Monitoring report GBV_Eng

VIOLENCEINALBANIA

Tirana,September2021

MONITORING REPORT ON TV REPRESENTATIONS OF GENDER BASED VIOLENCE IN ALBANIA

BACKGROUND

Gender-basedviolence (GBV)isone of Albania’sbiggest social and health concerns. It refers to the kind of violence that causes or has the potential to cause physical, sexual,emotional,mental,and/oreconomicharmbasedonone’sgender.GBVandin particular domestic violence cases generate media coverage. The media has a huge impact on public understanding, attitudes, and behaviours, therefore it is very important that the media challenges cultural and social norms that tolerate or excuse GBV,includingdomesticviolence,andpromotespositivesocialchange.Studieshave shown that audience’s emotional responses and attributions of responsibility are affected, and can be manipulated, by how media frames GBV, including domestic violence stories.

There are 56 audio-visual operators, that is TV stations, (1 national public, 7 national private, and 48 local private) in Albania that report on GBV, including domestic violence cases, or/and discuss these cases in their programs. The activity of these operators is supervised by the Audio-Visual Monitoring Authority (AMA). Recently there is an increased concern among women’s rights activists and other actors that the way that TV stations report on GBV, including domestic violence cases, is not ethical, is ambivalent, and in some cases is in breach of the law and the journalists’ code of conduct.

To address thisconcern, SCI proposed as a first activityof the project,monitoring the TV programs that report GBV issues, including domestic violence (DV) cases, from the gender equality perspective, aimed to improve media coverage of GBV, so that theypromote gender equalityand positive social change.

Obtaininganalyseddataonsuchrepresentationswillallowtheprojecttocomeupwith evidence-based recommendations which address and improve actual practices, of portrayal of DV in Albanian television media. The staff of the project will also draft a Guideline on Ethical coverage of GBV in media (Guideline) that can be used as a reference for all the journalists in Albania and will Advocate with AMA to improve AMA’s supervision of TV stations’ programs that report on GBV, including domestic violence.

INTRODUCTION

The report presents the monitoring results for television programs and news editions which have dealt with and reported on cases of gender-based violence, violence against women and intimate partner violence. Cases of violence are classified according to three main types and the data are analysed according to TV channels and programs to provide a clear picture of the portrayal of violence on television and the ways of its treatment.

In this research, television was chosen to be monitored as a medium with a strong impact due to the power of the image, wide penetration in the public and the ease of conveyingthemessage,butalsoduetothefactthatitisthemediatheonethatcovers more often and widely cases of violence against women and domestic violence in Albania.

The monitoring methodology and the following whole process was guided by the goal to provide a more objective assessment of the situation, with quantitative and substantive data, the analysis of which will serve to encourage critical eye, to raise awarenessforthenegativeeffectthatviolencehasinthelivesofvictimsandinsociety and to qualitatively improve the way that it is reported.

METHODOLOGY

For the monitoring process, four monitors educated in social sciences and communication sciences were selected, with knowledge and experience in dealing withcases of violence and specificallyviolence against women, who were trainedina dedicated manner for the methodology of this survey. Searching and collecting monitoring data consisted in identifying cases of gender-based violence against women that are discussed in the visual media, classified under its three main forms: physical, psychological andsexual (definitions areincluded inthe Annex).Incases of identification of violence, specific details of the case were taken into account in addition to the type of violence, such as the gender of the perpetrator, whether it was a case of intimate partner violence, whether the case involved violence under the influence of alcohol, whether there was professional assistance or reflective intervention on the part of the author of the program related to the undertaken measures or education against violence, etc. Monitors should also identify the correctness of case/eventcoverageornews reportingeachtimethatviolence against womenisaddressed,specifyingwhethertherewerescreenedvisuals,specificdetails, inaccurate interpretations blaming the victim, or inappropriate language used against her.

Monitors were asked to keep specific and detailed records for each case considered valid for monitoring, which would serve as substantive data and case studies in the final analysis.

Under the supervision of the media expert and the data analysis expert, the monitors had to report in periodic weekly meetings (The template chosen for their monitoring work can be found in the Annex, along with photos of some of the tables completed during the process)

Monitoring was conducted over four months (March, April, May, June). Television programs and news editions were monitored for the four main televisions in the country: Top Channel, Klan, RTSH and News 24. The selection of televisions was basedonseveralcriteria.TVKLANandTOPCHANNELbecamesubjecttomonitoring due to their high viewership and the status they hold as national televisions. Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) - as the only public television and News 24 to have a visual media with a profile dedicated to information in the list.

There were four main monitoring days: Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, althoughlessfrequent monitoringwasalsoperformed onotherdaysofthe weeksuch as for the two popular programs on Sunday. Monitoring schedules were such as to uniformly cover different times such as evening, night, morning and afternoon. In this context, TV programs are classified as prime time and not prime time. The programs included in monitoring are classified according to 4 main typologies: social, topical, entertaining and informative. 622 TV programs and 235 news editions were always monitored, which in total include about 76,000 minutes, of which 11% belong to news and 89% to TV programs.

The selection of monitored programs and the monitoring duration for each television was conducted based on the programs profile and content.

The classification of programs by type and data on their timing and number of monitored programs are presented in Table 1.

Programs monitored according to TV channels include timing division according to Figure 1.

The data collected from the monitoring were transferred to the SPSS Statistics softwareand theresultswereanalysed afterregular checks, cleansing andediting on aweeklybasistoensurethecompletenessandqualityoftheinformationtheypresent.

Figure 1 Duration of monitoring according to television channels.

Table 1. Monitored programs according to TV channels, including duration in minutes, number of monitorings and type of program

DATA ANALYSIS

RESULTS

Monitoring results during March-June 2021 show that about 19% of television programs cover/discuss cases of violence in general, while cases of violence against women are reported in 17% of them. About 16% of cases of violence against women are identified as psychological violence, which is the most common form of violence addressed on television programs, followed byphysical violence (7%) and to a lesser extent sexual violence (4.5 %). Intimate partner violence turns out to be discussed in 5.5% of monitored programs (Figure 2).

Figure

2 All types of violence against women and intimate partner violence

The analysis of the content of television programs related to the types of violence against women shows that more than one type of violence can be addressed in the same program, but among the cases of violence against women, about 75% of perpetrators are males (Fig.3). Intimate partner violence is also covered in television programs by being discussed in 3.6% thereof. In almost all cases of intimate partner violence, the perpetrator is a male.

Violence against women seems to be a topic widely addressed in the programs monitored for the study on three of the television channels (Table 2). A high quantitative coverage of the phenomenon of psychological violence against women hasbeenobservedintheprograms‘Ediell’(TCH)and‘Mezemërtëhapur’(News24).

Media coverage of physical violence cases is most often performed in ‘Me zemër të hapur’ (News24) and ‘Historia ime’ (TV KLAN) programs, while the highest frequency of addressing sexual violence is found in 'Me zemër të hapur’ and 'E diell’ programs. Intimate partner violence is most often addressed in the programs ‘Historia ime’ and ‘E diela shqiptare’( TV KLAN)

Table 2 TV programs ranking according to the percentage of coverage/discussion of violence against women.

e Lirë

Moderne

Shqiperi

Ime

Shqiptarët për shqiptarët

Figure 3 shows the frequency of addressing violence against women and each of its typesaccordingtotheTVchannelsofthemonitoredprograms.Thehighestfrequency ofaddressingviolenceappearsinTopChannelprograms,in33%ofthem.Amongthe typesofviolencethatisreflectedintheprogramsofthischannel,theonethatistalked aboutthemostispsychologicalviolence(in29%ofthemonitoredprograms),followed by sexual violence (10%). News 24 is ranked the second channel for the highest frequency of discussing cases of violence (24%), and again, it is psychological violencetheonethatprevails(discussedin22%ofprograms).Inthischannel,physical violence has a higher frequency of discussion than in other channels (22%) while intimatepartnerviolencehasthelowestfrequency(4%). TVKLAN,rankedinthethird place, has a lower frequency for all types of violence, but has a more frequent coverage of cases of intimate partner violence. Whereas, among the TV programs of RTSH, no case of addressing violence has been identified during the monitoring.

3

Figure 4 presents the frequency of violence against women according to types of violence and program profile. TV shows areclassified into four main profiles: Topical, Entertaining, Social and Investigative (Table.1). The phenomenon of Gender-Based Violence is discussed more in entertaining programs being identified in 25% of them. Then there are listed the social or socio-cultural programs (21%). The most frequent identification of violence in entertaining programs is related to the fact that it is psychological violence that is identified the most in them (respectively 22% in entertaining programs and 42% in social or socio-cultural ones). Sexual violence and intimate partner violence are mostly addressed in social/socio-cultural and topical programs.

In terms of air time, cases of violence against women were mostly identified in the afternoon programs, while fewer cases were discussed during prime-time programs. Specifically, prime time programs, which address cases of violence, amount for 17% of TV programs that highlights at least one type of violence. Even though there are programs, which address cases of all types of violence against women and accompanytheinformationevenwiththeanalysisofexpertsinrelevantfieldssuchas psychologistsorlawyersinthesecondpartoftheprogram,therearestillshortcomings in handling information correctly in terms of journalism ethics in covering these sensitive cases.

Recognizing the importance of the power of news programs in influencing public opinion,inthefull understanding of situations and socialbackgroundregardingcases ofviolenceandcrime,themonitoringofinformativeeditionshasfocusedresearchand analysis in identifying the mode of transmission of news in cases of gender-based violence.

Informative editions have been monitored and analysed precisely to identify cases of incorrect portrayal of the news from the perspective of professional ethics to assess more concretely whether the news was accompanied by visual images of victims of violence, whetherspecificdetailsaregiven, whether thevictimisblamedoroffensive/ sexist language is used towards her, etc.

The data collected show that out of 236 informative editions, divided almost proportionally between the four main television channels, in 7.7% of them the news coverage was accompanied by at least one of these elements.

News 24 Television is at the top of the rankings for the display of visual images, followed by TV KLAN, while both TV KLAN and Top Channel are the televisions that provide more specific details on victims of violence. RTSH treated only one case where the ethics of correct presentation is not applies, in which the victim and the perpetratorareidentifiedwithphotoswhileprovidingcompletedataabouttheiridentity and life. As for the offensive/ sexist language or cases of blaming the victim, they are rarer and are recorded in News 24 and Top Channel programs. (Figure.5)

Figure 5 Analysis of monitoring data for informative editions according to Televisions.

Cleargraphicimagesof victimorperpetrator shown

Explicitidentifying detailsgiven

Victimblaming/ insultingorsexual language

In addition to the excel spreadsheets with the variables predefined in the monitoring methodology, the monitors explained each case with detailed accompanying notes to make the reading of the data more understandable and to be as accurate as possible with the formulation of conclusions and recommendations. (Notes on each program attached to ANNEX)

Content analysis of the monitored programs revealed that although the need to produce news or address extreme cases of violence, such as physical and sexual violenceandassociatedcrimes,isgreater,thepresenceofpsychologicalviolencestill translates into higher figures. This happens because, while it is positive that phenomena of violence are discussed in television and are critically analysed, protagonists in dedicated shows or debates, journalists/hosts often violate the standardsofcommunicationethics,exertpressuretopresentdetailsorvisualswithout consensus/consentofvictimsofviolence,useinappropriatelanguage,oftensexistand prejudicial, conveying an atmosphere of aggression and lack of empathy with a negative effect on the viewer who is likelyto misperceive or lower the critical analysis level of the phenomenon. It is disturbing the fact that such a picture is more evident according to the monitoring of the programs with an entertaining or social profile.

Specifically, in the monitored cases, there were about 10 events where at least one type of violence occurred in the television studio. Among these cases of course, the most common is psychological violence.

In a deeper analysis of the dates but also of the explanations given case by case in the observations of the monitors, more representative results can be drawn for the way that visual media approaches gender-based violence:

Mediacoverageof cases of violenceingeneral and cases of violence against women in particular has all the characteristics of sensationalist coverage. Viewership rating and exclusivity competition mostly lead to the coverage and discussion of cases of violence.

Violations of ethical standards by not respecting privacy while screening explicit and disturbing images, writing provocative headlines that do not raise awareness, but shock or using inappropriate language, are precisely elements of sensationalist coverage that do not serve neither the public interest nor the event investigation.

The coverage and reporting of cases of violence against women does not go into details with regard to the analysis of the causes and in most cases, the cases are reported as isolated cases.

The sources of information for reporting cases of violence and crime are limited and almost the same for all media and not a product of preliminaryresearch.

There is always a rush to publish the photo of the "victim" for the public. Male perpetrators remain, in most cases, unknown to the public.

Prejudice, generalizations and stereotypes are easily discernible and equally accompanyapartofpublicopinionas wellasreportersandpublicfiguresinthevisual media, jeopardizing the understanding, mission and message.

CONCLUSIONS

The quantitative extent of reporting cases of gender-based violence and a noticeable positive development of the critical reflection on the phenomenon, is not followed by an improvement of the educational role of the media, to play an active impact on preventing violence against women.

The media’s current reporting on instances of violence against women and domestic violence in general, points to a lack of awareness regarding the fact that much of this violence remains largely unexposed and hidden which in turns make the media’s role in investigating as well as reporting such violence, crucial.

Although the media has all the professional potential in the fields of law and activism and there is no shortage of potential promoters of women's rights or prominent public figuresspeakingagainstgender-basedviolence,thereisstillanalmostvoluntarycurb bymostofthemediarepresentativesinordernottofeelcompelledtoapplyethicsand being part of the solution

Themediaexertsanirreplaceableinfluenceonthedirect impactonreducing casesof gender-based violence and increasing the critical reflection on it, thus the monitoring of the measurement of progress remains quite valuable later on as well.

Definitions of Violence according to the World Health Organization

Physical violence

Sexual Violence

Psychological Violence

Intentionallyinflicting pain, hitting, slapping, kicking, dragging, throwing something, using or threatening with a weapon, strangulation, burning, torturing, taking hostage.

Rape, forced sex (including by the husband when the wife is not willing to), bumping, sexual touching, forcing someone to do any unwanted sexual act, sexual harassment, forcing someone to watch pornography.

Insulting, deliberately making someone feel bad about themselves, teasing or humiliating, deliberatelyintimidating someone byshouting or destroying things, threatening to hurt someone.

Intimate partners’ violence

Insulting, deliberately making someone feel bad about themselves, teasing or humiliating, deliberatelyintimidating someone byshouting or destroying things, threatening to hurt someone.

NOTES AND COMMENTS KEPT DURING THE MONITORING PROCESS

1) Comments on the cases when violence against women has been identified in at least one of its types and where the right or wrong way of handling the case in the show is specified.

“E Diela Shqiptare” (TV KLAN)

● During this episode, are identified problems in the couple (the husband becomes part of the program via live phone call). During the discussion, the husband publiclyadmits that he threatened his ex-wife during the debates theyhave had.

● During this episode for the mediation of a couple invited in the program, there arestrongdebates andat one point the husband approaches the woman in an intimidating and threatening way. During this moment no one present in the studio acts to separate them. Another element to be highlighted is the authoritative influence exerted by the mediator of the hearings against the woman.

● Duringthisepisodebothparticipantsuseinappropriatespeechandbehaviours. The woman invited admits to having suffered violence by her cohabitant. The womanalso highlights theviolenceshehas usedagainst anotherwoman(Due attentionisnotgiventothesefacts.)(Moreover,duringtheprogram,oftenthere are laughs, thus not treating the situation with due seriousness)

● In this episode, violence against two individuals (a woman and her disabled son) is denounced. During the debate between the two parties, the language used is rude and offensive terms are used even towards people who are not part of the program. In some of these moments, the hosts do not intervene.

● In this episode is shown the case of a girl being prostituted by her husband. In thiscase,specificdetailsofthecasearegiven,damagingtheprivacyof thegirl as well as details not suitable for the public of that time slot.

● The caseof ahost who was askedtohave sex inexchangefor a job isshown. There are also cases of girls who have been called offensive nicknames because of their appearance. Sexist statements from studio guests regarding these issues.

“E Diell” (TOP CHANNEL)

● Studio debates regarding sexism topics such as: "the man must dominate", "a real man...; striptease dance in the studio where the stripper tried to touch the girl against her will.

● Sexist language speeches in the studio while topics such as touching girls in intimate places, the benefits of porn videos are discussed. Verbal and psychological violence and the threats of physical violence among the girls invited in the studio.

● Verbal violencebetweenthe protagonistsinthestudiodueto aromantic affair, inappropriate offensive language directed to them by another guest in the studio.

● Psychologicalviolencetowards agirlinthestudioandthreateninglanguageby a male protagonist regarding publishing private images of the girl.

● Sexist comments in the studio, vulgar and sexist labels on a girl by a present guest.

● Almost sexual harassment in the studio. The boy asks them to have a relationship and have intercourse. This is accompanied by sexist labels and psychologically violent language on cases of betrayal, honour and morality among girls and women.

● A new host in the studio, confesses how she was constantly blackmailed after intimate private information was obtained from her.

● Another guest tells how she has suffered offensive nicknames because of her appearance.Debateinthestudiowithmutualpsychologicalviolencetonesand sexist or homophobic labelling because of a present transgender guest.

● The case of a singer who recounted psychological abuse by her parent, every time she got dressed to perform, denigrating speech against homosexuals by a panellist of the program, who expressed prejudice and contempt for them.

STOP (TV KLAN)

● An ex-husband confessing to violence against his wife. The woman’s face is not shown, censored photos with hematomas after the act of violence are shown. The violent husband is a public figure working in a state institution.

● The caseof ahost who was askedtohave sex inexchangefor a job isshown.

“Ftesë ne 5” (TOP CHANNEL)

● Debate between the girl guests in the studio, where sexist prejudices are expressed about women's bodies and how it should or shouldn’t be exposed.

● Debates between girls in the studio using insulting labels and personal attacks duetohotgendertopicsregardingthefreedomofspeakingopenlyabouttopics considered taboo in the Albanian society.

● Debate in the studio over the publication of a video clip with text and images considered sexist, anti-feminist and masculine by a woman. Offensive labels are present.

● Thecaseofa well-knowncharacter of themusic worldon herprivatesexlifeis discussed. The debate inthestudio degenerates intosexist insults andgender prejudices, labelling and denigrating language.

● The studio deals with a case of sexual and psychological violence against a minor girl, victim of rape by her friends.

“Historia Ime” (TV KLAN)

● The womanconfesses toproblemswithher cohabitant, economicdependence and his threats not to separate.

● The woman confesses to sexual harassment/psychological violence by her brother-in-law. The hosts allude and ask if the woman may have incited or provoked with "excessive self-care" since she was an aesthetician in profession, inadvertently falling into the trap of gender stereotype prejudice. Thehostavoidsthe opinionon thecase, emphasizingtheabsenceof theother party. In the second part of the show, the format is conceived in such a way that there are always two professionals of law and psychology who provide specific assistance for the following cases.

● In this episode the guest woman recounts her story of violence over the years with two partners. The first partner used constant physical and economic violence (forcing her to beg). The woman was provided with a PO Protective Order, but this element, in terms of sensitivity and effectiveness of state institutions towards GBV, was not addressed in the program.

● The guest on the show is encouraged to talk about her life as psychologically abused by her husband, although she was invited to speak on the topic of real estate fraud.

● During the treatment gender-based violence case, numerous details are providedontheorigin,placeofbirthandpreviousandcurrentresidencesofthe victim.

● In this episode, the guest confesses that she was a victim of gender-based violence, after she herself has used violence towards another woman. The discoveryof this detail is treated with humour in the program.

● The wifetestifiesto constantandextremeviolencefrom herhusband.Victimof physical violence, the guest shows body marks from being hit and is then prompted to show them to the viewer.

● The host starts the show with an appeal against state institutions and the lack of effectiveness of themeasures taken. Thevictim of violence does not appear in person but all the details of this case of abuse are given. The host takes a tough stance against the partyaccused of violence.

● Thisepisode deals withtheviolence exercisedbythehusbandagainsthis wife and children. The woman’s face is not shown.

● Thisprogram provides detailsonthe case of awoman who was abused byher husband. Duringthisepisode,thewoman’sfaceisnotshown, butherlittleson who is crying becomes part of the testimony, again without having his face showninthestudio,butoffrecordimagesofthewomanandtheboyareshown.

● Inthis episodethemotherrecountsthe violenceexercisedonherdaughterher (the daughter’s) father-in-law. The victim of the violence was married as a minor. Theabusedgirl’sfacewas not hiddenwhensheappearedonthestudio screen via the live connection.

“Me zemër të hapur” (NEWS 24)

● The husband physically and psychologically abuses his wife and she recounts the event in details (even unnecessary) in the program.

● Detailed information on physical and psychological violence against the guest and concerning images are displayed. Having a harmful effect rather than in aid of awareness.

● Violence is used against the woman in the studio. The man is taken outside

● Psychologicalpressureonthevictim,whoisnotinformedonhowtohandleher case. She is asked questions with the intent of obtaining details.

● Psychological pressure on a victim of violence on why she did not want to participate in the program. Media coverage against her will.

● The case is about sexual violence against a minor. The victim is blamed.

● Details are given on how the sexual assault of the minor occurred. In the presence of her mother, morequestions are asked to obtain more information.

● Regarding the sexual violence against a girl, pressure is exerted on the relatives by asking them live on the program details on the event. This is a recurring phenomenon in some programs

● The journalist wants to know the details of an abuse case and imposes her opinion on the actions that the victim should have taken.

● Harmful information and images for the victim and the public about a physical violence case.

● Concerning images of a crime, murder

“Opinion”, OPEN, REAL STORY (TV KLAN, TOP CHANNEL, NEWS 24)

It has been noted that there are recurring cases where debates are accompanied by sexist language and gender-based verbal violence between political opponents and opinion leaders.

“Përputhen” (TOP CHANNEL)

● Strong and repetitive debates in the studio with a psychological violence character on the protagonists and between them. Offensive language even among girls. Psychological violence of boys towards girls with denigrating comments and bullying.

● Repeated psychological violence using sexist language between girls and boys.

● Repeated attempts of intimacy by one of the protagonist boys (a repeated phenomenon even by others), towards a girl who does not feel comfortable under the pressure of public statements about sexual desire regarding her.

● Psychological violence and threats to make public private messages.

● Psychological pressure and repeated blackmail against the girl with whom he shared privacy.

● Forcefullytouching a girl against her will.

● Offensive comments and bullying regarding physical appearance between the protagonists.

● Extremely inappropriate language, verbal violence and rude sexist communication for the public in prime time on national television.

2) Comments on cases where no direct violence has been identified, but where expressions of gender stereotypes and inequality of the rights and duties of women compared to men are present:

“Aldo Morning Show” (TV KLAN)

● The language of "mockery" and humour that characterizes this format accompaniesthereportingofcasesofgender-basedviolence,reportedbyfield reporters.

● Duringtheprogram,callersoftenexpressdiscriminatoryandsexistopinionson gender issues.

● The host uses intimidating comments towards female reporters or callers.

● The usage of offensive and discriminatorylanguage bythe reporters regarding women and local or foreign stories is allowed and no one intervenes.

“

Rudina”(TVKLAN)

Gendersegregationandagedeterminationsregardingthewaywomenandmenbuild theirlivesandcareers.

Genderstereotypesprevail.Onlymothersareinvitedtospeakontheupbringingand educationoftheirchildren,forexample.

Table1AIllustration(printscreen)fromdatacollectedduringthemonitoringoftelevision programs

Table2AIllustration(printscreen)fromthedatacollectedduringthemonitoringofinformative editions

Table 3A Illustration of data transferred to SPSS program and analysis of results