Decatastrophising the hilarious re-victimisation and re-stigmatisation of child-rape victims through bleeding journalism

Abstract

Journalism plays very vital roles in news reporting and information dissemination; however, there are some vices associated with it. This study is to bring to the fore, the yet-to-be-showcased, unethical journalism, and disturbing public health issues, concerning certain hilariously presented news reportages of sad and tragic occurrences by some radio stations in SouthWest Nigeria. Narrative contents and nature of unethical media reportage of child sexual abuses and child-rapes (occasionally involving feminicides), were monitored between November 1, 2018 and July 26, 2022. Brief, structured interactive interviews were also conducted on 20 to 67 years old, 186 (101 males and 85 females) selected respondents from Yoruba-speaking states. Respondents were to review how the customised hilarious and sexualised Yoruba news on child-rapes, majorly impacted listeners. Findings showed that, news highlights and major news culled from national daily newspapers were commonly made jests of, as well as, disclosures of rape victims' identities, including names, and other family's identities, locations or/and addresses, during such media reportages. Irrespective of age, tribal Yoruba origin, religion, educational status or occupation, 90.86% of the briefly-interviewed radio listeners opined that the particular news reportages were insensitive, highly improper, trivialise crime of child-rapes as entertaining journalism; thereby, severely distort the reality of hazards of child-rapes, and the disturbing effect to public mental health, which ultimately impact negatively in shaping public opinions.

Full text

Decatastrophising the hilarious re-victimisation and
re-stigmatisation of child-rape victims through bleeding
journalism
*A
DENIKE
A
DEDAYO
O
GUNSHE
Abstract
Journalism plays very vital roles in news reporting and information dissemination; however, there are some vices
associated with it. This study is to bring to the fore, the yet-to-be-showcased, unethical journalism, and disturbing
public health issues, concerning certain hilariously presented news reportages of sad and tragic occurrences by some
radio stations in South-West Nigeria. Narrative contents and nature of unethical media reportage of child sexual
abuses and child-rapes (occasionally involving feminicides), were monitored between November 1, 2018 and July 26,
2022. Brief, structured interactive interviews were also conducted on 20 to 67 years old, 186 (101 males and 85
females) selected respondents from Yoruba-speaking states. Respondents were to review how the customised
hilarious and sexualised Yoruba news on child-rapes, majorly impacted listeners. Findings showed that, news
highlights and major news culled from national daily newspapers were commonly made jests of, as well as,
disclosures of rape victims’ identities, including names, and other family’s identities, locations or/and addresses,
during such media reportages. Irrespective of age, tribal Yoruba origin, religion, educational status or occupation,
90.86% of the briefly-interviewed radio listeners opined that the particular news reportages were insensitive, highly
improper, trivialise crime of child-rapes as entertaining journalism; thereby, severely distort the reality of hazards of
child-rapes, and the disturbing effect to public mental health, which ultimately impact negatively in shaping public
opinions.
Key Words: Child Protection Rights, child-rapes news reportage, National Broadcasting Corporation, Sustainable
Development Goals, unethical journalism.
Introduction
Child sexual assault (abuse) is a very serious
global tragedy of tremendous magnitude, which
affect children of all ages, genders, races,
ethnicities, socioeconomic classes, and also with
widely varying estimates, but with huge numbers
of victims (Singh, Parsekar & Nair, 2014; Walsh,
Zwi, Woolfenden & Shlonsky, 2015; Badoe, 2017;
WHO, 2017; Ortiz-Ospina & Roser, 2019;
Banvard-Fox, Linger, Paulson, Cottrell &
Davidov, 2020; Orjinmo, 2020; Fix, Busso,
Mendelson & Letourneau, 2021; Longobardi,
Malacrea, Giulini, Settanni & Fabris, 2022). Child
violence that are based on parental physical
discipline, corporal punishment, school violence,
community violence, etc., usually vary in
classification and magnitude, depending on
countries, law enforcement, judicial systems,
human rights impacts, etc.; whereas, child sexual
assaults are much more generally devastating.
From the excerpt of Rizvi et al. (2022), it was
reported that substantial morbidity and mortality
are associated with child abuses, due to the
children's inability to protect themselves, including
vulnerability of teenage boys (Abramson & Bland-
Abramson, 2022), It was as well estimated at a
time that globally, 120 million females less than
20 years of age have suffered some form of forced
sexual contacts (UNCEF, 2014; WHO, 2017), As
an example, a NOIPolls results of July 2019
suggested that one in every three girls living in
Nigeria could have experienced, at least one form
of sexual assault by age 25 years (Orjinmo, 2020).
Presently, and less than a decade remaining to
achieve the projected 2030 United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets on
ending violence against children, it is quite sad to
Author’s Bio
* Adenike Adedayo Ogunshe is a microbiologist and a director of Pegasus-Zion Community & Environmental Health, Nigeria,
Ibadan, Nigeria. Her areas of research interest include, Community Health, Educational Health, Environmental Health,
General Public Health, Health, Safety & Environment, Gender-Based Issues, Wellbeing & Wellness, as well as,
STEM. She is also an Ambassador of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) of Nigeria.
JCMR
Journal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 14, No. 2, October 2022, pp. 85-96

86 Journal of Communication and Media Research Vol. 14, No. 2, October 2022
note that children are still not safe from the
dastardly criminal activities of child sexual abuses,
which are even, likely at the global epidemic
levels, Nigeria inclusive.
Sexual socialisation, which is part of every
Nigerian culture and family, has never been as
much further abused, as in present times, and
specifically, through the electronic and social
media. In comparison to the olden-days, when
mental-health-damaging contents were rarely
portrayed, the electronic-media’s sexual-contents
in the modern-day media, are prevalently
offensive, with very vivid and high-risk contents
of active sexual irresponsibility. These are in form
of negatively-influencing advertisements,
programmes, home-videos, and especially, musical
breaks (Kunkel, Eyal, Biely, Finnerty &
Donnerstein, 2005; Srivastava, Chaudhury, Bhat &
Mujawar1, 2018). In recent rimes also, viewers are
continually assaulted with gendered-sexual scripts
and sexual objectifications in videos and audios.
More disturbingly, certain musical lyrics,
including those that are local musical videos and
audios are mostly with sex-laden contents, and
commonly-seductive musical nudity, in cases of
videos. Portrayal of all the pornographied
entertaining contents and sexual behaviours in
media however, have profound contributory
inducements on many young and full adults, some
of who thereby, take undue advantages of the
vulnerabilities of children, by sexually violating
them with gross impunity; leading to many acute
or long-term effects and consequences (Springer,
Sheridan, Kuo & Carnes, 2003; Kennedy & Prock,
2016; Obasi & Onagoruwa, 2019; Alhassan,
2020).
Sexual abuse of children, though, one of the
most challenging types of abuses to detect (Eke,
Sonkaya & Ulucan, 2022), is a form of serious
maltreatment, and which provokes reactions of
indignation and disguised incomprehensibility in
all cultures. This is especially, since these assault-
related sexual problems can be chronic to the
victims for several years or for a lifetime. In over
the past two decades, there have been progressing
cases of child-rapes in Nigeria, almost up to an
epidemic status, and at times, even, involving
babies less than six-months old. A peculiar
situation about rapes of children is abduction-
related rapes of minors. This was the case of the
Boko Haram (Western Education is forbidden)
terrorists’ group that stormed a public school,
Government Girls’ Secondary School (GGSS), in
Chibok, Borno State, in Northeast of Nigeria, on
April 14, 2014. The 279 girls, abducted from their
dormitories, were driven in trucks toward the
lawless cover of the Sambisa Forest, which is a
nature reserve that the group had taken over for
several years (Strochlic. 2021). Till date however,
in spite of the promises to crush Boko haram,
which was made by Nigerian President
Muhammadu Buhari, during his first-term election
campaign in 2015, about 112 of the Chibok girls
are reportedly still in Boko haram captivity, and
some of those released returned as forced-to-be
mothers, having been impregnated as minors while
in captivity. There were other subsequent similar
abductions of minors, such as, abduction of 113
school girls in Dapchi, in 2018, kidnap of boys
from Kangara School, Niger State, on February 17,
2021. the about 300 abducted girls from
Government Junior Secondary School in Jangebe,
Zamfara State, on February 2021, etc. (Hegarty,
2016; BBC, 2017, 2021; Al Jazeera, 2021; Nasiru,
2021; Strochlic, 2021).
Some of the major disturbing issues affecting
child-rape victims, most of whom are even less
than 16 years old are, gynaecological trauma and
morbidities, like, prevalent risks of pregnancy,
receiving emergency hormonal contraception, and
needed termination of pregnancies. Other adverse
effects of child sexual abuses include, speculum
examinations while screening for aetiologic agents
of corresponding sexually transmitted infections
(STIs), such as, Candida species (candidasis),
Chlamydia trachomatis (chlamydial infection),
Trichomonas vaginalis (trichomoniasis),
Treponema palladium (syphilis), Neisseria
gonorrhoeae (gonorrhoea), herpes simplex virus
(genital herpes), hepatitis virus (hepatitis B,
hepatitis C), Human Immunodeficiency Virus
(HIV), Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID), genital
warts, Pediculosis pubis, etc. There were also
occasions when multiple STIs were diagnosed in
child-rape victims (Richter et al., 2014; Krajewski
et al., 2016; Rogstad et al., 2016; Costa-Silva et
al., 2017; Banvard-Fox et al., 2020; Rahnavardi et
al., 2022). Antibiotic and antifungal prophylaxis
or / and therapy are sometimes administered in
cases of child sexual abuse, due to bacterial and
fungal STIs, while antiretroviral medications for
treatment of HIV /AIDS, hepatitis B vaccination,
and contraceptives, could be offered to survivors
of child-rape as well. In most cases in developing
and resource-limited countries however,
administered antimicrobial medications may be
substandard/counterfeit, adulterated or expired
(Ogunshe, Adepoju & Oladimeji, 2011; Ogunshe
& Adinmonyema, 2014; Askarian et al., 2022;
Ogunshe, Ekanola, Omolaja & Adewale, 2020),
and this happens to be another devastating
consequence for rape victims.
The aftermaths of child sexual abuse extend
beyond physical injuries, STIs, and deaths.

Ogunshe Decatastrophising Re-Victimisation and Re-Stigmatisation of Child-Rape… 87
Hundreds of millions of instances of sexual
violence against children have various additional
adverse effects relayed to psychological, physical,
and interpersonal well-being of the victims;
leading to a wide range of post-traumatic
outcomes like, deviant behavioural responses,
compulsive sexual behaviours (also termed, sexual
maladjustment, sexual compulsivity, sexual
impulsivity, hyper-sexuality, out-of-control sexual
behaviour, problematic sexual behaviour, or sexual
addiction, sexually assaultive behaviour / sexual
aggression, prostitution, revictimisation, and
sexual abuse perpetration in adolescence, etc.).
Depression, anxiety, other severe mental illnesses,
shame, increased likelihood to develop chronic
physical and mental diseases/disorders like,
substance abuse, suicidal ideations (often called
suicidal thoughts or ideas - a broad term used to
describe a range of contemplations, wishes, and
preoccupations with death and suicide), etc., are all
prognoses of child sexual abuses (Richter,
Komárek, Desmond, Celentano, Morin, Sweat,
Chariyalertsak, Chingono, Gray, Mbwambo &
Coates, 2014; Vrolijk-Bosschaart, Brilleslijper-
Kater, Widdershoven, Teeuw, Verlinden, Voskes,
van Duin, Verhoeff, Benninga & Lindauer, 2017;
van Duin, Verlinden, Vrolijk-Bosschaart, Diehle,
Verhoeff, Brilleslijper-Kater & Lindauer, 2018;
Banvard-Fox et al., 2020; Slavin, Scoglio,
Blycker, Potenza & Kraus, 2020; Belay &
Deressa, 2021; Chae, Shin, Ji, Choi, Lee, Hong,
Park, Kim, Lee, Kim, Kim & Kim, 2021; Harmer,
Lee, Duong & Saadabadi, 2021; Werbeloff,
Thygesen, Hayes, Viding, Johnson & Osborn,
2021).
In spite of severe adverse effects of child-
rapes, most doctors and other healthcare
professionals do not possess adequate experiences
and materials, in handling related emergencies,
and long-term sexual abuse cases among children,
especially, as there are usually several different
physical and clinical presentations (Badoe, 2017).
Healthcare providers also frequently miss a large
amount of child abuse cases, so, generally, for the
diagnosis of child abuse to be made, a reasonable
cause of suspicion is needed (Rizvi, Conners,
King, Lopez & Rabiner, 2022). Child sexual abuse
is thus. not only more-challenging to detect, as
there are difficulties in gathering evidences,
apprehending, and prosecuting the perpetrators
(Eke et al., 2022), but representatives of the State
to enforce law against rapes have also been alleged
of severe mishandling of rape cases, and some also
committing rapes at various periods
(https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-
52889965). Moreover, criminal justice efforts to
identify, prosecute, punish, and monitor offenders,
usually acted after child sexual assaults have
already occurred (Fix et al., 2021), while trials are
also often based on the contradiction(s) of the
suspect’s and the child’s statements, which is
usually the basis of the judicial decision (Eke et
al., 2022; Longobardi et al., 2022; Nicol, Harris,
Ogilvie, Kebbell, Craig & Knight, 2022).
Three decades had passed since the adoption
of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare
of the Child, which has contributed to
understanding and addressing Children's Rights to
Protection (Johnson & Sloth-Nielsen, 2020). There
was also passage of The Children's Charter
during the Hoover Administration and
ratification of the U.N. Convention on the
Rights of the Child (Palusci, 2021). Howbeit, the
subject of child maltreatments has become
universal, and several studies had reported (still
reporting) significantly, on child sexual abuses in
most African countries, as also observed in almost
all countries of the world (Finkelhor & Browne,
1985; Wright, Friedrich, Cinq-Mars, Cyr &
McDuff, 2004; Badoe, 2017; Layman, 2020;
Palusci, 2021; Abramson & Bland-Abramson,
2022). The CoviD-19 pandemic, which is still
ravaging the entire world, having recently
recorded almost 600 million cases, and over six
million deaths (Worldometers, 2022), also had its
devastating toils on tremendous reports of rape
cases. But, sadly, as earlier noted, no community
has yet developed mechanisms, which ensure that
none of their children, youths, and adults, would
be sexually abused. Furthermore, this widespread
disturbing social issue is not even, at the forefront
of worldwide social policies and practices (Collin-
Vézina, Daigneault. & Hébert, 2013), especially,
in developing African countries.
The people of South-West of Nigeria had
always been known to be well-protective of their
children. But, the current mode of reportage of
child-rapes, by some radio stations is already
massively pervading the Yoruba enculturation,
which had always been normative cultural
attitudes, habits, and practices of community-
protection of children. One of the most common
cultural adages in this regard is, Ojú méjì lón’
bímo, igba ojú lón’ wo (two eyes give birth to a
child but 200 eyes watch over the child /look out
for the child). The literal interpretation is that the
Yorubas culturally train and protect their children,
with collective (extended-family / community)
well-being traits, rather than nuclear family traits.
Ordinarily, the communal impact and protection of
children in the Yoruba culture should have been
adequate to pro-actively mitigate against the
increasing trends of child-rapes. But, since the
crime of child-rape is so crushing, and having also

88 Journal of Communication and Media Research Vol. 14, No. 2, October 2022
been quite difficult for many individual parents or
families to seek judicial redress in most cases, it is
thus, equally problematic wanting to prosecute
such intruding violence perpetrated against the
children of the community. Most child sexual
abuses therefore, remain unreported and
undetected; such that, many offenders evade
prosecution. Much disturbingly however, are the
non-existing appropriate child protection services,
for the mandatory professional reporting
mechanisms, as well as, regulations and
interventions for child-rapes in Nigeria. In
addition, there are no functionally-appropriate,
local, state or national machineries for mitigation,
and redress of the continual stigmatisation of rape
victims and their families, in spite of the fact that,
sad memories of rapes are much more long-lasting,
as it is everlasting for the rape victims. This was
vividly expressed by an author, Roxane Gay, in
Hunger Memior of (My) Body ― So many years
past being raped, I tell myself what happened is 'in
the past.' This is only partly true. In too many
ways, the past is still with me. The past is written
on my body. I carry it every single day. The past
sometimes feels like it might kill me. It is a very
heavy burden.
Current practices in customised media
reportage of child-rapes
Child-rape is an abnormal crime, although,
according to Pritchard and Hughes (1997), and
Bok (1998), the further a crime departs from
cultural norms, the more newsworthy or the more
the intrinsically entertaining media tend to
consider it; and this is referred to as,
oversaturation of the extraordinary extremely rare
crimes (Jewkes, 2015). More so, it had been
asserted decades back that, news media present
crime and crime control as social and political
concerns; notwithstanding, they are also presented
as entertainment (Fishman & Cavender, 1998). No
wonder, noticeable among certain radio stations in
some parts of Western Nigeria, is a journalistic
insensitivity presently being exhibited in reportage
of child-rapes and other severe occurrences. The
proliferation of broadcast stations in Nigeria has
led to mounting of several programmes, which
according to Ibbi & Furomfate (2021), if not
properly controlled can negatively impact on
the broadcast industry, listeners, the journalism
profession, etc., and the customised child-rape
news reportage is one of such negatively-
impacting programmes. Under the guise that
people are interested in news, sensationalism and
tabloidisation are carved out of sexual violence
as news, in spite of the negativity of their
journalistic bleeding effects.
The perspectives highlighted in this article
were based on over three-year (November 1, 2018
– July 26, 2022) qualitative content evaluations of
the customised news-casting in native Yoruba
language (and sometimes, Pidgin English),
presented by the concerned radio stations in South-
West Nigeria. This study showed that the news
contents, which are culled and transcribed from
national daily newspapers written in English
language, are cast in hilariously-entertaining
manner, in spite of the emotionally-traumatising
and tragic occurrences being reported. The reports
included, sexual assaults and rapes of infants,
children, and adults, feminicides, suicides,
terrorists- / cattle-herders- / armed robbers- /
bandits-killings, automobile accidents, divorces,
unnatural deaths, abductions of children and
adults, Coronavirus (CoviD-19) pandemic, etc. In
cases of rapes, names of the perpetrators, and the
abused victims were commonly disclosed or some
other information presented in the reportages, such
as, where the crime occurred, or addresses of the
victim and/or perpetrators. At times, the radio
presenters were paired males and females, in order
to arouse more translational comedy on the items
being reported, after which some of the radio
stations might provide opportunities for listeners to
call into the studios, and comment on any of the
issues that had been hilariously presented.
One hundred and eighty-six identified and
selected respondents, comprising of 101 males and
85 females, who listened to the particular news
reportages on the presenting radio stations were
between the ages of 20 and 67 years old, and were
civil servants, teachers, business owners, market
women/men, and students, while 17 of them were
unemployed. Apart from obtaining few
demographic information on age, means of
livelihood, and gender, the brief interviews
conducted on the selected listeners were very
precise, solely about their opinions on the
customised news reportage being considered.
Some of the customised Yoruba news programmes
referred to include, gbankogbi (so significant),
kasiara (spectacular), koko iwe iroyin (news
highlights), o gba enutan (filled the mouth), kilo
nsele (what’s happening?), oju kaye (eyes reach
the world), irohin aterere (news that reach far and
wide), etc.
Child sex crime victims as media entertainment
It can be categorically asserted that for some
media reportages, humour and laughter could be
useful tools in health communication and public
health, although, not in all contexts of media
reportage. Laughter is considered part of a
powerful, universal language of basic emotions

Ogunshe Decatastrophising Re-Victimisation and Re-Stigmatisation of Child-Rape… 89
that all humans recognise (Savage, Lujan,
Thipparthi & DiCarlo, 2017), and as far back as
the 10th Century, the positive therapeutic effect of
laughter was referenced in the Bible- A merry
heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken
spirit drieth the bones - Proverbs 17:22 [KJV].
Based on Science of Humour, various research
findings reported diverse positively impacting
health potentials of humour and laughter in
children, adults, and societies (Paddington, 1963;
Joshua, Cotroneo & Clarke, 2005; Martin, 2007;
Koller & Gryski, 2008). According to a group of
nursing researchers in 2008, the value of humour
resides, not in its capacity to alter physical reality,
but in its capacity for affective or psychological
change which enhances the humanity of an
experience, for both care providers and recipients
of care (Guillemard, 2021).
Reportage of rapes by the media can be
classified as a form of health communication and
public mental health issue; while using humour,
satirical messages, etc., appropriately in health
communication is quite okay, as it may
delightfully make reportage more interesting,
especially, if the target audience, objectives,
structures, and contextual contents of the humour
are carefully considered. Howbeit, considering that
there is a place for humour in health
communication does not mean there should there
be upskilling in a bit of humour (Guillemard,
2021), or humourising severe occurrences, in
reportage of sad and tragic events like suicides,
deaths, Coronavirus pandemic, etc., particularly,
child-rapes. Humour in these wise can definitely
not be considered as ideal journalism, as there can
definitely be no value for humour in such mode of
media reportage that cannot result in positive
attitudinal and behavioural changes. The effect of
a humorous portrayal of a health situations like
rape and other sad occurrences in entertainment
media, is therefore, simply the brunt of a joke
(Guillemard, 2021; https://comm. uky. edu/
kchc/legacy/2012-2018/2014/abstract/77), which
is quite an unprofessional and unethical
journalism.
Some common examples of the customised
child-rapes reportages are like- …. bàbá
àgbàlagbà kan, eni odún mejìlé ládojé, je dòdò ìfé
lára omodé bìrin kan tí orúko rè njé [AAA], eni
odúún méwa péré…. [An elderly man of 72 years
old, ate fried plantain of love from the body of a
10-year-old girl, by name AAA]. …. Omokùnrin
kan tí o jé eni odún márundinlogbon mu omode
birin kan, eni odun marun wole, lati se tibitibi….
[A young man of 25 years old took a little girl of
five years into a room to do something,
something]. Arakunrin kan ti o je eni omo odun
marundinladota yata lara odomobirin kan, eni
odun mokanla [A 45-year-old man tasted pepper
from a young girl of 11 years old]. Baba kan s’ere
ife pelu omo re obinrin, ti ojo ori re je odun metala
[A father had love play with his daughter who is
13 years old] …, Omokunrin kan, eni omo odun
mokandinlogoji ko omobirin akeko ile-iwe ti o ti se
ise oluko ni eko ti o ga ju ojo ori re lo, nipa biba
lopo [A 39-year old teacher taught a 14-year old
student the knowledge that is above her age, by
forcefully having intimate relationship with
her]…, etc.!
The ethics of crime reporting is particular
about sensitivity to protection of sexual assault
victims, and right to their privacy are expected to
be of increasing priority (Simpson, Coté & Coté,
2006; Jones et al., 2010; Ndinojuo, 2018). The key
focus of reportage of rapes is similarly, supposed
to be on prevention of secondary victimisation of
rape-victims (Campbell, Wasco, Ahrens, Sefl &
Barnes, 2001; Ndinojuo, 2018). There are also, no
investigative journalistic follow-ups on the sex
crimes, after exposing and leaving the privacy of
the child-rape victims, their parents and families,
exposed, and neglected as well, due to the
irresponsible manner of the presently customised
news reportage. Highly embarrassing, vivid details
of the sexual assaults, and descriptively identifying
information on the victims, and/or family members
in the media, of course, can majorly be responsible
for exacerbated trauma, and such can discourage
future child-rape disclosures (Jones, Finkelhor &
Beckwith, 2010). Evidences further suggested a
strong association between sexual violence
victimisation and self-harm (Quarshie, 2021),
although, these are still less researched in sub-
Saharan African countries. It then means that
child-rape victims who escaped physical post-rape
feminicide, etc., can unfortunately, undergo series
of other harrowing experiences, and challenging
health-issues due to inappropriate reportages;
thereby, exposing them to increased emotional
morbidities and mortalities (Alhassan, 2020),
being secondary victimisation and stigmatisation.
Most of the hilariously entertaining news
presenters of this current trend of offensive and
unnecessary, unprofessional reportage simply
spread such unethical news through the radio,
simply to tantalise listeners, in order to gain or
promote career identity / career recognition, as
they regularly anchor various social events. They
thereby, showcase themselves, as being quite
competent to hold guests hilariously entertained at
social events; with the more jokes they are able to
carve out of disturbing news reportages. The
customised reportages on child-rapes by some
radio stations in the South-Western States (and

90 Journal of Communication and Media Research Vol. 14, No. 2, October 2022
very likely, other parts of the country), are at the
expense of others, particularly, child-rape cases,
which are presented as jokingly sexualised news,
through their junknalism, instead of proper
journalism! These not only downplay the severity
of the rape crime, but also an outright insensitive
violation of the deserved privacy; right to
protection of identities, and fundamental human
rights of the victims. Furthermore, the self-
advertising presenters that cast sadly-hilarious
news lack basic respect for the emotional
dimensions, and agonising experiences of the rape
victims and their families. Rape on its own is a
lifelong scar in the soul; and according to Kennedy
& Prock (2016), the echo implanted in many
victims’ memory is, I Still Feel Like I Am Not
Normal. Ullman (2003), also inferred that, clear
evidence showed negative social reactions as
harmful to well-being of child sexual abuse
survivors. Childhood sexual abuse has similarly
been associated with increased risks that lead to
adult depression, being often co-occurring with
other adversities, particularly, since disclosure and
self-blame, since childhood sexual abuse serve as
predictors of depression symptoms (Sciolla,
Glover, Loeb, Zhang, Myers & Wyatt, 2011).
Crime as news staple is nothing new, and
even, as at the first half of the last century,
readers in the late 1800s snapped up blood-
soaked penny dreadful magazines, while
graphic mayhem, dubbed yellow journalism was
also the newspaper mainstay, as trauma-related
news stories commonly dominated the news
media landscape. This is still believed and
practised till date, believing that, in order to
gain attention, news should be generally laden
with violent crimes or occurrences. But, as
further rightly ascertained by Ferullo (2000),
journalism needs to accept its share of
responsibility and change how it generally does
business. MacRae (2016), also submitted that
the perception of news media needs to be
reconsidered; rather than consenting that, bad
or negative news sells (Grabe and Kamhawi,
2006; Arango-Kure et al., 2014). A total of 169
(90.86%) of the interviewed radio listeners,
particularly, females, opined that the branded,
daily hilariously-customised news reportage are
insensitive, offensive, and mostly improper
entertaining journalism, 11 (5.9%) of the
respondents were somehow indifferent, while six
(3.2%) respondents felt the general hilarious news
reportages were amusing, but when child-rapes
issue was taken in isolation, they all commented
that such type of reportage was improper.
Journalism in a Culture of Grief examined
the process of grief through a range of types of
death and types of news media, on reportages of
tragic events like September 11, Hurricane Katrina
(Kitch & Hume, 2008), CoviD-19 pandemic, etc.,
which are regarded as public grief. Memory
effects detected in viewers towards images
inducing anger, fear, and disgust of television
news and memory for information in the stories
were reportedly, due to effects of emotion on
cognitive processing (Newhagen & Reeves,
1992; Newhagen, 1998). There had also been
reports of secondary trauma and symbolic violence
that can result from some forms of news coverage
of traumatic events, especially, as impact of the
media on intrusion of private processes of grief,
trigger renewed feelings of loss and grief (Kay,
Reilly, Connolly, & Cohen, 2010). A previous
study in particular, associated women with
showing signs of an avoidance response to
negatively framed news messages (Grabe &
Kamhawi, 2006). Understanding how
individuals process messages is therefore, quite
essential in communication through news
media. But, conceptualisation and measurement
of mass media effects have generally ignored
message processing issues by news recipients
(Geiger & Newhagen, 1993). In this study,
responding listeners who were interviewed felt
more disturbed that the branded-news reportage of
considerable daily regularity, trivialise crime of
child-rapes, and as entertaining journalism,
severely distort the reality of hazards of child-
rapes, and the disturbing effect to public mental
health.
Decatastrophising bleeding journalism
Decatastrophising, according to Mashal et al.
(2020), is a form of cognitive reappraisal that can
aid in thinking differently about emotional
situations, providing emotional regulations, and
reducing catastrophic anxiety and thinking.
Considering that consequences of child sexual
abuses and associated violence mostly pass down
from one generation to the next; it is really so sad
that currently in Nigeria, the sordid effects of rapes
are generally no more properly considered.
Frivolities in the customised reportages have
equally almost succeeded in making rape not a
crime anymore but simply a societal norm! People
may thereby, have unrealistic or distorted
thoughts, and which if left unchecked, could lead
to unhelpful behaviours (WHO, 2017). Instead of
reporting child-rapes in the manner that triggers
mental charges in the radio listeners, it would have
been more appropriate to report child-rapes cases
professionally, as done in regular Yoruba news
casting, such as, …. baba agbalagba kan, eni odun
mejile ladoje, ti oruko re nje [Aja Ibi], se nkan ti

Ogunshe Decatastrophising Re-Victimisation and Re-Stigmatisation of Child-Rape… 91
ko to, nipa bi ba omode birin kan, eni odun mewa
(ti a ko ni da oruko re), lopo…. [An elderly man
of 72 years of age, by name Aja Ibi, did what is not
proper, by sexually assaulting a ten year old girl
(names withheld)?]…. Omokunrin kan, ti oruko re
nje Eda Ika, ti o je eni odun marundinlogbon fi
tipatipa ba omode birin ka]n, eni odun marun la jo
sepo…. [A 25-year old man, whose name is Eda
Ika, sexually assaulted a little girl of five years
old?]. Arakunrin kan, Ika Eniyan, ti o je eni omo
odun marundinladota se ohun ti ko to pelu
odomobirin kan, eni odun mokanla [A man, Ika
Eniyan, and 45 years old, unlawfully violated a
young girl of 11 years of age]. Baba kan ti oruko
re nje, Baba Ika, se ohun ti o lodi si omo re
obinrin, ti ojo ori re je odun metala [A father,
known as Baba Ika, sexually misbehaved with his
daughter who is 13 years old?]…, Oluko okunrin
kan, eni omo odun mokandinlogoji, fi tipatipa ba
omobirin akeko, omo odunmerinla, lopo ni ile-iwe
ti o ti nsise oluko [A 39-year old teacher sexually
assaulted a 14-year old female student in the
school where he teaches]… etc.!
It is critical to break the cycle of secondary
violence, and thereby, create positive multi-
generational, emotional-healing impacts. In cases
of rapes, additional jeopardy of media torture, and
jeopardy of bleeding journalism, through
unnecessarily offensive news reporting leaves our
children; our next generation, our future, re-
victimised and re-stigmatised. In situations that
perpetrators’ names are to be published or
mentioned, other leading information are to be
withheld, since, sensitive and ethical reportage has
decatastrophising effects on the emotional mortal
wounds of rape victims, their families and other
acquaintances. The news media are really an
important general contributors to the society,
especially, by providing information (Shoemaker,
1996). But, journalists are expected to fulfill
people’s innate desire of detecting, keeping
informed about threats in the environment, and
devising method of dealing with the threats,
whether real or potential (Lasswell, 1960; van’t
Riet & Kleemans, 2021). Proper reportage should
thus, be the media’s role in rape prevention and
control, as the media can also have an educative
and preventive effects against rape crime
(Domaradzki, 2021). In the study of Hoefnagels &
Baartman (1997), it was concluded that mass
media communication, if well implemented, can
positively influence the process of disclosure of
on-going child abuse. Such critical issue can
enhance mitigation of future child abuse, as a form
of secondary prevention of child abuse
(Hoefnagels & Mudde, 2000).
In the opinion of Obasi and Onagoruwa
(2019), rape leaves painful memories and lifelong
consequences that inspire permanent damages on
the victim. The life-long, bleeding traumatic
experiences of rape victims, their families, and
friends, are better imagined; and as appropriately
quoted by David Ritcheson, and reported by The
Associated Press, 2 July 2007 - It was just really
hard to hold your head up, even to walk outside
with everyone almost in the world knowing what
happened … I shouldn’t care what people think or
say. It’s just the fact that everyone knows I’m the
kid. As news media can reach a large number of
people in a relatively short period of time, the
seriousness of rape deserves to be accurately
represented in the media (Layman, 2020). But, by
deconstructing the contents and messages of
critical analyses, through this peculiar mode of
news reportage, it can be affirmed that the current
presentations by the concerned radio stations are
not only pure miscommunication and
discommunication, but sources of outright
catastrophic anxieties, on both the sexual assaults
victims, and most of the radio listeners. Similarly,
adverse psychological-mental-health impacts of
unethical and exploitative sexual assault
disclosures on victims are reportedly, quite
enormous, (Essabar, Khalqallah & Dakhama,
2015; WHO, 2017; Layman. 2020). So, ordinarily,
one would have expected responsible and
responsive journalism to present any necessary
news on rape, particularly, child-rapes, with clean
educative messages that will be very useful for
proper prosecution of perpetrators, and execution
of justice, as well as, succor to rape
victims/survivors, their families, and the general
public. Consequently, as it was recommended that,
listeners could be informed without
sensationalisation (Domaradzki, 2021); likewise,
reportage of rapes can be disclosed without being
sexually disconcerting, and specifically, not in
hilarious manner.
The earlier finding of Sauzier (1989)
supported that, though, it cannot be expected of
every victim, the clinical impression disclosure
adds extra stress on children. Victims of childhood
sexual abuses may also be met with skeptical
responses when they disclose their experiences,
and the fear of such a response can lead to most
victims delaying disclosure to anyone about the
abuse. Employing strategic approach, through
communications that promote recognition of child
sexual abuse as a preventable public health
problem, and also, developing and disseminating
an informed communications strategy that
effectively and accurately translates the science of
child sexual assault prevention to the general

92 Journal of Communication and Media Research Vol. 14, No. 2, October 2022
public, and the media, is a must (Fix et al., 2021).
Many broadcast stations have brought about
interactive programming; a new innovation for
effective audience participations. But, in line
with an earlier recommendation, the broadcast
regulator in the country, the National
Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), should set up
effective monitoring strategies, with a view of
making broadcast stations socially responsible.
It was also earlier observed by Jenkins (2004) that,
news media prioritise stories of child sexual
victims over those of adult victims (DiBennardo,
2018); but it is written, Build you cities for your
little ones… (Numbers 32:23 KJV). So, it must be
a collective responsibility, not to allow our babies
and children to continually say, I looked on my
right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that
would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared
for my soul (Psalm 142:4 KJV)!
News media are usually believed to focus on
negative events, in order to increase their audience
(readers, listeners, or/ and viewers), as well as,
profits (Arango-Kure, Garz & Rott, 2014). It is
also erroneously believed that human beings are
interested in news with environmental threats
and deviance because, human brains are
hardwired for such types of news (Shoemaker,
1996), and there is therefore, the need for
surveillance function (Lasswell, 1960) of news,
by journalists. If the codes of ethics of Society of
Professional Journalists, and the Nigeria Press
Council both actually recognise the need for ethics
when reporting sexual abuse stories, even in
relation to children and minors (Ndinojuo, 2018),
these two regulatory media structures are then,
expected to have acted on the unethical violations
of fundamental human rights by the concerned
radio stations and presenters, specifically, due to
bleeding journalism on rapes of children and
minors, as well as, all victims affected.
Irrespective of the fact that the customised news
reportage presenters may not be professional
journalists but just media entertainers, stringent
measures ought to still be taken, for prevention
and control of this subtle but extensively
disturbing public mental health issues. If indeed,
the validity of a statement should not be judged,
based merely on the name and fame of its author,
and if psychotic patients do not necessarily have to
be treated by exorcists (Habibzadeh & Yadollahie,
2011); then, journalistic professionalism,
journalistic culture, and professional values /
ethics, must not to be discarded in reportage of
rape cases in the media.
Traditional mass media like television,
newspapers, bulletins, magazines, news-books,
radio, etc., are central sources of information that
have strong effects on human expectations for
family, parents, and children; by creating standards
for human ways of life and society, etc.
(Srivastava et al., 2018). More so, locally and
globally, the media is usually considered to set
agenda for its readers, listeners or viewers, as it is
commonly believed in communication that the
press can actually construct news, to form a
worldview for those who benefit from it (Wahl-
Jorgensen & Hanitzch, 2009; Ikpegbu & Ihejirika,
2020). Education of the public and policy makers
by the media are quite necessary; with support
from the states and federal governments, towards
effective curbing of rapes and all forms of sexual
assaults. These can be enhanced through life-long
rape litigation Acts, Acts establishing National,
States, and Local Government Anti-Crime
Agencies Against Children (ACAAC), Special
Police Squads, Acts establishing Child Abuse
Courts, as well as, appropriate policies against all
forms of unprofessional reportage of child-rapes,
and all types of rapes in general. It is further
submitted with clear calls, for media reportages
that abide by expected moral ethics of journalism;
protection of child-rape victims (and all rape
victims), and their families, from negative and
insensitive news reporting. In these wise, NBC
should not only be concerned about sanctioning
the media on fulanising or ethnicising deadly cattle
herders’ activities against citizens, particularly,
farmers, but similarly, effect professional
sanctions on the insensitive hilarious reportage of
sad and tragic events, particularly, child-rapes. The
Federal Competition and Consumer Protection
Commission (FCCPC) of Nigeria and Nigeria
Union of Journalists (NUJ) must also be of much
needed aid, in curbing the subtle mental, public,
and physical community health menace of
bleeding journalism about the customised
hilarious child-rape reportages.
Conclusion
Issues relating to child-rapes specifically falls
under the Goal 3 of the SDGs; thus, anything that
adversely affects children, is a violation of the
Goal. The common trends of trivialised,
customised bleeding news reporting of child
sexual assaults (child-rapes) by some radio stations
in Yoruba language, and sometimes, pidgin
English is an example of such violations. The
hilarious reportages can also gradually influence
more sexual violence against children, reinforce
depressive mental-health recall among sexual
violence survivors, their families, entire
communities, and also negatively-shape the
opinions of the public, by ultimately, excusing
sexual violence against children. These clearly call

Ogunshe Decatastrophising Re-Victimisation and Re-Stigmatisation of Child-Rape… 93
for appropriate and effective policies, and abiding
moral and professional ethics in journalism.
Protecting victims' identities in press coverage of
children is quite necessary as well, and must be a
collective effort, particularly, from the legal,
social, moral, educative, and policy points of
attention. In particular, implementable policies and
anti-disclosure laws on the unnecessary,
insensitive, and hilarious media reportage of fatal
and non-fatal child-rape cases and victims to the
public, must be enacted and effected. The most
appropriate preventive intervention needed
however, is, total ban of the recent unprofessional
means of sadly hilarious news reportage of on
child-rapes.
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