Our websites
Handbook and toolkits
A free resource supporting local governments to prevent violence against women in their workplaces and communities.
5 minute read
Download the National reporting guidelines.
Download the Victorian reporting guidelines.
Download Reporting on Aboriginal people’s experiences of family violence.
Evidence-based media reporting on violence against women and their children can help readers, listeners and viewers understand:
Reporting can also help influence:
Watch the video below to find out more about reporting on violence against women and their children.
The animation is based on Our Watch’s new editorial reporting guidelines titled How to report on violence against women and their children.
Leave out details that might identify survivors.
Name the violence for what it is: ‘violence against women’, ‘family violence’, ‘psychological violence’, ‘elder abuse’, ‘child exploitation material’, ‘rape’, ‘murder’, ‘coercive control’ or ‘non-physical abuse’.
Use active language, for example ‘man assaults wife’ instead of ‘woman assaulted’. Where safe and legally possible, name the relationship between victim and perpetrator to remind your audience that most violence against women is perpetrated by somebody they know.
Use respectful language and headlines to articulate the seriousness of the violence. Seek to uphold the dignity and humanity of the victims, survivors and their families. Plan how to maintain respect once the story is live, including social media.
Use statistics to demonstrate the prevalence and to contextualise the story. Evidence shows that most violence against women and their children is driven by gender inequality.
Don’t perpetuate harmful stereotypes about gender, race, disability, sexuality or age. Consider the impact of images on the victim-survivor, their family, or on other survivors of violence. Avoid images that disempower or infantilise victim-survivors, such as ‘clenched fists’ or ‘cowering women’.
Develop good relationships with violence against women experts so they can be contacted to help put the issue into context.
Always include support details at the end of every story.
There is a long history of misrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, particularly when reporting on violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.
It is the media’s responsibility to ensure that reporting does not contribute to this harm, or to the harm experienced by survivors, their families and communities.
When reporting on violence experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and their children:
Read more about reporting on violence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in the National reporting guidelines.
Our Watch has also produced a list of tips for sports journalists. Sports media can reinforce the attitudes and beliefs that drive violence against women, or it can challenge these attitudes and beliefs.
Read our 10 tips for sports journalists.