'Stay at home, save lives': a critical discourse analysis of domestic abuse in UK media during the COVID-19 pandemic

Exposing media misrepresentation of DA is critical. Distorted portrayals of abuse can undermine public understanding, obscuring the context of gender-based violence and overlooking the multiple forms and patterns of abusive behaviour that constitute DA, including the central role of coercive control. Misrepresentation can also hinder victim-survivors’ recognition of abuse, shape policing and policy responses and influence societal perceptions of responsibility for addressing and preventing violence against women and girls (VAWG).

However, as Slakoff, Aujla and PenzeyMoog (2020: 2785) emphasise, the media have the capacity to rapidly disseminate information and educate the public about this form of abuse. The intensified focus on DA during the pandemic offered a unique opportunity to shape public understanding constructively. Therefore, this thesis makes an original contribution to understandings of media power, DA representation and the ideological reproduction of gender-based violence through CDA and media monitoring.

It challenges the reinforcement of societal myths and underscores the need for more responsible, informed and contextually grounded reporting to better inform public perceptions and institutional responses to DA.<br><br><i>Thesis is embargoed until 31 July 2028.</i>