares to other institutions. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, found multiple perpetrators at institutions at the same time who operated as a network, was tragically all too common, not unique.
The Premier deciding what is unique and deserving of investigation, diminishes the experience and impact historic child sexual abuse continues to have on those countless Victorian survivors who were abused at other Victorian government schools.
When politicians tempt journalists to report on one institution or set of perpetrators without positioning it within the bigger picture, their stories can suggest to survivors and society, that some survivors matter more than others.
To Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, did my brother’s life matter more than any other deceased victim of child sexual abuse, because he was abused at Beaumaris Primary School?
No. In a just society everyone matters or no-one matters.
Sensationalist, headline grabbing coverage of child sexual abuse is harmful
“Sometimes when stories travel beyond their owners, the new tellers claim to tell the stories in the best interests of the persons who suffered the experience. Making the claim to speak on behalf of others is always a precarious claim, open to the challenge of misinterpretation and misappropriation.” Other People’s Stories: Entitlement Claims and the Critique of Empathy, AMY SHUMAN, 2005
A fortnight ago, my brother’s story travelled well beyond those who loved him in life, and hold him close in death, to people who never knew him, nor sought to consult with those of us who do.
People who knew of three deceased victims they mentioned to media as part of their stories, know the victims have families. They have even met, seen, heard and read about family, friends and community members of two of the victims they included as part of their stories, publicly honouring their loved one’s memory. These people who made my brother part of their stories, also know whilst I and other people still draw breath, my brother Ian will never lose his voice, nor be forgotten.
Their misappropriation of the tragedy of my brother Ian’s death as part of their own story, without the family’s permission, is as devastating as is it unforgiveable.
“There’s three people [victims] I know who aren’t here with us anymore, for all sorts of reasons, and others whose lives were wrecked … And I think we needed some people needed to stand up and go, ‘Hey, this wasn’t okay’.”
“It’s all about … people that have lost their voices,” he said. “I know of three people who aren’t with us anymore and sort of really feel that we needed to speak for them.”
The media outlet’s failure to only quote sources on what they have direct knowledge of, and permission to speak about if it is someone else’s story, is even more unforgiveable. Especially as after a 30 minute interview with me, this is all that was included.
A correction I asked for after I discovered the article had been published online, regarding the number of perpetrators who abused my brother Ian, and associated institutions, was rejected as the sentence would then be too long. What was printed was a compromise.
Other media outlets disgracefully referred to survivors, as
Survivors of child sexual abuse are people, they are not their trauma.
I did note that a completely non-factual headline (“How one man’s story shone a light on decades of school sexual abuse”) — given previously published stories (Rod Owen’s story below) about child sexual abuse at Beaumaris Primary School, and previous convictions, as detailed in Stuart Grimley’s motion in Victorian Parliament 21 September 2022 — didn’t survive for very long online before being changed, but its ghost lives on in the internet link.
When journalists fail to acknowledge the stories already shared by survivors, families and communities relevant to what they’re covering, the harm can be significant. Not only harming those courageous survivors who have already spoken publicly, but for others yet to speak.
Who may wonder, will their story really matter, if media routinely fail to acknowledge those stories already shared?
My personal wish list
When facts are inconvenience truths, that get in the way of big, screaming headlines and reporter deadlines, it is not only those for whom the stories are personal who are harmed. We all lose as a society when those stories are about child sexual abuse.
Here’s my wish list based on my personal experience:
- Focus on survivors: The impact of child sexual abuse on survivors, families and communities, and on society as a whole, are at the centre of government announcements and media reporting.
- Sources: Do not quote people with only superficial / indirect knowledge. Do not include gossip, rumours, speculation and repeating stories of others that are not their own. Do include those with lived and living experience, and experts with relevant knowledge.
- Facts: Government and media acknowledge already established facts and knowledge, and ensure statements and additional reporting are factual.
- Control: Give control to those telling their stories. Allow them previews of drafts, and act on their requests for edits.
- Language and stories: We need government and media guidelines on the basics of being trauma-informed.
- Advisory Board with Lived Experience: Victoria has a Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council (VSAC) which provides formal advice to the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence and other decision-makers on service design, policy development and law reform to better prevent and respond to family violence in Victoria.
Victoria urgently needs a Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council that provides formal advice on non-family related child sexual abuse to the Premier, relevant Ministers and other decision-makers on service design, policy development and law reform to better prevent and respond to non-family related child sexual abuse in Victoria. That includes provision of advice on what and how all politicians, and government ministers, talk about child sexual abuse. - Theme: Every story on child sexual abuse acknowledges the big picture. The devastating facts on the prevalence and impact of child sexual abuse in Australia, and reports on what survivors, families and communities are saying about what’s working and what’s not, and what they need.
