#GBVinMedia is a campaign by Feminism in India (FII) that takes a critical look at how mainstream media reports gender-based violence (GBV). The language that the media chooses to employ while reporting rape and sexual violence can heavily influence the way its audience views gender-based violence. It can determine whether an incident of rape is viewed in a way that reproduces victim blaming narratives and rape culture, or in a way that affirms the agency of women and girls, and their right to safety and freedom from violence. How the media chooses to frame gender-based violence has direct ramifications on how society understands the phenomenon.

The #GBVinMedia campaign interrogates mainstream media’s reportage of gender-based violence from an intersectional feminist perspective.

FII has created a toolkit with a set of ethical guidelines and best practices for media professionals and media students to use in order to report gender-based violence sensitively.

This toolkit provides an overview of the nature of rape reportage in English language media in India, and lists a number of ways in which problematic media practices can be replaced with sensitive and affirming methods that uphold the rights and dignity of survivors of gender-based violence.

We intend for the toolkit to be used in media houses and by media schools as a guide to gender-sensitive journalism when reporting on gender-based violence.

The #GBVinMedia campaign began in 2015 as a digital advocacy campaign during the Global 16 Days of Activism that explored how Indian mainstream media has misrepresented and misreported gender and gender based violence. In 2019, with the support of Women Deliver, we created the #GBVinMedia toolkit and renewed the campaign. The following is the on-ground advocacy work we have done so far, which includes events that we have hosted, workshops we have conducted and panels and conferences where we have presented the #GBVinMedia toolkit.