Deconstructing the Myths About Intimate Partner Violence: A Critical Discourse Analysis of News Reporting in Hong Kong

Discourse on Gender Symmetry

Studies in Western countries reveal that women are 3 times more likely than men to be abused by their intimate partners (Mooney, 2000). Statistics reported by the Social Welfare Department (2016) for the period 1999 to 2008 provide an even greater contrast, indicating that in Hong Kong, the corresponding annual ratio of female victims to male victims in intimate partner abuse ranged from more than 12:1 in 1999 to around 4:1 in 2007 and 2008 (see the right hand column of Table 1). However, the pattern of IPV news reporting in Ming Pao and Apple Daily between 1999 and 2008 indicated substantially more moderate gender differences. For example, the sixth row of Table 1 shows that in 2001, the percentages of female and male victims reported in Ming Pao were 68.4% and 31.6%, respectively, while in Apple Daily they were 64.3% and 35.8%, respectively, suggesting that women were twice as likely as men to be abused in such cases. However, corresponding official data from the Social Welfare Department show that female abuse cases (92.6%) substantially outnumbered male abuse cases (7.4%), to the tune of 12.5:1. The discrepancies between the newspaper reporting and the official data persisted throughout the period of analysis. For example, in 2008, the percentages of female and male victims reported in Ming Pao were 54.8% and 45.2%, respectively, a ratio as low as 1.2:1, as compared with the official statistics from the Social Welfare Department, which indicated a ratio of 4:1. Remarkably, in 2005, a year after the Tin Shui Wai tragedy, the respective percentages of female and male victims reported in Ming Pao were 38.9% and 61.1%, respectively, yielding a ratio of 0.6:1, in stark contrast with the official statistics, which indicated a ratio of 7.1:1. Assuming that the official statistics are credible, the pattern of newspaper reports appears to understate the extent to which women are more frequently the victims of IPV than are men.

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Table 1.

Gender statistics reported by Ming Pao, Apple Daily, and the Social Welfare Department (1999-2008).

Year	Ming Pao		Apple Daily		Social Welfare Department a
	Female Victim	Male Victim	Female Victim	Male Victim	Female Victim	Male Victim
	%	%	%	%	%	%
1999	81	19	81.2	18.8	92.8	7.2
2000	66.7	33.3	70.7	29.3	92.6	7.4
2001	68.4	31.6	64.3	35.8	92.6	7.4
2002	75	25	63	37	91.9	8.1
2003	65.2	34.8	76.9	23.1	88.7	11.3
2004	85.7	14.3	69.7	30.3	88.7	11.3
2005	38.9	61.1	72.4	27.6	87.6	12.4
2006	82.9	17.1	83	17	84.7	15.3
2007	85.3	14.7	77.8	22.2	80.7	19.3
2008	54.8	45.2	66.7	33.3	81.5	18.5

a

Social Welfare Department (2016; http://www.swd.gov.hk/vs/text_en/stat.html).

Empirical findings from other studies have shown that there is a substantial difference between men and women in terms of their engagement in physical aggression in IPV contexts. In most cases, women either abstain from violence, or use violence against their heterosexual partners in self-defense, or as a justifiable response to an extreme pattern of domination (Archer, 2000; Bettencourt & Miller, 1996), whereas male perpetrators use violence as a means of controlling their intimate partners (K. L. Chan & Hong Kong Christian Family Service, 2000; Kimmel, 2008; McCue, 2008). Moreover, the injuries caused by male perpetrators are more severe than those caused by female perpetrators (Jose & O’Leary, 2008).

Our analysis of the relative incidence of male and female victims in the news reports of IPV, as compared with the official statistics and the corresponding academic literature, indicates that there was a systematic distortion by the newspapers of true picture. This may reflect that the selection of news stories for publication is not neutral, but rather is based on the attention-seeking strategies of the newspapers (Teo, 2000). Over time, this bias in reporting may insidiously induce the mistaken impression among readers that the incidence of violence by women is almost as high as violence by men.

Discourse on Stereotyping Abusers

Language is not a neutral medium (Bakhtin, 1981, p. 294). The expressions used in newspapers reflect the views of the journalists regarding abusers and survivors. When we analyzed the 99 news reports from 2008, we found that the journalists in both newspapers had used stereotypes in their descriptions of abusers, portraying them, in particular, as reckless people and losers in their careers. The reports frequently contained terms such as “bad-tempered husband,” “hot-tempered man,” and “reckless man” to describe abusers. Ming Pao used such terms 7 times, whereas Apple Daily used them 17 times. For example, Ming Pao reported the following news:

In a “family” with complicated relationships in Tin Shui Wai, a hot-tempered man chased and attacked his mother-in-law with a knife. His ex-wife and stepson were also hurt. Other family members called the police for help. (Ming Pao, July 26, 2008, p. A15)

The following report in Apple Daily depicts the abuser in a similar way:

A couple in the process of separation had a fight in their home in Fu Tai Estate in Tuen Mun. The reckless man was suspected of punching his wife with his fist and pushing her, which caused injuries to her head. The mother of the male household head was terrified and called the police. (Apple Daily, May 4, 2008, p. A11)

A deconstruction of the meanings of both reports indicated that the abusers hurt their partners or family members not because they intended to harm them, but because they were hot-tempered or reckless because their emotions were aroused at a particular moment. However, a careful reading of both reports suggested that the abusers’ violent behavior was not impulsive. The relationship with the about-to-be separated wife or ex-wife was already broken, and the conflicts did not emerge overnight. Feminist scholars argue that cases where a person intentionally punches a partner with a fist or uses a knife to cause harm essentially involve acts of violence. A man’s use of violence is very often an intentional act that aims to control or dominate his intimate partner (Dobash & Dobash, 1992; McCue, 2008). Furthermore, Bushman and Anderson (2001) argued that because of this underlying purpose, particular acts of aggression can be both impulsive and intentional, such that it can be misleading to differentiate impulsive from premeditated aggression. Therefore, it may be inappropriate for the news reports to describe abusive behaviors merely as impulsive acts, because doing so reproduces the myths of IPV in society.

Another approach was to portray abusers as men experiencing a career failure or unemployment. Ming Pao used the term “unemployed man” 8 times and Apple Daily 5 times. The following report illustrates such an approach:

The case involved a couple, Mr Ke, 43, and Ms Chen, also 43. Both are Fujianese and their children are aged 2 and 5. The family resides in a flat in Nga Kwai Estate in Kwai Chung. Mr Ke claimed that he was a “millionaire,” but he lost more than a million dollars on the stock market during the 1997 financial turmoil. He has since experienced financial difficulty and became very reckless. He is a miser who keeps an eye on every cent that is spent in the family. His wife, who came to Hong Kong seven years ago, is fond of playing Mahjong (a form of gambling), of which he strongly disapproved. (Apple Daily, November 6, 2008, p. A20)

When an unemployed man had a fight with his wife, he was extremely angry and used an iron file stabbed to his wife’s neck, and shouted: we die together. After that, he used the iron file to hurt his own neck too. (Ming Pao, August 24, 2008, p. A18)

These reports attributed the use of violence to the abuser’s bad temper spurred by unemployment or economic pressure. Many research studies show that unemployed men or men with lower incomes or social status engage in violent behavior toward their wives (Cunradi et al., 2002; Sanz-Barbero et al., 2015; Staggs, Long, Mason, Krishnan, & Riger, 2007). As Leung and Chan (2014) pointed out, “[I]n a patriarchal society such as Hong Kong, a man’s inability to perform the role of breadwinner implies he does not qualify as an ideal man” (p. 225). Analyzing the problem from a gender perspective would suggest that unemployed men use violence because they are unable to meet social expectations and their self-esteem is in question, thus they easily become jealous and suspicious and tend to use coercive power to control their family members (Seidler, 1999). A gender perspective would suggest that the problem faced by unemployed men is very often caused by a masculinity crisis that arises from loss of status within the family rather than from economic pressure as such. However, the two reports not only failed to engage a gender perspective on the root problems of the abusive behavior but also induced sympathy toward the abusers.

Discourse on Labeling Abused Women

In addition to stereotyping abusers, the newspaper reports also labeled IPV victims by (a) highlighting that the abused women were from mainland China and (b) portraying them as unusual women or women with problems. In the following report in Ming Pao, the mainlander identity of the abused woman was made conspicuous.

The deceased woman was identified as 32-year-old Yang Xiuqiong. She entered Hong Kong with a business visa. After identifying the corpse, her aunt noticed an obvious strangulation mark on her niece’s neck and bruises all over her body. The aunt suspected that Yang was battered before her death. Relatives of Yang claimed that, lately, she had been dating a middle-aged Hong Kong man, but always suffered from physical harm. She admitted to her relatives that she had been physically abused. Then, she suddenly died, leaving behind a nine-year-old son who cried incessantly . . . The relatives returned to their hometown after identifying the corpse, but Yang’s father temporarily stayed in Hong Kong because he had to assist in the police investigation. A spokesperson from the Immigration Department said that the business visa was issued by mainland authorities. The duration of stay ranged from 7 days to one month. When a visa holder underwent a passport control check, the Immigration Department would consider his or her duration of stay according to the visa policy. If the holder did not satisfy the conditions of stay, his or her length of stay would be proportionally reduced. Applications for business visas must be submitted by registered companies in the mainland, and the corresponding fees are charged. (Ming Pao, May 23, 2008, p. A11)

Although the aforementioned news report acknowledges that the homicide was preceded by a period of physical harm, and that the battering had continued for some time, the report fails to bring out the fact that the abused woman failed to receive help, despite her relatives knowing about her plight, and omits to mention that the homicide might have been prevented had appropriate protective actions been taken. Instead, the report shifted focus to describe the policy and stipulations of a business visa, thereby reminding readers of the mainlander identity of the deceased and implicitly raising the question of whether somehow the deceased women brought the homicide upon herself because her stay in Hong Kong might not have been legitimate. Moreover, the tensions between China and Hong Kong in recent years have prompted people in Hong Kong to become prejudiced against mainlanders. Such a reporting style may contribute to the unfavorable labeling of IPV victims.

When reporting on violence in mainland–Hong Kong marriages, the press usually frames the relationship as one between an “old husband [and a] young wife,” emphasizing the couple’s large age difference. The emphasis suggests that such marriages are entered into for economic reasons and may lead readers to suspect that the young women have married older men for economic benefits rather than to cultivate a loving relationship. Yet, the same news items could alternatively be read as featuring old men taking sexual advantage of young women. However, in a patriarchal society, the subtle and complex gender bias underlying the dominant discourse is rather difficult to challenge. The following report emphasizes the age difference and the anger of the man, but expresses no sympathy for the abused woman.

A couple, whose age difference is 25 years, had a fight in their home in Kwai Chung yesterday morning. Their fight was believed to have been caused by problems in their relationship. The irritable husband set fire to some clothes and a computer in the toilet to vent his anger . . . The suspect was identified as Mr Che, 51, the husband of Ms Li, 26. Their age difference is 25 years. (Apple Daily, September 12, 2008, p. A16)

The newspapers also tend to portray victims as unusual women with problems. The following report described an abused woman as “an unusual woman,” which was obviously prejudicial because it implied “abnormal.”

The wife-battering man burst into tears while talking about the family scandal. The unusual woman was beaten up by her husband in May. A month later, she was nearly thrown from a building by her boyfriend. (Apple Daily, June 20, 2008, p. A10)

The report labeled her as an “unusual woman” because she had a mental illness, had engaged in drug abuse, and had engaged in an extramarital affair. Describing her as “an unusual woman” insinuated that the abused woman was not a good wife, and that her own problems had triggered the violence. In fact, the woman had mental health and emotional problems as well as suffering multiple forms of violence from her husband. She was not only battered by her husband but was also injured by her boyfriend in a knife attack. The report did not highlight her plight; rather, it classified her as someone with problems. This type of reporting style involves a form of labeling that compounds the public’s misunderstanding of the victims and denies them sympathy.

Discourse on Blaming the Victim

An examination of how news about DV was covered in both newspapers revealed the use of prejudicial vocabulary. The reports sympathized with the abusers and blamed the victims. This type of reporting may influence public opinion. As Adams, Towns, and Gavey (1995) suggested, rhetorical devices draw on discourses of male dominance and entitlement to power, and excuse their violence toward women. The following report illustrates this phenomenon.

A chef who had been law-abiding all his life and who had worked hard to take care of his wife and children suddenly suffered a mental disorder when he stabbed his wife to death and subsequently attempted suicide by jumping from a building. His wife was an irresponsible gambler and had an extra-marital affair. To protect the integrity of his family, he forgave her faults and hoped to start all over again. However, his wife insisted on divorce and abandoned their children. The chef pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the High Court yesterday and was sentenced to eight years in prison . . . The defendant also told the court that he had seen his wife intimately holding hands with a man while shopping in Wanchai . . . When given (the Miranda) warning, the defendant told the police that his wife often gambled and he had paid her debts many times. He asked his wife to pay the money back, but she merely treated him as an “automated teller machine” . . . On the day of the crime, he told his wife that even if she did not care for his feelings, she had to consider their children’s interests. He begged his wife to cut off ties from her lover, saying that he was willing to let go of the past and start over with her. However, she insisted on divorce. The defendant thereafter threatened her with a knife, but his wife did not change her mind. Finally, the defendant lost his mind and stabbed his wife to death. (Ming Pao, July 10, 2008, p. A7)

The report accused the deceased woman of having several problems, including irresponsible gambling, engaging in an extramarital affair, and abandoning her husband and children, implying that she was neither a good wife nor a good mother. It sympathized with the abuser, stating that he had repeatedly paid his wife’s debts. Moreover, the report claimed that she merely treated her husband as “an automated teller machine.” Although he was willing to let go of the past and start over their relationship, the wife insisted on divorce. The murdered wife had personal problems, but the report was skewed toward portraying the victim’s negative image. Furthermore, the report only briefly mentioned that the abuser had continually perpetrated violence against his wife and had a record of threatening her with a knife to change her mind. The report also failed to mention that such violent acts are problematic: An individual cannot enforce another person’s affection and using violence to regulate a relationship is wrong. The report instead blamed the victim for the violence perpetrated against her.

Newspaper reports nearly always hold the victims of DV responsible. Violence is considered to be instigated by the victim’s personal pathologies, such as a mother who gambles, shirks her responsibilities, and provokes the abuser. The following news report in Ming Pao is one example.

Ms Cheung was addicted to gambling. She always made a day return trip to Macao [to visit casinos] when her husband was not at home . . . She paid less effort in taking care of her two sons. (Ming Pao, July 25, 2008, p. A17)

Victims are often accused of nagging their husbands until such behavior becomes so intolerable that the men ultimately lose their rationality. The following report, in which the abuser committed murder because he could not stand an insult, is a blatant case of victim blaming.

According to a source, Ms Lu was very unhappy with her husband’s income and often blamed him for being useless by not bringing home sufficient money. The couple experienced long-standing discontent. The suspect claimed that his wife nagged him day and night . . . When the suspect saw a hammer wrapped in a plastic bag in a cupboard in their apartment foyer where he put his identity documents, he recalled the look of his wife when she criticised him for being useless. Suddenly, he became evil and took away the documents and the hammer, but did not alarm his son. (Apple Daily, May 4, 2008, p. A1)

Our analysis of the 99 news reports revealed that journalists for the two newspapers typically failed to provide objective and bias-free reports because they assumed the mainstream perspective on DV. The following report precisely reflects this:

A 45-year-old painter who stayed temporarily in his ex-wife’s home was disturbed by her and her children in the middle of the night. His ex-wife accused him of not taking their children for a swim. The defendant suddenly became enraged and attacked his ex-wife, her eldest son and his ex-mother-in-law. He pleaded guilty to three counts of physical injury . . . The defence told the court that after the defendant and his ex-wife divorced in 2005, she and her children lived in the flat of the crime scene, while he became homeless. He once stayed temporarily at his sister’s and friend’s homes. The defence pleaded that on the night of the crime, the defendant became impulsive and only wielded a knife to threaten his ex-wife, and had no intention to harm her. (Ming Pao, November 1, 2008, p. A3)

The report appears to be written from the abuser’s vantage point. Its headline, “A homeless man to lodge under another person’s roof,” emphasizes the plight of the abuser when was staying in his ex-wife’s home. The report also implies that the abused ex-wife had triggered the attacks by disturbing him in his sleep and aggravating his sense of humiliation. However, the report could have been written from the survivor’s perspective. For example, its headline might instead have read, “A woman who gives shelter to her homeless ex-husband is battered as a result,” while the story might have explained that the violence ensued when her ex-husband was reminded about his failure to assume his parental responsibility. Furthermore, the report could also have pointed out that separated or divorced couples in low-income families are often forced to stay under the same roof, because of problems in public housing allocation. Although the report emphasized the ex-husband’s homelessness, it overlooked the “bigger picture,” where women who share accommodation with their ex-husbands due to housing shortages incur the risk of physical abuse. Instead, the report offered sympathy to the abuser. These explanations of male violence thus appear to originate from a male perspective to excuse violent behavior without seriously considering the human rights of women (Council of Europe, 2006).

Discourse on Ignoring Women’s Rights

In dealing with cases of DV, social workers put children’s interests ahead of the needs of women (Mullender, 1996). Although such a practice does not deny the importance of children’s rights, it is associated with the traditional family ideology. The concept of a traditional family often places women in a subordinate position, and their rights are overlooked. When children are involved in DV, the public focuses on the children rather than on the abused women (Leung, 2008). In the report below, the cause of the violent incident was a quarrel between a young father and his pregnant wife over the issue of who should take a nap. The conflict resulted in the man kicking his wife off the bed. This incident was a clear case of wife abuse. Nevertheless, the entire report chronicled the deadly physical harm suffered by the young son when the father battered the child after he tried to protect his mother. Both the wife and the child were victims in this case. It is understandable that the more defenseless the victim, the more attention the case will draw; however, it is quite common for the media to shift the focus of the report whether the case involves child abuse, which can obscure the harm done to women.

An angry young father once turned his three-year-old son upside down and beat him. The son was then placed with a foster family. The irritable father was sentenced to one-year probation. A year later, his behaviour relapsed. After kicking his wife off the bed following an argument about who should take a nap, he directed his anger towards his young son who tried to protect his mother. He kicked the boy off, and then stomped on his chest four to five times. The boy suffered life-threatening injuries, including rib fractures as well as liver and intestinal damage. (Apple Daily, December 23, 2008, p. A1)

All of the preceding discourses on IPV serve to deepen the public’s misunderstanding of IPV. The public’s knowledge of the issue is constructed through mass media communication. The extension of power and control exerted by the abuser often lies at the core of IPV. Various notions influenced by patriarchal ideas in the traditional culture, such as “men are superior to women” and “a husband has a right to punish his wife,” remain widespread. These ideas lead to unequal gender relationships, and men take it for granted that women should submit to their will. When women are disobedient, men use force to regain their power. The use of violence in the family is a manifestation of power and control and is rarely an indicator of an individual’s pathology. The media often overlook the core problem in gender power relations, attributing it to individual problems and even blaming the victims. However, as Teo (2000) explained, “The media also has the power to resist and challenge, instead of merely reinforcing and reproducing the social dominance of the elites” (p. 44).