Daily Mirror headline: Misleading and Offensive

April 24, 2015, Louise, Media Complaints,

Today I read in the Daily Mirror a report about a postman found guilty who sexually abusing a baby and filming it. The Mirror headline said "Sick Pedeophle Postman filmed himself abusing babies".

This article is wrong he made a choice to commit the crime he did. This man was an ordinary man like any other in the street, he had a job that involved trust over people's mail so clearly he was " healthy enough" to deliver and do a job that involves thinking clearly.

All papers always attempt to "other" men involved in these crimes. It is a deliberate act to avoid saying "these men are your brothers, fathers, boyfriends, husbands, uncles, friends. They are normal everyday men who chose to commit child abuse. The truth you are more at risk from men you know than a stranger on the street.

This myth of " sick pedo" plays into that myth. Only when society address the issue of men who commit these crimes directly will they be stopped. First step is acknowledging that fact.

child rape, child sexual abuse, male entitlement, male violence, paedophilia, rape myths, sexual violence

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