Secondary victimization of sexual crime survivors by the media. Prevention of the phenomenon in Italy and Poland.

It is nowadays a widespread knowledge that the way of presenting the crime victim in the media may influence a public perception of this person. Such a situation is especially visible in case of sexual crimes, in which media relatively often (even if unintentionally) stigmatize the victims, accusing such individuals of „provoking” behavior or inappropriate clothing. Such attitudes may lead to further harm caused to the victims and their secondary victimization. The thesis aims at analyzing the means of preventing the secondary victimization by the media coverage, with special attention to the information provided to the victims in order to prepare them for the contact with media representatives. The thesis is composed of four chapters: first two chapters provide a theoretical basis for further considerations, the following two on the other hand analyze the real life solutions and their efficiency. The first chapter focuses on the participation of the media in the criminal procedure. The mass media interest in criminal proceedings and in the crime is portrayed in this chapter, as well as the society’s expectations towards media in the area of proceedings covering. The second chapter concerns the secondary victimization in general, as well the secondary victimization via media. Special attention is brought to the vulnerable victims and the victims of certain categories of crimes (sex crimes, pedophilia). The chapter also includes a brief characterization of the consequences of secondary victimization by the media. Chapters three and four consist of an analysis of the sources aiming at prevention of the secondary victimization by media. Chapter three focuses on the legal framework considering the data protection and victim’s image protection on the media side. National level in selected countries, as well as the European and international standard are analyzed. Solutions proposed by the guidelines and codes of conduct for journalists in force in the selected states are depicted. In the fourth chapter of this thesis, options for securing the rights of survivors from the perspective of these persons themselves are considered. It demonstrates how and where survivors can obtain information about contacting the media. The particular modes of conduct are illustrated by the real life examples. Also briefly touched upon is the subject of possible victims' actions when their rights are violated.