Proceedings of the International Conference on Future of Women

Newspaper Coverage of Sexual Assaults in South Korea: Before and after #MeToo Movement

Jooyeon Lee — 2020-07-30

This study explores differences in South Korean newspaper coverage related to cases of
sexual assault on females before and after the #MeToo movement. To this end, a content analysis
was conducted to examine the framing of newspaper coverage of sexual assault by politicians in
2014 and 2018. In total, 755 news stories were analysed, revealing 10 times increase in the number
of articles dealing with sexual violence cases after the #MeToo movement. In addition, it was found
that the number of newspaper articles representing the voices of women who were victims of sexual
assault or representing the position of women's organizations calling for social change and the
protection of women's rights increased significantly after the #MeToo movement. In particular, a
significant increase in newspaper coverage discussing problems with the legal system and calling for
an urgent improvement to its dealings with sexual assault cases was found. Despite the #MeToo
movement, however, the examined newspaper coverage still used an episodic frame more often than
a thematic one in dealing with sexual violence against women and the articles still contained many
provocative words, such as ‘adultery’ and ‘infidelity’, aimed at arousing readers' curiosity and
interest.

Gender-Sensitive Peer Counselling Groups in Times of Conflict Reflections on a Self-Help Support Group in Berlin

Jinan Abi Jumaa — 2020-07-30

The arrival of stark number of forcibly displaced refugees in Germany since 2015 has led
to increased challenges in the mental health care system. The system was overburdened, and
therefore innovative approaches to health care for refugees were necessary in order to gain
knowledge about their expansion and admission to regular care. To increase knowledge of refugees
regarding mental health services and to provide practical support, a manual for peer-to-peer
counseling was developed at Charité University Medical Center Berlin and refugees were trained as
peer counsellors. This paper aims to give an overview of previous peer support interventions
published in literature and to also point out to the preliminary results from the intervention
conducted at the Charité. Good practices and recommendations for peer interventions are provided.
Qualitative interviews were conducted with the group participants, and results show that peer groups
helped refugees in sharing experiences, in giving ideas for possible solutions, in building
social/friendship networks, and in providing a safe place for discussions. The results of our study
suggest that integrating gender-sensitive peer support approaches in the mental health services for
refugees may benefit the public health by reducing both need and demand for these services.

Women’s Sex Representation in Comic Book

Aylin Gungor — 2020-07-30

The representation of women has always been different in comics from past to present.
Some women have been shown in the comics, in the role of being saved by a male superhero, or in a
sexy female image with pornographic elements. The scarcity of female illustrators and writers, being
male among publishers consists of the necessary information for the research of comics among the
gender studies. Just as there are gender and objectification elements in real life, there are also these
approaches to the female body in comics. Towards the 21st century, together with the movements of
feminism, both the technological conditions and the digitization of the comics have made women's
representation a little more free. For this reason, the methodology of the research has been
determined as Fourth Wave Feminism. Now, they can explain the female lesbian culture and sexual
policies independently of society in the comics of Alison Bechdel's Fun Home and a series of images
that depict Belden Sezen's A Snapshot. The handling of such female characters in comic books and
graphic novels firstly enables the students to make accurate determinations while breaking the
prejudice of the society, and then when determining the orientation of the young generation, and that
women can live their identity freely as an individual. Based on all these information and results, in
this research, the representation of women in comics will be explained through a historical
evaluation and then criticized in terms of gender.