Våldtäktsoffret i media : En kritisk granskning av dagstidningars framställning av våldtäkten, våldtäktsoffret och våldtäktsmannen innan, under och efter #MeToo

The #MeToo movement was described as a revolution that emphasized sexual abuse as a societal problem, and that the movement would result in an increased focus on the rape victim. However, whether this change can be identified in news media is unclear which motivates this study. The study consists of 75 cases (news articles) analyzed on the basis of Fairclough's critical discourse analysis that recognizes news articles as three-dimensional; the news article is a text, a discursive practice and also a social practice. By critically examining how Swedish newspapers portray rape, the rape victim and the rapist in relation to the theory of the ideal victim, before (years 2006-2017), during (years 2017-2018) and after (years 2019-2021) the #MeToo movement, this study aims to examine whether or not the rape discourse has developed and if so, how. The study's conclusions are that although it is possible to identify certain positive changes that can be interpreted as an increased focus on the rape victims, the news articles are primarily characterized by continuities. Furthermore, this study emphasizes news media as an influential social actor which maintains prevailing expectations about rape, the rape victim and the rapist. By small means, such as constructing the theorem as passive instead of active, the media conveys a view of rape as a natural phenomenon which complicates the claim of responsibility and constitutes an obstacle to solving men's violence against women.