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Abstract

Ikerlan honek «La Manada» izenez ezaguna den talde-bortxaketari buruz Twitterren eraikitako diskurtsoa aztertuko du. Horretarako, epaia plazaratutako egunaren inguruko lau asteetan #lamanada traola zuten txioen edukia analisi lexikal bidez aztertu zen. Emaitzetan diskurtso feministaren lanketa nabarmena izan zen mobilizazio sozialera deituaz, biktima babestuaz edota bortxaketaren kulturaren kontrako argudioak zabalduaz. Baina diskurtsu antifeminista ere plazaratu zen, bereziki biktimari errua egozteko eta diskurtso feministei kontra egiteko. Twitterreko diskurtsoa sexu-erasoei buruzko pentsaeraren isla izan daitekeela ondorioztatzen da, baina aldi berean baita agente aktibo ere jakintza eraldatu horren eraikuntzan.
UZTARO 110, 85-102 85 Bilbo, 2019ko uztaila-iraila
«La Manada» auziko
sententziaren jarraipena
Twitterren: bortxaketaren
kulturari buruzko gizarte-
irudikapenak iraultzen
Nahia Idoiaga Mondragon1, Martín Sainz de la Maza San Jose2
eta Maitane Belasko Txertudi3
1Euskal Herriko Unibertsitateko Bilakaera eta Hezkuntzaren Psikologia Saila
2Euskal Herriko Unibertsitateko Gizarte Psikologian doktoregaia
3 Euskal Herriko Unibertsitateko Didaktika eta Eskola Antolakuntza Saila
Ikerlan honek «La Manada» izenez ezaguna den talde-bortxaketari buruz
Twitterren eraikitako diskurtsoa aztertuko du. Horretarako, epaia plazaratutako
egunaren inguruko lau asteetan #lamanada traola zuten txioen edukia analisi lexikal
bidez aztertu zen. Emaitzetan diskurtso feministaren lanketa nabarmena izan zen
mobilizazio sozialera deituaz, biktima babestuaz edota bortxaketaren kulturaren
kontrako argudioak zabalduaz. Baina diskurtsu antifeminista ere plazaratu zen,
bereziki biktimari errua egozteko eta diskurtso feministei kontra egiteko. Twitterreko
diskurtsoa sexu-erasoei buruzko pentsaeraren isla izan daitekeela ondorioztatzen
da, baina aldi berean baita agente aktibo ere jakintza eraldatu horren eraikuntzan.
GAKO-HITZAK: Aktibismo digitala · Bortxaketa · Bortxaketaren kultura ·
Feminismoa · Mugimendu feminista · Twitter.
The sentence of «La manada» on twitter. Revolutionizing social representa-
tions about the rape culture
This paper aimed to know discourse built on Twitter about the case of group rape
called «La Manada» and to observe its impact on society. To this end, an analysis of the lexical
content was carried out on the tweets that were published with the hashtag #lamanada for 4
weeks around the publication of the sentence. Two interpretations are generally highlighted:
The feminist discourse, which called for social mobilization, defended the victim and spread
the discourse against the culture of rape and the anti-feminist discourse, which blames the
victim and goes against the feminist discourse.
KEY WORDS: Digital activism · Rape · Culture of rape · Feminism · Feminist
movement · Twitter.
Psikologia
https://doi.org/10.26876/uztaro.110.2019.5 Jasotze data: 2019-01-13 Onartze data: 2019-03-18
UZTARO 110, 85-102 86 Bilbo, 2019ko uztaila-iraila
1. Sarrera
«La Manada» auzia
Azken urteotako sexu-eraso kasuen artean oihartzun sozial bereziki nabaria
izan du «La Manada» auziak. Auzi hori Iruñean, Nafarroan, 2016ko uztailaren 7an
San Fermin jaietan gertaturiko sexu-indarkeria kasua da. Emakume batek salatu
zuen bost gizonezkok osatutako talde batek bortxatu zuela Iruñeko eraikin bateko
korridorean. Akusatu guztiak atxilotu zituzten, Guardia Zibileko eta Espainiako
Armadako kide bana haien artean, espetxeratu eta epaituak izan ziren (Jones, 2018).
Epaia 2018ko apirilaren 26an iragarri zen, auzitegiak sexu-abusutzat jo
zuen gertakaria eta ez zuen onartu sexu-erasoa egon zenik bortxaketan (Jones,
2018). Espainiar legediari jarraiki, sexu-erasoak izango lirateke sexu-indarkeriaz
edo larderiaz burututako sexu-jarduerak; sexu-abusuak, aldiz, indarkeria gabe
burututakoak lirateke (Ceberio, 2018). Gainera, hiru epaileetako batek, Ricardo
Gonzalez-ek, akusatuen absoluzioaren alde bozkatu zuen, bost gizonak errugabe
zirela esanaz, gertatutakoa festa-giroan guztien artean gogotsu bizitako sexu-
jarduera zela uste zuelako.
Epaiaren ostean, hura salatzeko manifestazioak deitu ziren Euskal Herriko eta
Espainiako herri gehienetan (Jones, 2018). Gainera, sare sozialek eztanda egin
zuten eta «La Manada» kasua gai nabarmenena (trending topic) izan zen hainbat
aldiz (Asenjo, 2018). Talde feministek ere epaia gogor salatu zuten, etorkizuneko
kasuetarako aurrekari beldurgarria izan zitekeela aldarrikatuaz (Alvarez, 2018).
Artikulu honetan «La Manada» kasuak sare sozialetan, zehazki, Twitterren, izan-
dako plazaratzea landu eta aztertuko dugu, eta eztabaidagai izango dugu eraso
sexualekiko irudikapen partekatuetan izan dezakeen garrantzia.
Aktibismo feminista digitala
Kultura modernoetan, sare sozialak gizarte-aldaketa sustatzen duten oinarrizko
eragileak dira eta, ondorioz, lanketa feministak jorratzeko eta zabaltzeko baliabi-
de baliotsu bihurtu dira (Stubbs-Richardson, Rader eta Cosby, 2018). Komuni-
kabide digitalak gai politikoen inguruko antolakuntza-tresna gisa erabiltzen ari
dira (Chattopadhyay, 2011; Juris, 2008; Mendes, 2015), eztabaida eta ekintza-
hedapeneko komunitateak eraikitzeko (Gerbaudo, 2012; Lim, 2012), baita informa-
zioa hedatzeko online eta offline espazio gisa ere (Lim, 2012). Twitter bezalako
sareen ospeari esker, banakoek espazio publikoetan eragin dezakete (Westerman,
Spence eta Heide, 2014) eta, era horretan, gertaera garrantzitsuenak berreraiki
jakintza publikoarentzat (Murthy, 2010; Westerman et al., 2014).
Gainera, 2010. urteaz geroztik, mundu mailako mugimendu feministak patriar-
katuarekin, sexismoarekin, misoginiarekin, genero-indarkeriarekin eta desberdin-
tasunekin lotutako hainbat gairi buruzko arreta eta kontzientzia zabaldu nahian
irmoki dabiltza sare sozialetan lanean (Baer, 2016; Turley eta Fisher, 2018). Lanketa
horretan bereziki gai garrantzitsutzat jo dute bortxaketaren kulturaren aurka lan
egitea (Keller, Mendes eta Ringrose, 2018; Mendes, 2015; Sills et al., 2016). Izan
ere, sare sozialen bidez gizarteko talde zabalei formazio feminista eskaintzeko
UZTARO 110, 85-102 87 Bilbo, 2019ko uztaila-iraila
aukera dago (Sills et al., 2016). Adibide gisa, Twittereko kanpaina feministek
bultzatutako hashtag edo traolak1 oso baliagarriak izan dira bortxaketaren kulturaz
gain, sexismoa, misoginia edota bortxaketari buruzko mitoak salatzeko eta haiei
buruzko eztabaida-espazioak sortzeko (Turley eta Fisher, 2018). Hala eta guztiz
ere, azpimarratu beharra dago antifeminismoak ere sare sozialetan presentzia
nabarmena duela, eta sarri mundu digitalak bortxazko kultura ugaritzeko plaza gisa
jokatzen duela (Jackson, 2018; Keller et al., 2018).
Halaber, hainbat ikerketak sare sozialetan sexu-eraso eta bortxaketek izandako
trataera aztertu dute. Ikerketa-gaien artean azpimarragarrienak hauek izan dira:
komunikabideetan famatu bihurtutako bortxaketa-kasuen jarraipena (adb.: Barca,
2018; Moody-Ramirez et al., 2015; Pennington eta Birthisel, 2016; Woods, 2014),
nerabeek jasandako erasoei buruzko kontaketen jarraipenak (Wellman, Reddington
eta Clark, 2017) edota sexu-erasoak jasandako biktimen erruduntasunari buruzko
eztabaidak (Stubbs-Richardson et al., 2018). Ikerketa horietatik ondoriozta daiteke
sare sozialak biktimak babesten dituztenen eta bortxaketaren kultura sustatuz
biktimak erasotzen dituztenen arteko eztabaida- eta gatazka-plaza bihurtu direla
(Stubbs-Richardson et al., 2018).
Bortxaketaren kultura
Baina, zer da bortxaketaren kultura? Bortxaketaren kultura eraikuntza soziala da,
gizabanako zein gizartearen mailan. Horren bidez, sexu-indarkeria urteetan zehar
iraunkorra eta justifikatua izan da (Edwards, Turchik, Dardis, Reynolds eta Gidycz,
2011). Hau da, bortxaketaren kulturak bultzatutako uste eta balioek bortxaketa
onartzen duen ingurunea sortzen dute, emakumeen sexu-objektibazioaren bidez,
biktimen estigmatizazioa bidez eta bortxaketaren justifikazioaren bidez (Boswell eta
Spade, 1996).
Bortxaketaren bidez kultura hainbat mitotan oinarrituta dago. Mito horiek
bortxaketa, bortxatu eta bortxatzaileei buruzko estereotipo edo sinesmen faltsuak
dira, zeinek bortxaketen biktimen aurkako ingurunea bultzatzen duten (Burt, 1980).
Payne, Lonsway eta Fitzgeraldek (1999) zortzi bortxazko mito ohikoenak identifikatu
zituzten: «Berak eskatu zuen»; «Nahi zuen»; «Gezurretan ari da gertatutakoari
buruz»; «Ez zen bortxaketa izan, nahitako harremana baizik»; «Bortxatzaileak ez
zuen minik egin nahi»; «Bortxaketa ez da hainbesterako» eta «Bortxaketa gertaera
desbideratu bat da». Bortxazko mitoak diskurtso erlijioso, sozial eta juridikoetan
aurkitzen dira (Edwards et al., 2011) eta eragina dute bai biktimetan baita sexu-
erasoak epaitzen dituzten justizia-arloko aktoreek hartutako erabakietan ere (Sacks,
Ackerman eta Shlosberg, 2018).
Biktimak erruduntzat jotzea ere bortxaketaren kulturaren osagai bereziki garran-
tzitsua da. Erru-prozesu horren bidez banakoak biktimatik urrundu egiten dira, eta,
aldi berean, bortxatzaileak, bereziki maila sozial altukoak direnean, errugabetzat
jotzen dira (Ryan, 1971). Biktimak errudun kontsideratuz gertatutakoaren erantzule
1. Mezu labur azkarrak idazteko sare sozial honek baditu mila terminologia, horien artean hashtag
hitza dugu. Elkarrizketa bat sortzeko # ikurra eta hitzen bat jarriaz sortzen dena. Euskal munduan hashtag
hitza TRAOLA bezala erabiltzen hasia da, Twitter euskaratu zutenetik.
UZTARO 110, 85-102 88 Bilbo, 2019ko uztaila-iraila
bihurrarazten dira, besteak beste, haien erakargarritasunagatik, janzkeragatik,
alkohola edateagatik, «segurua» ez zen eremu batean ibiltzeagatik edota «behar
beste» erasotzaileari kontra ez egiteagatik (Brown, Testa eta Messman-Moore,
2007; Durham, 2013; Moody-Ramirez, Lewis eta Murray, 2015; O’Hara, 2012).
Faktore horiek guztiek iradokitzen dute biktimak jokabide arriskutsuak zituela
jakin behar zuela eta, ondorioz, bere burua arriskuan jartzen zegoenez, bera dela
gertatutakoaren erruduna (Moody-Ramirez et al., 2015).
Artikulu honetan, «La Manada» kasua gizarte-irudikapenen teoriaren ikuspuntutik
landuko da (Moscovici, 1988; Wagner eta Hayes, 2005). Gizarte-irudikapenak bi
funtzio betetzen dituzten balioak, ideiak eta praktikak dira. Alde batetik, bizi garen
inguruan norberaren burua orientatzeko aukera finkatzen dute, eta, bestetik,
gizarteko eta taldeetako kideen arteko komunikazioa ahalbidetzen dute (Moscovici,
1984). Gizarte-irudikapenen teoriaren ikuspegitik argudiatzen da eguneroko
diskurtsoak aldez aurretik izaniko esperientzietan oinarritzen direla (norberarenak
zein besteenak) eta komunikabideek eta elkarrekintza sozialek hedatzen dituztela
(Duveen eta Lloyd, 1990) .
Gizarte-irudikapenen teoriaren barruan, Collective Symbolic Coping (CSC)
(Wagner, Kronberger eta Seifert, 2002) izenekoak azaltzen du nola ematen dieten
taldeek esanahia gizarte-ordena arriskuan jartzen duten egoera berriei, «La
Manada» auzia kasu. CSCa gizarte-irudikapenen (Moscovici, 1988, Wagner eta
Hayes, 2005) eta agenda setting (MacCombs, 2004) teoriaren interfazeetatik sortu
zen, maila kolektiboko coping-a edo aurre egitea nabarmenduaz. Beste era batera
esanda, komunikazio-sare baten parte izanik, bai gizabanako gisa bai eta taldeko
kide gisa ere, gai edo erronka berri bati nola aurre egiten zaion deskribatzen du (Orr,
Sagi eta Bar-On, 2000; Wagner, 1998).
Maila klinikoan gertatzen den bezala, arazoei buruzko eztabaida publikoak eragin
handia du gizarteak gertakari traumatiko jakin bati esanahia emateko prozesuan
(Pennebaker eta Harber, 1993). Esparru publikoko gertaera esanguratsuak azaltze-
ko ahaleginean, CSCak proposatzen du coping edo aurre egite hori bereziki komuni-
kabideen diskurtsoaren bidez gauzatzen dela, kasu honetan sare sozialen bidez.
Horren ondorioz, CSCaren bidez sortutako irudikapenek gizarteari gertakari
berriak interpretatzeko tresnak eskaintzen dizkiote (Gilles et al., 2013). Prozesu
horrek ordea, zenbait fase bete behar ditu (Wagner et al., 2002). Fase hauek dira:
1) Kontzientzia hartzea, hau da, gertaera gizartearentzat garrantzitsutzat jotzea da.
2) Desadostasuna (dibergentzia), gertaeraren interpretazio desberdinak sortzen
dira, anbiguotasuna eta nahasmena sortuaz. 3) Konbergentzia, taldeak hitzarmen
bat onartzen du interpretazio berri bat eraikitzeko (Bartlett, 1932). 4) Normalizazioa,
gertakari berriaren azalpena ezagutza komunean integratuta dago eta, beraz,
gizarteak onartzen du. Honenbestez, sare sozialak gizarte-irudikapenen CSCaren
bidez-ko bilakaera aztertzeko iturri paregabeak izan daitezke, ingurune naturalistan
ebaluatzeko aukera eskaintzen dutelako. Izan ere, Twitterren iritziak modu ireki
eta bat-batekoan eztabaidatzen dira denbora errealean (Stubbs-Richardson et al.,
2018).
UZTARO 110, 85-102 89 Bilbo, 2019ko uztaila-iraila
Helburu eta hipotesiak
Honenbestez, sare sozialek, eta bereziki Twitterrek, egun pil-pilean dauden gaiei
buruzko gizarte-irudikapenak isla ditzakete, «La Manada» auzian gertatutakoaren
gisara, jendartea mehatxatzen duten gertaera berriei esanahia nola ematen zaien
erakutsiaz. Beraz, ikerketa honen helburu nagusia «La Manada» auziari buruz
Twitterren plazaratutako diskurtsoa aztertzea da, haren bidez landutako esanahi
sinbolikoa argitzeko. Hau da, lan honen jomuga da «La Manada» auziak zer esanahi
izan duen eta sare sozialen bidez, Collective Symbolic Coping prozesuari jarraiki,
nola aurre egin zaion. Horretarako, auzia hau pil-pilean zegoen unean Twitterren
izandako jarraipena aztertu dugu, zehazki epaia ezagutzera eman zen inguruko
asteetan.
Auzi honi buruz Twitterren landutako diskurtsoa kontrajarria izatea espero da.
Horrela, alde batetik, diskurtso feministak modu argi eta indartsuan agertzea espero
da, bereziki biktima babestuaz, marko teorikoan aipatu dugun azken urteetako
aktibismo digital feministari jarraiki. Diskurtso feministek bortxaketaren kultura
eta hura babesten dutenak (erasotzaile, epai, etab.) salatuko dituzte. Bestalde,
bortxaketaren kultura eta mitoak bultzatuko dituen diskurtso sexista ere agertzea
espero da, bereziki biktimaren erruduntasuna argudiatuaz, antzeko beste kasuetan
gertatu den erara. Bi diskurtsoetan traolen erabilera indartsua egitea espero da
Twitterren zabalkundean esanahi bereziki garrantzitsua hartu duten lanabesak
baitira traolak. Horregatik, bai talde feministek bai antifeministek erabilitako traolak
unean-unean aldatzen joatea espero da. Honenbestez, eta aipatutako guztiaren
ondorio gisara, «La Manada» auziaren gizarte-eraikuntza polemikoak eraso sexualei
buruzko gizarte-irudikapenetan eragin nabarmena izatea espero da.
2. Metodologia
2.1. Datu-bilketa
Twitterreko mezuen edo txioen2 lagina sortzeko, streaming API bidez lau astetan
zehar #lamanada traola izan zuten txio guztiak bildu ziren. Guztira, «La Manada»
kasuari buruzko 3.822 txio bildu ziren Twitterren diskurtsoaren analisi lexikoari
jarraitzeko. Txioak edo mezuak «La Manada» auziko epaia plazaratu zen dataren,
hots, 2018ko apirilaren 26aren, inguruko lau astetan zehar bildu ziren, zehazki
apirilaren 18tik maiatzaren 17ra bitartean. Aste horiek honela kodetu ziren: 0 Astea
(apirilaren 18tik apirilaren 25era), 1 Astea (apirilaren 26tik maiatzaren 2ra), 2 Astea
(maiatzaren 3tik 9ra) eta 3 Astea (maiatzaren 10etik 17ra).
2.2. Edukiaren analisia
Jasotako txioen analisi lexikala egiteko eta kasu horietan ohiko diren
fidagarritasun- eta baliozkotasun-arazoak ekidin nahian (Klein eta Licata, 2003;
Reinert, 1996), Reinert metodoa darabilen Iramuteq softwarea erabili zen (Reinert,
2. Txioak Twitter gizarte-sarean erabiltzaileek parteka ditzaketen testu soileko mezu laburrak dira.
Gehienez 280 karaktere izan ditzake txio bakoitzak
UZTARO 110, 85-102 90 Bilbo, 2019ko uztaila-iraila
1983, 1990). Metodo horren helburu nagusia testua kuantifikatzea da, haren
estruktura garrantzitsuenak erauziz testu-datuei datxekien informazio oinarrizkoena
erabili nahian. Hau da, metodo horren bidez aipaturiko txio guztietan errepikatzen
diren gai edo klase nagusiak identifikatu ahalko dira. Gainera, analisi lexikalaren
teknika baliagarria da gizarte-irudikapenen edukia aztertzeko, arloko ikerketa
klasikoen emaitzekin bat baitator (Lahlou, 1996a, 1996b).
Softwareak burututako analisiaren lehenengo urratsa corpusa testuinguruko
oinarrizko unitatetan (Elementary Contextual Units, ECU) banatzea da, zeinak esaldi
batez edo biz osatuta dauden (30-50 hitz inguru) (Kronberger eta Wagner, 2000).
ECUak eta hitz-erroak gurutzatu egin dira kontingentzia-taula bat sortzeko, zeinak
hiztegiaren banaketa azalduko duen ECUekiko. Kontingentzia-taula horretatik
abiatuta, distantzia karratuen matrize bat sortzen da, non, bi ECU hurbilekoak
izango diren, aztertutako hitzen bat partekatzen badute (Klein eta Licata, 2003;
Reinert, 1996). Ondoren, cluster analisi hierarkiko beherakor bat egiten du Iramuteq-
ek aipaturiko distantzia karratuen matrizearekin
Reinert metodoarekin burututako beste ikerketa batzuetan bezala (Vizeu
eta Bousfield, 2009), klase edo gai nagusi bakoitzeko hitz garrantzitsuenak hiru
irizpideren bidez sailkatu ziren: 1) Hitzaren errepikakortasun-maiztasuna klasean
bertan 5 baino handiagoa izatea; 2) khi karratuaren asoziazio-probaren balioa
klasearekiko χ² 32.85; df = 1 baino handiagoa izatea; eta 3) hitz horren % 50 edo
gehiago klase horri egokitu izana.
Klase lexikalak edo txioetan errepikakorrak diren gai nagusiak identifikatu ostean,
aldagai «pasibo»ekin (aldagai askeak) lotura esanguratsua duten azter daiteke. Gure
kasuan, aldagai pasiboak publikatze-asteak izan ziren. Horretarako, txio bakoitza
argitaratutako datarekin kodifikatuta sartu zen Iramuteq programan, eta horrela
ECU bakoitza informazio horrekin lotuta geratu zen. Gainera, khi karratu estatistiko
bat ere kalkulatu zuen Iramuteq-ek, klase bakoitzak aldagai askearekin duen lotura
zehazteko. Horrela, ikertzaileak klase eta estatistika-irizpide batzuk lortzen ditu hitz
tipiko eta testu tipikoen segmentu (gure kasuan txio) moduan. Horrek klaseak edo
gai nagusiak mundu lexikal gisa interpretatzeko oinarria eskaintzen du (Schonhardt-
Bailey, 2013).
Bukatzeko, analisi osagarri gisa, korrespondentzia aniztunen analisi faktoriala ere
eskaintzen digu programa horrek. Gure kasuan, analisi hori erabiliko da unean uneko
traolen jarraipena egiteko. Bai biktimarekiko traola babesleak, bai bortxaketaren
kulturaren kontrako traolak baita traola antifeministak ere.
3. Emaitzak
3.1. Txioen analisi lexikala
Iramuteq softwarearen bidez aztertutako txioen corpusak 108.045 hitz izan zituen,
non 11.958 hitz bakarrak izan ziren. Analisi hierarkiko beherakorrak corpusa 2.543
ECUtan banatu zuen eta 5 klase eratorri ziren bakoitzeko hitzik esanguratsuenekin
1. irudian ikus daitekeen bezala.
UZTARO 110, 85-102 91 Bilbo, 2019ko uztaila-iraila
1. irudia. Asoziazio askeko cluster analisi beherakorreko dendograma,
maiztasun handieneko hitzekin eta asoziazio-indize handiena duten hitzekin
X2 (1), p < 0,001. Iturria: Lanketa propioa.
Irudi horretan bildutako txio guztien artean aipatuenak diren gai nagusiak
edo klaseak ikus ditzakegu, eta ikusten dugun bezala 5 dira. Ondoren, klase
bakoitzaren barnean esanguratsuki garrantzitsuenak izan diren hitzak dauzkagu (X2
estatistikoaren bidez esanguratsuenetik ordenatzen hasita) azaldu digu programak.
Guk ikertzaile gisa klase horiek izendatu ahal izan ditugu, izenburua jarriaz.
Ondorengo lerroetan klase bakoitzean nabarmendu diren ideia garrantzitsuetan
aipatuko ditugu.
Ordena kronologikoari jarraiki lehenengo klasea, «Berehalako sententziaren
argitaratzea», 0 Astearekin lotuta agertu zen, hau da, sententziaren iragarpenaren
aurreko astean. Klase honek txioen % 13,8 biltzen zituen, horietako gehienek
sententziaren argitaratzea berehalakoa zela ikusita sarean gaiarekiko arreta piztea
zuten helburu. Klase honetako txio esanguratsuki pisutsuenak hauek lirateke:
«Adi! Ostegunean, 1:00etan. #lamanada epaia argitaratuko da. Prestatu zaitez!
Gehienez 22 urteko kartzela zigorra talde bortxaketagatik» (0 Astea; X2 = 65,45);
«Oso adi egon! Bihar #lamanada kasuko sententzia argitaratuko da! Manifestazioak
antolatzeko prest egon!» (0 Astea; X2 = 45,85).
UZTARO 110, 85-102 92 Bilbo, 2019ko uztaila-iraila
Bigarrenik, eta lehenengo asteari, hau da, sententzia plazaratu eta ondorengo
lehenengo asteari loturik bosgarren klasea dugu. Klase honek txioen % 33,8 bildu
zituen, klaserik pisutsuena izanik eta «Sententziaren kontrako protestak» gisa
izendatua izan zen. Klase honetako txio estatistikoki esanguratsuenek sententziak
gertaera abusu sexual kontsideratzea eta ez bortxaketa edo eraso sexual gogorki
salatu zuten: «Guztiok #lamanada auziko sententzia lotsagarriaren kontra! Ez da
abusua bortxaketa da» (1 Astea; X2 = 94,45); «Bost gizonek emakume bat bortxatu
zuten eta hiru epailek herrialde osoko emakumeak bortxatu gaituzte! #lamanada
amesgaiztoa da!» (1 Astea; X2 = 90,42); «#lamanada. Biktima babestu beharra dugu
eta legedia aldatu, ezin daiteke shock egoera plazerrarekin nahas dezakeen beste
sententziarik egon! Lotsa ematen dit sententziak! Agintariek biktimaren alde zerbait
egitea espero dut!» (1 Astea; X2 = 87,63); «#lamanada-ren absoluzioa eskatzeko
banako botoa eman duen epaileak dionez, bortxaketa horretan berak plazerra eta
gozamena ikusten ditu! #noesno (ez ezetz da) #Somoslamanada (gu gara taldea/
manada) » (1 Astea; X2 = 77,57).
Bidegabekeria gisa hautemandako gertaera hori salatzeko protestetarako dei
masiboa egin zen, bai kalean bai sare sozialetan traola bereziak erabiliaz, besteak
beste: #nosotrassomoslamanada (gu gara manada) (X2 = 13,12); #yositecreo (nik
sinisten zaitut) (X2 = 11.20), #noesabusoesviolacion (ez da abusua, bortxaketa da)
(X2 = 9.04), #noesno (X2 = 7.14); edo #noestassola (Ez zaude bakarrik) (X2 = 4,89).
Protestetarako deian adibide ondorengo txioak ditugu: «5 aldiz bortxatua izana
ez da sexu abusua #lamanada #noesabusoesviolacion (ez da abusua bortxaketa
da) #Yositecreo (nik sinizten zaitut) #noesno (ez ezetz da) manifestazio ikusgarria
justizia ministerioaren aurrean, #noestassola (ez zaude bakarrik) (1 Astea; X2 =
97,43 )»; «Gizarte gisa, inoiz ez dugu ahaztuko hau, #lamanada sententziaren aurka
goazen protestara!» (1 Astea; X2 = 86,56).
Azkenik, bostgarren klase honekin amaitzeko, txiolariek bereziki gogoan izan
zuten Nagore Laffageren hilketa. Iruindar gaztea 2008ko uztailaren 7an, San Fermin
egunez ere, hil zuen José Diego Yllanes-ek, berarekin sexu-harremanak izateari uko
egin ostean kolpatu, ito eta erail zuen (Duva eta Azurmendi, 2008). Honela zioten
klase honetako txio estatistikoki esanguratsuenek: «Duela 10 urteko San Ferminetan
Nagorek bere bortxatzaileari aurre egin zion! Berak kolpeka hil zuen. 8 urte pasata
libre dago. Mezua: erasotzaileari aurka egiten badiozu hil egingo zaituzte. Gaurko
mezua: erasotzaileari aurka egiten ez badiozu, ez zaituzte sinestuko #lamanada
#justiciapatriarcal (justicia patriarkala) #noesabusoesviolacion (ez da abusua
bortxaketa da)» (1 Astea; X2 = 83,45). «Haserrea justizia jauregiaren aurrean
#lamanada sententziagatik. Bortxatzea merkea da. Argi geratu zen Nagoreren
kasuan eta hau jarraipena baino ez da! Gainera haietako batzuk segurtasun indarren
parte dira, nori eskatu behar diogu laguntzeko? #lamanada #justiciapatriarcal
(justicia patriarkala) #noesno (ez ezetz da) #yositecreo (nik sinizten zaitut)»
(1 Astea; X2 = 77,86).
Ordena kronologikoari jarraiki, eta sententziaren osteko bigarren astearekin lotuta
laugarren klasea ageri da «Biktimari errua egotzi nahi diotenen kontrako aldarriak»,
UZTARO 110, 85-102 93 Bilbo, 2019ko uztaila-iraila
zeinak txioen % 14,29 biltzen dituen. Klase honetan, errua egozteko saiakerak bai
elkarteek bai banakoek (Ricardo Gonzalez epaileak kasu) egin zituztela salatzen
da, «La Manada»ko bost gizonak defendatuaz edota biktima eta bere pribatutasuna
ez errespetatuaz. Klase honen tweet estatistikoki esanguratsuenak honako hauek
dira: «Emakumeak defendatzen dituela dioen PPk 9.000 eman dizkio, # lamanada
defendatzen duen elkarte bati!» (2 Astea; X2 = 77,13); «#lamanada-ri buruz: Botere
judiziala zaborra da! biktimaren datu pribatuak zabaltzen dituzten sasikumeekin
batera» (2 Astea; X2 = 65,78); «Apurka-apurka, Ricardo Gonzalez epailearen
berezitasunak aurkitzen ari gara: eskerrik asko biktima ez kondenatzeagatik bera
bortxatu zuten #lamanada-ko gizon koitaduak iraintzeagatik! Sinestezina da!» (2
Astea; X2 = 56,65).
Azkenik, sententzia publikatu osteko hirugarren astearekin lotuta guztiz
aurkakoak diren bi klase agertu dira. Lehenik, hirugarren klasean «Diskurtso
antifeminista» dugu, txioen % 14,29 bilduaz. Diskurtso antifeministak, klase honetan
esanguratsuki garrantzitsu izan ziren hainbat traola erabili zituen, besteak beste,
#stopfeminismoradical (gelditu feminismo erradikala) (X2 = 21,00) edo # stopfeminazi
(X2 = 20,00). Klase honetan biktimari errua egozten zaio, «La Manada»ko bost
erasotzaileak gudari eta errugabe gisa irudikatzen diren bitartean. Gainera, biktima
defendatzen duen mugimendu feminista gizartearentzako gaitz bezala definitzen
da. Klase honetako txio estatistikoki esanguratsuenak hauek dira: «Zu izan zintezke,
zure anaia, zure lehengusua edota zure semea gezurretako akusazioen hurrengo
biktima #lamanada den gisa! Ekin orain! #Stopfeminazi #stopfeminismoradical
#yonotecreo (nik ez zaitut sinisten)» (3 Astea; X2 = 56,73); «Feministek diotena
egia balitz, Espainiar erdiak kartzelan egongo lirateke, horregatik, premiazko
neurriak hartu behar ditugu gerlari hauek defendatzeko #lamanda #stopfeminazis
#stopfeminismoradical» (3 Astea; X2 = 43,67); «#lamanada-ko neskatoaren aboka-
tuak ez ditu bera artatu zuten polizia lekukoak epaira deitu. Zer ezkutatu nahi du?
Arraro, arraro, arraroa #yonotecreo (nik ez zaitut sinesten)» (3 Astea; X2 = 34,87).
Halere, diskurtso antifeminista hori eta, orokorrean, bortxaketaren kultura salatuz
hirugarren aste horretan bertan bigarren klasea ere agertu zen «Salatu bortxaketaren
kultura Interneten» deitu duguna eta txioen % 23,81 batu zituena. Klase honek
bereziki salatzen ditu «forocoches» gisako Interneteko foroak: «#forocoches-en
#lamanada-ko biktimarekiko post iraingarriak daude. Erabiltzaileetako batek biktima
identifikatu duela aldarrikatzen du eta baita foro honetara bere argazki bat igo
duela ere #stopforocoches» (3 Astea; X2 = 66,57); «#forocoches-eko erabiltzaileek
#lamanada laguntzeko diru-bilketa bat egin nahi dute. #forocoches ixteaz gain
gobernuek horrelako foroei pistak ematen dizkieten komunikabideen aurka ere egin
beharko luke» (3 Astea; X2 = 54,54). Horrez gain, sarean biktima erasotu zuten beste
hainbat banako eta talde ere salatu ziren klase honetan, besteak beste honelako
txioen bidez: «2016an sexismoagatik zigortutako Santiagoko Unibertsitateko irakasle
batek orain #lamanada biktimak gozatu egin zuela dio! Pertsonaia hau behin betiko
irakasle gisa baztertu izan behar da» (3 Astea; X2 = 43.87).
UZTARO 110, 85-102 94 Bilbo, 2019ko uztaila-iraila
3.2. Traolen analisia
Txioen analisian ikusi ahal izan dugu «La Manada» auzi honen jarraipena
egiteko hainbat traola erabili zirela. Horietako batzuk klase konkretuetara lotu ziren
esanguratsuki; beste batzuk ez, ordea. Analisi osagarri gisa maiztasun altuenak izan
zituzten traolek aztertutako lau asteetan zehar izandako bilakaera ikertu genuen, eta
horretarako Iramuteq softwarearen bidez hitz horietako bakoitzaren jarraipena egin
zen. Grafikoetako puntuazio positiboek, hau da y ardatzean goranzko puntuazioek
traola hori denbora epe horretan esanguratsuki nabarmendu zela esan nahi dute,
zenbat eta altuagoa, geroz eta nabarmenagoa izan zelarik. Kontrara, puntuazio
negatiboek epe horretan ez zela agertu edo aipatu esan nahi dute.
Hiru traola talde aztertu genituen lehenik biktima babestea helburu zutenak,
besteak beste #noestassola (ez zaude bakarrik), #nosotrassomoslamanada,
#estaesnuestramanada (gu gara manada/ taldea), #yositecreohermana (nik sinisten
zaitut ahizpa), #noesabusoesviolacion (ez da abusua bortxaketa da), #yositecreo
(nik sinisten zaitut) edota #noesno (ez ezetz da). 2. irudian ikus daitekeen bezala,
traola horiek bereziki sententzia argitaratuta eta ondorengo astean nabarmendu
ziren, eta bigarren eta hirugarren asteetan asko gutxitu ziren.
2. irudia. Biktima babesteko traolen erabilera analisi-asteetan zehar.
Iturria: Lanketa propioa.
Bigarren taldean salaketa-traolak bildu genituen, justizia patriarkala, bortxaketa-
ren kultura edota forocoches-en antzeko foro sexistak salatzen zituztenak. 3. irudian
ikus dezakegun bezala, justizia patriarkala dela salatzea bereziki sententzia atera
eta ondorengo astean nabarmendu zen. Ondorengoetan bortxaketaren kulturaren
salaketa eta forocoches-en kontrako aldarriak nabarmendu ziren.
UZTARO 110, 85-102 95 Bilbo, 2019ko uztaila-iraila
Azkenik hirugarren taldean biktimaren eta diskurtso feministaren kontrako traolak
dauzkagu, zeinak sententzia argitaratu eta 3. astean nabarmenki nagusitu ziren.
Gainera 4. irudia 3. irudiarekin konparatzen badugu, ikus dezakegu nola traola horiek
oso indartsuak izan ziren sareetan, aste horretan bereziki maila altuetara helduaz.
3. irudia. Salaketa-traolen erabilera analisi-asteetan zehar.
Iturria: Lanketa propioa.
4. irudia. Traola antifeministen erabilera analisi-asteetan zehar.
Iturria: Lanketa propioa.
UZTARO 110, 85-102 96 Bilbo, 2019ko uztaila-iraila
4. Eztabaida
Ikerketa honen bidez, «La Manada» auziari atxikitako gizarte-irudikapenak aztertu
nahi izan ditugu. Horretarako Twitter erabili dugu iturri gisa, auziaren jarraipena
momentu errealean eta era naturalista batean lantzea ahalbidetu eta ulertzen
lagundu baitigu nola eman zion gizarteak esanahia ordena soziala mehatxatu duen
sexu-eraso horri. Twitterren jorraturiko «La Manada»ri buruzko diskurtsoak agerian
utzi du sexu-eraso horri buruzko gizarte-jakintza hainbat uste eta balio kulturalek
xehatu zutela, auzi polemiko hori inguratu zuten testuinguru sozial eta judiziala
baldintzatuaz.
«La Manada» auzia mugarri esanguratsua izan da gure gizarteak sexu-erasoei
buruz eraiki dituen gizarte-igurikapenak lantze aldera, eta gure emaitzek islatu
dute Collective Symbolic Coping prozesuaren hainbat fase bete dituela. Izan ere,
gure analisietan, CSCaren lau faseetako bi argi eta garbi identifikatu dira, beste
biak ez ordea, baina hori espero zitekeen oraindik gertaeretatik denbora askorik ez
baita pasa. Hasteko, kontzientzia hartzeko prozesua nahita aktibatu zuten hainbat
txiolarik sententziaren iragarpenaren aurreko egunetan, agenda setting prozesuaren
bidez (McCombs, 2004), bereziki jendea adi eta prest egoteko eskatuaz. Hau da,
«La Manada» auziari buruzko eztabaida sare sozialetan piztuta erabiltzaileek gaia
gizartearentzako esanguratsu eta garrantzitsu bihurtu nahi izan zuten.
Gainera, Twitterreko diskurtsoan dibergentzia-fase argia ere behatu ahal izan
da, gaiari buruzko interpretazio desberdinak plazaratu eta kontrajarri baitziren,
eztabaida eta jarraipen publiko sutsua sortuaz. Fase horren barnean literatura
zientifiko feministan oparo landu izan diren hainbat gai islatu ziren.
Lehenik eta behin, mugimendu feminista eta haren diskurtsoa argi eta garbi
nabarmendu ziren Twitterren, esate baterako, sexu-indarkeriaren oinarri patriarkala
salatuaz eta hari aurre egiteko eskatuaz (Durham, 2013). Izan ere, eraso sexual
horrek ez zuen soilik sare sozialen bidez deitutako aurrekaririk gabeko erantzuna izan
kaleetan, sareetan ere bortxaketaren kulturari buruzko hausnarketa esanguratsua
sortzea lortu zuen.
Fase horretan aipatutako beste gai garrantzitsuen artean, gainera, «La Manada»
kasua maila judizialean eta hainbaten artean baita jendartean ere interpretatua
izan den era bortxaketaren inguruko hainbat mitorekin bat etorri da. Biktimari errua
egotzi nahian eta aldi berean erasotzaileak babestuaz sarri aipatu zen jai-giroan
izaniko gertaera izan zela. Are gehiago, sententziak berak aldarrikatu zuen biktima
«aktiboki defendatu» ez zenez, ez zela bortxaketa edo sexu-erasorik egon, abusua
baizik. Gertaeraren interpretazio hori bereziki iraingarri eta mingarri hauteman zuten
txiolariek, are gehiago bere erasotzailetik defendatu eta ondorioz eraila izan zen
Nagore Laffageren kasua birbiziarazi baitzien. Bortxaketaren kultura eta mitoetan
oinarritutako iritziak onartezinak direla kontsideratuaz, sareetan bereziki kritikatuak
izan ziren horrelako sexu-erasoak jai-giroan ekidin ezinak, barkatu beharrekoak,
gozagarriak edota nahitaezkoak direla defendatu zutenak. Izan ere, «La Manada»
auziko sententzia bortxaketaren kulturaren barnean ernatutako justizia patriarkalaren
emaitza gisa deskribatu zuten hainbat txiolarik. Sexu-erasoen kasuetan justiziak
UZTARO 110, 85-102 97 Bilbo, 2019ko uztaila-iraila
benetan balio duen landu izan dute hainbat ikerketak (Golding, Lynch, Malik eta
Foster-Gimbel, 2018), eta emaitza gisa ondorioztatu dute justizia-eragileetako erdiek
bortxaketaren inguruko hainbat mito sakonki barneratuak zeuzkatela (Gylys eta
McNamara, 1996). Biktimaren eta biktima artatzen duten polizien arteko harremana
ere mito horiek esanguratsuki baldintzatzen dutela ere frogatu da (Page, 2008).
Beraz, horrek guztiak argi uzten digu bortxaketaren kultura gizarte mailan ez ezik,
maila judizial eta polizialean ere landu beharko litzatekeela, «La Manada» auziaren
ondorioz eskatu izan den bezala. Hau da, bortxaketa bera birkontzeptualizatu beharra
dago bortxaketaren kultura irauliaz, eta horretarako beharrezkoa da aktibista eta
ikertzaile feministek gaian lanketa irmoa egitea (Mardorossian, 2002). Bortxaketaren
kultura hainbat gizarte-praktikatan ainguratua dago maila legal zein kulturalean
(Keller et al., 2018; Mendes 2015) eta hori da bereziki sare sozialen bidez ikusarazi
beharrekoa jarraitzaileen pentsamoldea aldatuaz eta formazio feminista eskainiaz
(Sill et al., 2016).
Dibergentzia-faseari jarraiki, hainbat kasutan sare sozialak «La Manada»ren
biktima iraintzeko erabili izan ziren, baina orokorrean askoz zabalagoa izan zen
Twitterren biktima babestuaz diskurtso horien kontra sortutako mugimendua . Beraz,
diskurtso feminista eta antipatriarkalak sortu eta zabalduaz, bortxaketaren kulturari
errotik aurre egin nahi izan zioten hainbat txiolarik antzeko ildoko aurretiazko hainbat
kasutan gertatu izan den erara (Keller, 2015; Keller et al., 2018; Mendes, 2015;
Shaw, 2012; Thrift, 2014). Azpimarratu beharrekoa da ezen aktibismo feminista
digital honek eragin indartsua izan zuela «La Manada»ren kasuan, bai online
baina baita kaleetan eta hari lotutako irudikapen sozialetan ere. Antzeko ekintza
feministetan gertatu izan den antzera, #metoo kanpainan kasu, «La Manada»ren
estaldura digitalak ere ekintza eta aldaketa sozial erreala bultzatu zuen kaleetan eta
gizartean. Horren isla dugu Espainiako gobernuak sexu-erasoak epaitzeko legea
berrikustea eta aldatzea erabaki izana (Alvarez, Lorente eta Cata, 2018).
Halere, aipatu beharra dugu, arestian esan bezala eta beste hainbat sexu-
eraso kasutan gertatu izan den bezala, «La Manada» auzia salatzeko sortutako
mugimenduari kontrako erantzuna eman eta ikusarazi nahi izan zuen mugimendu
antifeminista ere plazaratu zela Twitterren (Jackson, 2018; Keller et al., 2018). Kasu
honetan, diskurtso antifeministak argudiatu zuen edozein gizon izan daitekeela
bortxaketaz akusatua feminismo erradikalak sortutako «gizonen kontrako mugimen-
duaren» ondorioz. Esanguratsua da, honenbestez, mugimendu horrek erabilitako
traola gehienek feminismoaren kontra egitea zutela helburu, besteak beste,
#stopfeminismoradical edota #stopfeminazi bezalakoak erabilita. Bukatzeko,
kontuan edukitzekoa da mugimendu antifeminista hori auzia argitaratu eta lehen
uneetan, hau da mugimendu feminista indartsu ageri izan zen lehen uneetan, ez
zela ikusgarri egin. Aste batzuk igaro arte itxaron zuen hasierako gizarte-haserrea
baretu edo ahazten joan arte, eta momentu horretaz aprobetxatu zen sareetan
presentzia nabarmena izateko.
Beraz, aztertu berri dugun dibergentzia-fasean «La Manada» kasuak, bai
sare sozialetan bai eta gizarte mailan ere, adiera anitz izan zituen, berari loturiko
esanahiek alor ezberdinetan era kontrajarrian eragin zutelarik. Denborarekin adiera
UZTARO 110, 85-102 98 Bilbo, 2019ko uztaila-iraila
horietako batzuk baztertuak izango dira eta beste batzuk onartuak (Sperber eta
Wilson, 1986), eta azkenik gizarteak onartuko duen kontakizun bateratu bat sortuko
da (Bartlett, 1932) CSCaren azken fasera helduz. Baina nabarmena den bezala,
oraindik kasua pil-pilean egonda ezinezkoa da ez normalizazio- ez konbergentzia-
fase horietara heltzea, eta denboraren poderioz auziaren esanahiak duen bilakaera
aztertu beharko litzateke berari buruzko azken irudikapena nola gauzatzen den
erdiesteko.
CSCak defendatzen du gertakari berriei buruzko gizarte-irudikapenak gizarte-
ulermena gauzatu baino lehen alda daitezkeela. Irudikapen eta jakintza berri
hauek ordura arteko eskemak apurtu eta berriak gauzatzera eraman gaitzakete
(Wagner et al., 2002). «La Manada» auzia definizio horrekin bat etorriko litzateke,
zeren inflexio-puntu bat izan baita gure gizarteak eraso sexualak eta haien trataera
mediatiko, sozial eta judiziala ulertzeko orduan. Honenbestez, ezinbesteko deritzogu
dibergentzia-fasean plazaratutako diskurtso feminista horrek indarrean jarraitzeari,
konbergentzia- eta normalizazio-faseetara heldu eta bertan gailendu arte. Hori
izango da bortxaketaren kultura eta mitoekin hausteko era bakarra, zeren horien
onarpenik eza gizartearen igurikapenetan ainguratzea lortzea baita horiek maila
sozial, juridiko, polizial edota mediatikotik ezabatzeko bidea.
Auzi hau Twitterren aztertu izanak balio erantsia eskaini dio ikerketa honi,
Twitterreko diskurtsoa jakintza berrien eraikuntzarekin batera garatzen baita, eta
sarritan prozesu honetan eragin zuzena izatea ere lortzen du ikerketa honetan
ikusi ahal izan dugun bezala. Hau da, Twitterren gauzatutako «La Manada» auziari
buruzko diskurtso publiko eta parte-hartzaileak banakoak ere jakintzaren eraikuntzan
agente aktibo bihurtu ditu, eta ez soilik orain arte bezala komunikabide boteretsuak.
Ikerlan honek hainbat muga izan ditzake, hasteko Twitterreko erabiltzaileak ez
dira gizarte osoaren isla eta, beraz, gizarte guztiko taldeen ideiak ez dira diskurtso
horietan islatuta egongo. Bestalde, aztertutako denbora-epea ere laburra da,
azterketa hau osatzeko beharrezkoa litzateke hilabete edo urteetan zehar gaiaren
jarraipenarekin jarraitzea.
Laburbilduz, ikerketa honek berebiziko gakoak eskaini dizkigu sare sozialetako
diskurtsoak eraso sexualei buruzko gizarte-jakintza nola isla eta transforma
dezakeen ulertzeko. Gizarte moderno kontsideratuetan ere, oraindik bortxaketaren
kultura indartsu iltzatua dago gure irudikapenetan eta horren aurrean sare sozialen
bidezko komunikazio parte-hartzailea ezinbesteko lanabes bilakatzen ari da haren
kontra diskurtso feministak erabiliaz lan egiteko.
UZTARO 110, 85-102 99 Bilbo, 2019ko uztaila-iraila
5. Bibliografia
Alvarez, P. (2018): « Juristas y expertas feministas critican la sentencia de La Manada:
“Es una vergüenza”», El País, 2018ko apirilaren 26a, <https://elpais.com/
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Photograph by Gonzalo Echeverria (2010)“Beyond reasonable doubt” is the standard of proof for criminal cases in a court of law. However, what happens when doubt, reasonable or otherwise, is embedded in the media reporting of criminal cases, even before charges have been laid? This paper will analyse newspaper reports of recent rape cases involving Australian footballers, and identify narrative figures that are used to locate blame solely with the alleged victims, protecting the footballers from blame. I uncover several stock female “characters” which evoke doubt in the women’s claims: the Predatory Woman, who hunts down footballers for sex and is always sexually available to any and all footballers; the Woman Scorned, who makes a false rape complaint out of revenge; and the Gold Digger, who makes a false complaint for money. I will argue that the news media thus effectively provide footballers with a criminal defence, before the cases can even reach court. Rape and Football in Australia The issue of football and rape first came to mass public attention in February 2004, when six players from National Rugby League (NRL) team the Canterbury Bulldogs allegedly raped a woman while at a New South Wales resort. Two weeks later, two players from the St Kilda Australian Football League (AFL) team allegedly raped a woman following their pre-season cup victory. These two football codes are the nation’s most popular, with rugby league dominating the north-eastern states, with the southern, eastern and western the domain of Australian Rules. In neither case were charges laid, and although at least twenty distinct cases have been reported in the Australian media, involving more than fifty-six footballers and officials, only one–NRL star Brett Stewart–has yet been tried. Stewart was acquitted in September 2010. Former AFL footballer Andrew Lovett has also been ordered to stand trial in July 2011 for allegedly raping a woman on Christmas Eve, 2009. Nevertheless, the majority of cases never reach court. In criminal cases, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) ultimately decides whether to pursue charges through the courts, and, as most cases will be decided by a jury drawn from the general public, the DPP must decide whether the general public would accept the prosecution’s evidence as proof of guilt “beyond reasonable doubt.” This means that if a jury retains any doubt that the accused person is guilty, as long as that doubt is reasonable, they must return a verdict of “not guilty.” Public opinion in high-profile cases is therefore extremely important. If the DPP perceives a high level of public scepticism about a particular case, this indicates that the likelihood of the general public accepting the prosecution’s evidence is low, and they will often decide not to pursue the case. My analysis will show that media reports of the cases, which were published before any decision about laying criminal charges was made, can in fact work to create doubt, taking popular, victim-blaming stories to cast doubt on the complainants’ testimonies. Thus “reasonable doubt,” or a doubt that seems reasonable to many or most readers, is created before the case can even reach court. Predatory Women, Gold Diggers and Women Scorned When debate began in 2004 and explanations were sought for the high numbers of cases, stories abounded in which women have consensual sex with footballers, and then make a false rape complaint. I identify the principal characters of these stories as the Predatory Woman, Gold Digger and Woman Scorned. These stories were particularly prevalent amongst football representatives, blog contributors and talkback radio callers. Some media commentators provided alternative explanations (Magnay, for example), and others were explicitly critical of such stories (Pinkney, Wilson, for example); however, other journalists in fact evoked these same stereotypes. All of these characters have “common currency” (Smart 39), and have been used by defence lawyers in criminal trials for centuries, which means they are likely to be believed. These commentators therefore (indirectly) portray the complainants as liars, and reinforce the pervasive victim-blaming discourses in the wider public. The Predatory Woman The Predatory Woman character can be traced back at least as far as the early nineteenth century, when so-called “fallen” women were frequently “scorned as predatory creatures who lured young men into sin” (Clark 59). In her study of newspaper articles on football and sexual assault, gender theorist Kim Toffoletti identified the “predatory female” as a recurrent figure who is used to portray footballers as victims of “deviant” female sexuality (432-3). Toffoletti argues that the assumption underlying the use of the predatory female is that “incidents of sexual assault can occur when women deviate from the ‘conventions’ of heterosexual relations that expect them to be passive and sexually available, and men to exude sexual virility” (433). However, I argue that commentators’ usage often carries this further, and rather than using the story to claim that a victim of rape “deserved” it, the Predatory Woman actually serves as a replacement for the Raped Woman, therefore implicitly claiming that the complainant was lying. The Predatory Woman is the aggressor in all sexual encounters with footballers, a “sexual predator” (McCabe 31) who is said to “target” players and “hunt in packs” (Lyon 1). In a 2004 interview, one footballer described the phenomenon as “frightening” (McCabe 31), and another in 2009 claimed that footballers are “given temptations,” and “some of them [women] are downright predators” (Cunningham 30). The hunting animal metaphor clearly represents women as sexual aggressors, virtually suggesting that they are committing violent acts–moving in on unsuspecting footballers for the “kill” (sex). Thus portraying a complainant as one who seeks out sex with footballers implies that she victimised the players. As a woman cannot be both sexual aggressor and rape victim, the character of the Predatory Woman replaces that of the Raped Woman, therefore invalidating a complainant’s testimony and creating doubt. The Woman Scorned The Woman Scorned, another popular character in footballer sexual assault narratives, has also been evoked by the defence in criminal rape trials for centuries (Sanday; Benedict 2, 39-40, 83; Larcombe 100, 104-106, 111; Lees 78). The prevalence of footballers’ beliefs in the Woman Scorned story when NRL player Simon Williams commented about the prevalence of group sex/rape incidents involving NRL players on the 2009 Four Corners “Code of Silence” episode: It’s not during the act, it’s the way you treat them after it. Most of them could have been avoided, if they [players] had put them [women] in a cab and said thanks or that sort of thing not just kicked her out and called her a dirty whatever. It’s how you treat them afterwards that can cover a lot of that stuff up. Williams’ implicit claim here is that no woman would make a rape complaint as long as footballers always “said thanks” after sex. He thus implies that “most” of the complaints have been about revenge from women who felt mistreated after consensual sex: Women Scorned. The Gold Digger The Gold Digger is also an established character in both football rape stories and criminal rape trials; Peggy Sanday identifies her in cases dating from the eighteenth century. In rape cases, the Gold Digger can be evoked when a prominent and/or wealthy man–such as a noble in the eighteenth century, or a footballer in the present context–is accused of rape, whether or not the alleged victim seeks or receives a financial settlement. Many football fans evoked the Gold Digger on Internet blog sites, even when there were no observable characteristics corresponding to the Gold Digger in any of the media narratives. One declared: “My mum said she was probably being a slut, then after they ‘did’ her, she decided 2 say summin coz she thought she could get money or summin out of it [sic]” (in Baird 41). The Gold Digger stereotype invalidates a rape complaint, as a woman who alleges rape for financial gain must be lying, and was therefore not raped. Her claims are to be doubted. Narrative Immunity From 2009 onward, although traces of these characters remained, the focus of the debate shifted, from the possibility of sexual assault to players’ alcohol intake and the prevalence of “group sex.” Nina Philadelphoff-Puren identifies implicit claims that the complainants were lying in the statements of football representatives (37, 41-43), which imply that they must be Predatory Women, Women Scorned or Gold Diggers. In order to show clearly how journalists mobilised these characters more directly to evoke doubt, I conducted a search of the “Newsbank” newspaper database, for opinion pieces that sought to explain why the allegations were made, using varying combinations of the search terms “AFL,” “NRL,” “football,” “sexual assault,” “rape,” “rugby,” “sexual violence,” “sex” and “women.” Articles were sought in broadsheet newspapers The Age (Melbourne) and The Sydney Morning Herald, and tabloids The Herald Sun (Melbourne) and Daily Telegraph (Sydney), the most widely read newspapers in the cities where the alleged incidents occurred. The time-frame selected was 27 February 2004 to 1 May 2004, which covered the period from when the Canterbury Bulldogs case was first reported, until debate died down after the announcement that no charges would be laid against St Kilda footballers Steven Milne and Leigh Montagna. Twenty articles were collected for analysis: two from the Daily Telegraph, eight from the Herald Sun, seven from the Age, and three from the Sydney Morning Herald. Of these, half (ten) overtly blamed the alleged victims, with seven of those explicitly evoking Predatory Woman, Woman Scorned and/or Gold Digger stereotypes, and one strongly implying them. Although it might be expected that tabloid newspapers would be much more likely to (re-)produce popular stereotypes than broadsheets, the same numbers were found in each type of newspaper. The “common currency” (Smart 39) these stories have means that they are more likely to be considered credible than other stories. Their use by respected media commentators–particularly broadsheet journalists, whose publications lay claim to an educated readership and more progressive attitudes–is of even greater significance. In this paper, I will analyse three broadsheet articles in detail, in order to illustrate the various strategies used to evoke the stereotyped characters for an educated readership. The articles selected are by writers from very different backgrounds–a former footballer, a feminist and a “life-skills” coach to AFL footballers–and although it might seem that they would provide markedly different perspectives on the issue, I will show that all three evoke stereotypes that cast doubt on the complainants’ claims. The Story of the “Insider” Former AFL footballer Tim Watson’s “AFL Players and the Trouble Zone” was published shortly after the allegations against the St Kilda AFL players were made public in 2004. The article features a number of Predatory Women, who make “victims” of footballers; however, while Watson does not provide direct narrative accounts of the alleged rapes, he instead recounts narratives of other interactions between footballers and women. Predatory Women therefore come to replace Raped Women as characters and invalidate the alleged victims’ claims; as Watson represents these women as the sole agents, full responsibility for these incidents is attributed to women. The bulk of Watson’s article relates two stories unconnected with any (known) sexual assault cases, about AFL teams travelling to the country for training and being harassed by women. Placing the narratives immediately after warnings about “trouble zones,” when the article is clearly responding to the sexual assault allegations, suggests that his narratives explain what “potential trouble” and “trouble zones” are. He therefore implies that his narratives illustrate what “really” happened with the St Kilda (and Canterbury) players. The only instances where players are given grammatical agency in this narrative is when they “mingled with the locals” and “left the function as a group”; all the narrative action is attributed to women. Mingling has no sexual connotation, and “the locals” is a gender neutral term, implying that the players’ only action at the function was to interact with men and women in a non-sexual way. The characters of “a couple of girls” are introduced, and according to Watson these “girls” made it clear to everyone that they were keen to attract the attention of a couple of the players. One girl was so convinced of her intentions that she sidled up to the coach to explain to him what she planned to do later in the night to one of his players. The team left the function as a group and went back to the hotel without the adoring fans. In order to portray the women more clearly as the sole sexual aggressors–Predatory Women–Watson leaves out any events where players actively participate, events which are highly likely to have occurred. For example, in Watson’s narrative there is no two-way flirtation, and the players do not seek out, encourage or even respond in any (positive) way to the female attention they receive, although anecdotal evidence suggests this is extremely unlikely to have happened (Mewett and Toffoletti 170, 172-73). The women are only grammatical agents with intentions–their agency relates to what they plan to do–however, emphasising the fact that the team left as a group suggests that it was only this defensive action which prevented the women from carrying out their intentions and instigating sexual activity. Using “sidled” rather than “went” or “approached” characterises the woman as sly and manipulative, casting her in a negative light and adding to the sense that she was solely responsible. The second story is described as “almost identical” to the first, but Watson takes even greater pains to emphasise the players’ passivity, again portraying them as victims of Predatory Women. Watson attaches only the passive voice to the players: he says that they were “woken in their hotel rooms” and “subject to determined, but unwanted, advances.” The women are entirely absent from these statements. They appear only as shadows presumed responsible for waking the players and making the unwanted advances. This erasure of the female agent only emphasises the players’ passivity in the face of female seduction and general resistance to overwhelming female sexual aggression. As in the first story, the only action attributed to a footballer is defensive: a senior player convincing the women to leave. This reinforces the idea that male footballers are the victims when it comes to casual sexual relations, and casts doubt on any claims of rape. The Story of the “Insider-Outsider” The second article, “When an Elite Footballer Has Sex with a Girl…,” is by “life skills” coach to AFL players Damien Foster, who calls himself “a classic insider-outsider” to football (SBS). As a partial outsider, Foster would therefore presumably have less vested interest in protecting footballers than Watson; however, his narrative also denies the complaints’ credibility, clearly evoking a victim-blaming character: the Woman Scorned. Foster obliquely claims that the St Kilda and Canterbury cases arose simply because women and men view sex differently and therefore “a footballer may land himself in trouble because it just doesn’t occur to him to develop tactful, diplomatic methods of saying goodbye”. He continues, “When the girl [sic] realises the total indifference with which she is being treated after intimacy, bitterness sets in and it lingers. There are many girls in Australia now in this situation.” While Foster does not directly say that the “girls” who made rape complaints against the Bulldogs and St Kilda are Women Scorned, the fact that this story is used to explain why the allegations were made says it for him. According to Foster’s logic, if footballers learnt to say “thanks, love, that was great” after sex, then no rape complaints would ever be made. A “Feminist” Story? Controversial feminist Germaine Greer would seem even more likely to avoid victim-blame than men involved with football clubs, and she does not follow Watson’s portrayal of utterly passive, squeaky-clean footballers, or Foster’s narrative of undiplomatic players. In “Ugly Sex Has Just Got a Lot Louder,” she does acknowledge that some harm may have been done; however, Greer nevertheless portrays the complainants as Predatory Women, Women Scorned and Gold Diggers. Greer elects to tell a “history” of male footballer-female interactions, establishing male athletes’ disrespect for and mistreatment of women as a given. However, she goes on to evoke the Predatory Woman, portraying her as utterly desperate and willing to go to any lengths to have contact with players. Greer laments, good family men have been known to succumb to the groupies’ onslaught, believing that as long as they don’t kiss these desperate creatures, as long as they make no move that could be interpreted as a sign of affection, they haven’t been genuinely unfaithful to their wives and sweethearts. Indeed, the more brutal the treatment of the women they have casual sex with, the less they have to reproach themselves for. Pack rape in such circumstances can come to seem guiltless, a condign punishment for being a stupid slag, even. This explanation of footballers’ behaviour contains several grammatical patterns which represent the players as passive and not responsible for anything that takes place. In the first sentence, the only things these footballers actually do are succumbing and believing, both passive verbs; the rest of the sentence is devoted to what they do not do: “as long as they don’t kiss… as long as they make no move.” Thus it would seem that the players do not actively participate in the sexual activity instigated by these women, that they simply lie back and allow the women to do as they will. That the women are labelled “desperate creatures” who launch an “onslaught” to which footballers “succumb” confirms their sexual aggression. Although the second and third sentences depict violence and rape, these actions are not directly attributed to the players. The brutal treatment of the women the players have casual sex with has no grammatical agent–“the more brutal the treatment of the women they have casual sex with”–dissociating them from the brutality and subtly implying that “someone else” is responsible for it. Similarly, “pack rape” has no agent: no player commits or is involved in it, and it appears to happen independently of them. As Susan Ehrlich demonstrates, this denial of agency is a common tactic for accused rapists to use, in order to deny that they were responsible for their actions (36-61). Thus Greer uses the same grammatical patterns which deflect blame away from footballers, even when the behaviour involved is violent rape. This continual emphasis on the players’ passivity reinforces the portrayal of the women as sexually aggressive Predatory Women. Greer also introduces the figures of the Woman Scorned and Gold Digger. She claims that the only difference between the “old days” and the present scenarios is that now women are “not embarrassed to say that they agreed to sex with one man they’d only just met, or even with two, but they hadn’t agreed to being brutalised, insulted or humiliated, and they want redress.” This paragraph appears almost directly after the one where Greer mentions pack rape and violence, and it may seem therefore that the redress these women seek is for rape. However, since Greer claims that at least some of the women who “want redress” want it because they have been “insulted or humiliated,” rather than raped, this evokes the Woman Scorned. Greer continues by introducing the Gold Digger as a further (and complementary) explanation for these insulted and humiliated women to seek “redress.” Greer writes that women now “also seem quite interested in another factor in sex with footballers – namely, indecent amounts of money.” With this statement, she implies that some women have sex with footballers just so that they can make a rape complaint afterwards and obtain a large payment. She concedes that the women who make allegations against footballers may have been “abused,” but she trivialises them by claiming that they “scream and holler,” portraying them as hysterical. She thus discredits them and casts doubt on their claims. Greer ignores the fact that only one woman has either sought or obtained a financial settlement from footballers for a case of rape, and this woman only applied for it after charges against the players responsible were dropped. Whilst this argument is clearly unfounded, the strength of the Gold Digger story, along with the Woman Scorned and Predatory Woman, is likely to give the impression that the rape complaints made against the footballers were unfounded. Conclusion: The Benefit of the Doubt The fact that a significant number of media commentators employed tactics similar to those defence lawyers use in rape trials suggests that a de facto “trial” took place; one in which stories that discredit the complainants were prominent. These stories were enough to evoke “(un)reasonable doubt” in the women’s claims, and the accused footballers were therefore “acquitted.” That doubt can be evoked so easily in such high-profile cases is particularly problematic as rape cases in general are those least likely to be believed (Jordan 64-83). Further, many victims state that the fear of disbelief is one of the most important factors in deciding not to pursue criminal charges (Warshaw 50). Even if one leaves aside the likelihood that the prevalence of doubt in the media and the “blogosphere” contributed to the DPP’s decision not to pursue charges, the media “acquittal” is likely to have two further effects: it may deter future complainants from coming forward, if they assume that their claims will similarly be doubted; and it contributes to more generalised beliefs that women habitually lie about rape, particularly those who accuse footballers. While of course any accused person must be held innocent until proven guilty, it is equally important to give an alleged victim the benefit of the doubt, and not presume that all rape complainants are liars unless proven otherwise. References “Code of Silence.” Four Corners. ABC, 11 May. 2009. Television. Baird, Julia. “All Together, Boys, for a Weekend Roast.” Sydney Morning Herald 28 February. 2004: 41. Benedict, Jeff. Athletes and Acquaintance Rape. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, 1998. Clark, Anna. Women’s Silence, Men’s Violence: Sexual Assault in England 1770-1845. New York: Pandora Press, 1987. Cunningham, Ryan. “A Footballer’s Life: Confusion, Temptation and Guilt by Association.” Sydney Morning Herald 19 Jun. 2009: 30. Ehrlich, Susan. Representing Rape: Language and Sexual Consent. London: Routledge, 2001. Foster, Damien. “When an Elite Footballer Has Sex with a Girl...” Age 23 Mar. 2004: 13. “Foul Play.” Insight. SBS, 16 Apr. 2004. Television. Greer, Germaine. “Ugly Sex Has Just Got a Lot Louder.” Age 23 Mar. 2004: 1, 17. Jordan, Jan. The Word of a Woman?: Police, Rape and Belief. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. Larcombe, Wendy. Compelling Engagements: Feminism, Rape Law and Romance Fiction. Sydney: Federation Press, 2005. Lees, Sue. Ruling Passions. Buckingham: Open UP, 1997. Lyon, Karen. “They Love Their Footy, But Can They Keep the Faith?” Age 20 Mar. 2004: 1. Magnay, Jacquelin. “What Dogs Do.” Sydney Morning Herald 28 Feb. 2004: 31 McCabe, Helen. “Perilous Games of Sport and Sex.” Daily Telegraph 1 May. 2004: 31. Mewett, Peter, and Kim Toffoletti. “Rogue Men and Predatory Women: Female Fans’ Perceptions of Australian Footballers’ Sexual Conduct.” International Review for the Sociology of Sport 43.2 (2008): 165-80. Pinkney, Matthew. “Don’t Make Their Excuses.” Herald Sun 22 March. 2004: 18. Philadelphoff-Puren, Nina. “Dereliction: Women, Rape and Football.” Australian Feminist Law Journal 17. (2004): 35-51. Sanday, Peggy Reeves. A Woman Scorned: Acquaintance Rape on Trial. Berkeley: U of California P, 1996. Smart, Carol. Feminism and the Power of Law. London: Routledge, 1989. Toffoletti, Kim. “How Is Gender-Based Violence Covered in the Sporting News? An Account of the Australian Football League Sex Scandal.” Women’s Studies International Forum 30 (2007): 427-38. Warshaw, Robin. I Never Called It Rape: The Ms. Report on Recognizing, Fighting, and Surviving Date and Acquaintance Rape. New York: HarperPerennial, 1994. Watson, Tim. “AFL Players and the Trouble Zone.” Age 18 Mar. 2004: 16. Wilson, Caroline. “All the Dirty Linen Must — and Will — Be Aired.” Age, 21 Mar. 2004: 4.
Article
Social media has become an important aspect of contemporary culture and cultural change; it has accordingly become a valuable resource for informing feminist theory. Social media is a digitized social reality that lends itself to analysis and research. This study examines rape culture in the widely used social media platform, Twitter. We collected tweets from four days surrounding the Torrington and Steubenville Rape Trials and the Rehtaeh Parson’s story of rape, victimization, and suicide. Using qualitative content analysis, we identified three themes related to rape culture: (1) the virgin–whore binary and the just world, (2) sharing information on the sexual assault cases as subnews, and (3) rape myth debunking to support victims. Additional analysis indicated that Twitter users who engaged in victim blaming were more likely to be retweeted and have more followers than Twitter users who engaged in tweeting victim support content. The research demonstrates that rape culture is an aspect of social media and that data about rape culture can be readily accessed and studied. It also suggests that in future research, social media can be used to study how individuals and groups who are exhibiting rape culture interact with others who are engaged in victim support.
Article
Over recent years, young feminist activism has assumed prominence in mainstream media where news headlines herald the efforts of schoolgirls in fighting sexism, sexual violence and inequity. Less visible in the public eye, girls' activism plays out in social media where they can speak out about gender based injustices experienced and witnessed. Yet we know relatively little about this significant social moment wherein an increasing visibility of young feminism cohabits a stubbornly persistent postfeminist culture. Acknowledging the hiatus, this paper draws on a qualitative project with teenage feminists to explore how girls are using and producing digital feminist media, what it means for them to do so, and how their online practice connects with their offline feminism. Using a feminist poststructuralist approach, analyses identified three key constructions of digital media as a tool for feminist practice: online feminism as precarious and as knowledge-sharing; and feminism as 'doing something' on/offline. Discussing these findings, I argue that there is marked continuity between girls' practices in 'safe' digital spaces and feminisms practiced in other historical and geographical locations. But crucially, and perhaps distinctly, digital media are a key tool to connect girls with feminism and with other feminists in local and global contexts.