How the Media (Fail to) See Violence: One in Five Articles Shift the Responsibility to the Victim, First Regional Analysis Shows

Today, the South Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SEESAC) presented the findings of the first analysis of media reporting on firearm misuse in male gender-based violence against women in the Western Balkans.

“This analysis brings to light two crucial issues — the devastating impact of firearms in gender-based violence, and the role media play in shaping public understanding of it,” said Plamena Halacheva, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia. “Far too often, media reports diminish the violence, question the victim’s credibility, or frame the perpetrator’s actions as justifiable. This narrative must change.”

“Through our longstanding support to SEESAC, the European Union is committed to preventing firearm misuse and saving lives — whether through helping collect over 100,000 weapons handed over by citizens or by equipping institutions with tools and training to act before it’s too late,” Halacheva added.

“Almost 800 people were killed in incidents involving firearms in the Western Balkans in the last six years, over 330 died by suicide, over 2,100 were injured and over 2,600 have been threatened, according to SEESAC’s Armed Violence Monitoring Platform, said Bojana Balon, Head of the SEESAC office.

Of all women killed in firearms related incidents, the majority, 107, have been killed in domestic violence. The presence and misuse of firearms plays a crucial role in these incidents – significantly increasing the risk of fatal outcomes. She added that the seriousness of this problem is not adequately addressed in public discourse, which was one of the reasons for conducting a comprehensive analysis of media coverage of gender-based violence involving firearms. Furthermore, incidents in the domestic setting increased by 81%, rising from 68 in 2019 to 123 in 2024, indicating an overall upward trend.

“Using more than 25 indicators, the research team of 17 journalists from across the region reviewed 1,484 media reports from five jurisdictions in the Western Balkans and identified key trends,” said Iva Savić, editor of the analysis and SEESAC project analyst.

Sanja Pavlović, author of the analysis and member of the Journalists Against Violence Against Women network, emphasized that over 90% of the reports, the media cover individual incidents without placing them in a broader context, which in turn prevents the public from recognizing the frequency, the common characteristics, and the causes at the root of this type of violence. “Fewer than 10% of media articles include any educational content,” said Pavlović, further highlighting the troubling narratives prevalent in the media: “Blaming the victim instead of the perpetrator appears in one out of every five reports in the region, and one in three articles justifies the violence by citing external factors.”

In addition to identifying key issues in reporting, the analysis provides a series of recommendations for editors and journalists seeking to improve their work in line with the public interest. “Among the proposed solutions are in-house media trainings, more emphasis on the context of this type of violence, and a broader range of sources, with a particular stress on the value of relying on experts from relevant institutions and the civil sector,” Savić concluded.

SEESAC is supporting the region in combatting the illegal possession, misuse and trafficking of small arms and light weapons since 2002 for a safer region.  The analysis was published with the financial support of the European Union through the project Support for Enhancing the Fight Against the Illegal Possession, Misuse, and Trafficking of Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Western Balkans.