
































Fasihuddin FINAL


Colored and Constrained Hues 
Exploring the Depiction of Gender-Based Violence in South Asian News Media 

Zoya Fasihuddin, Stanford ’26 

Abstract: This paper critically examines the representation of gender-based violence (GBV) in 
Pakistani, Indian, and Bangladeshi news media through the lenses of sensationalism and victim-
blaming. Using the vivid metaphor of a color spectrum, this analysis delves into how media 
frames, language, and imagery contribute to the perpetuation of gender stereotypes, rape myths, 
and the stigmatization of survivors. The narrative is anchored by  personal reflections of the 
author, who navigates the patriarchal landscape of Karachi, Pakistan. Drawing attention to a 
tragic incident involving Noor Mukaddam, the paper dissects how media sensationalism 
transforms real-life tragedies into spectacles, overshadowing the gravity of the crimes. 
Examining specific cases and headlines, the study reveals the sensationalist tactics of attention-
grabbing language, vivid imagery, and the creation of a spectacle around certain types of GBV. 
Simultaneously, the victim-blaming frame is scrutinized for its role in shifting responsibility onto 
survivors, discouraging them from reporting, and fostering a culture of shame. Victim-blaming 
language is exposed through strategic details being deleted, euphemisms, and the 'good girl–bad 
girl dichotomy,' which perpetuates stereotypes and diverts attention from the true root of the 
social problem. The paper concludes with a call for transformative narratives in South Asian 
media, emphasizing the need for thematic framing, intersectional analyses, and a shift away from 
sensationalist and victim-blaming practices. Ultimately, the paper envisions a reimagined color 
wheel where empowering narratives replace debilitating hues, fostering justice and institutional 
change. 



I was never allowed to walk down a street alone. Memories like walking back from an 
ice-cream shop with a cone and a strawberry scoop in hand or rushing to the next block to pick 
up groceries were memories I never had. Living in Pakistan as a young girl was far too 
dangerous – walking alone opened the possibility of leering stares, unwanted groping, and in 
some cases, rape. And if the latter was to happen, it would be my fault – if I had chosen to walk 
outside alone, I had chosen my fate. 

At least that’s how the media and wider culture described it. 
 I remember what happened to Noor like it happened yesterday. On the 20th of July 2021, 
27-year-old Noor Mukaddam, a girl who grew up in the same place I did, was raped, murdered, 
and beheaded by her ex-boyfriend, Zahir Jaffer (Amanat, 2021). Noor was forced to endure one 
of the most horrific experiences I’ve ever heard of. But even in death, the Pakistani media made 
a spectacle out of her experience and blamed her for what happened to her. Phrases such as 
“accused tortured Noor with knuckleduster before beheading her” (Azeem, 2021), “man 
beheaded childhood friend Noor Mukaddam who refused to marry him” (Amanat, 2021), and 
“this will ultimately happen with Pakistani liberals” (Amanat, 2021), were plastered all over the 
news. The media shamed her, declaring that she had chosen her fate.  

Cases of gender-based-violence (GBV)  like Noor’s murder are presented in South Asian 1

news coverage through a variety of distinct media frames and rhetorical approaches. Pakistani, 
Indian, and Bangladeshi news media use sensationalism and victim-blaming frames, employing 
specific language, images, headlines, and euphemisms that reinforce gender-stereotypes and 
trivialize experiences. The implications of these two media approaches to GBV are multi-
faceted:  Not only do they perpetuate traditional hegemonic narratives about survivors of GBV, 
but they also trigger survivors and present cases as episodic rather than thematic — isolated 
rather than contextualized — diminishing the extent of the problem. 

I’m someone who has always perceived the world through colors. Residing in the vibrant 
yet often dangerous milieu of Karachi, I use thinking through color to understand the nuances of 
the patriarchal society I grew up in, especially when cases like Noor’s are broadcasted on news 
media. This personal affinity for color-thinking emerges as a valuable tool in unraveling the 
complex spectrum of GBV cases depicted in the media. Exploring this color continuum of GBV 
cases in South Asia  is necessary to understand the lived experiences of women, because these 2

“media portrayals of violence against women provide a potential site for the reproduction of 
gender inequality” (Easteal et al, 2014, p. 106). In certain instances, the South Asian color wheel 
is dominated by bold shades — vivacious indigo and eye-catching tangerine — reminiscent of 
graphic details that transform real-life tragedies into sensational spectacles. This phenomenon 
aligns with the sensationalism frame, a concept examined in Part I of this paper. The media's 

 The United Nations High Commissioner uses the phrase gender-based violence to specifically highlight violence 1

that targets individuals or groups based on their gender, including human trafficking, forced prostitution, rape, wife 
battering, sexual harassment, and hate crimes (Cuklanz and Moorti, 5). Although GBV can target men and the 
LGBTQ+ community as well as women, this paper will solely focus on the experience of female-identifying 
individuals, and in most cases will refer to gender-based violence as GBV. 

 The South Asian media coverage that this paper will analyze will be exclusively focused on Pakistani, Indian, or 2

Bangladeshi print newspapers and online news, and will not include television, literature, or film.



vivid portrayal, akin to the exuberant indigo, vividly highlights the explicit, creating a spectacle 
that overshadows the gravity of the crime itself. Conversely, there are moments when the colors 
are subdued — like purple fading into melancholy mauve — mirroring the silencing of survivor 
voices. This shift reflects the victim-blaming frame, dissected in Part II of this paper. The 
melancholy mauve encapsulates the hushed tones surrounding survivors, emphasizing the subtle 
shaming tactics employed by media that contributes to the perpetuation of gender inequality. 
 The South Asian news color spectrum lacks the varied hues that symbolize the multi-
faceted experiences of gender-based-violence. It sensationalized and blamed Noor, and if I 
walked alone on a road and were to succumb to the unimaginable, it could potentially do the 
same to me, too. By infusing color into the analytical process, I hope to elicit a more visceral and 
empathetic response, fostering a deeper connection to the individual experiences of women like 
Noor that are painted into the chromatic narratives of South Asian media. As I coalesce my own 
experience as a Pakistani woman with my research on South Asian news coverage, I will delve 
into how exactly the news depicts distinctive cases of GBV, and the implications of such 
representations.  

Bold Hues of Distortion: Unveiling Sensationalism in South Asian Media 

 Sensationalism is at the crux of news media — it represents the entertainment value. 
Media history specialists Gretchen Sonderlund and Amanda Frisken state that sensationalism is a 
combination of striking content and elements that are used to attract an audience (Sonderlund 
and Frisken, 1). These elements can include graphic headlines, inflamed rhetoric, and startling 
imagery. The main aim of the sensationalism frame is to use visual and textual techniques to 
elicit an effect from an audience: to provoke them, anger them, rouse them, or make them 
sympathetic (Sonderlund and Frisken, 2022, p. 1). In the context of media history, “crime 
weeklies” were the first forms of media to use sensationalism on a large scale — they used 
images and graphic details to illustrate crime scenes (Sonderlund and Frisken, 2022, p. 3). And 
today, with the dominance of striking shades in the color spectrum of the South Asian media 
representation of GBV, sensationalist tropes such as lurid details attract audiences. Further, 
sensationalism distracts audiences from acknowledging the structural factors that cause GBV, 
promote rape myths, and trigger survivors.  

One of the most common ways South Asian newspapers use sensationalism is through 
headlines. According to journalist Amrita Ghosh, in the Indian media industry, headlines 
compete to grab the most eyeballs, and keeping the sentiments of the survivor in mind is 
“sacrificed at the altar of TRP ratings and sales” (Ghosh, 2019). An example headline that 
epitomizes her claim is as follows: “The Rohtak Gang-rape Horror Gets Uglier: Victim’s Food 
Pipe was Ripped Out and Marks Found on Her Chest” (Ghosh, 2019). This headline 
sensationalizes by using violent details about the victim’s food-pipe, and additionally presents 
this GBV case as one-off and graphic, framing it as an isolated incident. The portrayal of this 
case demonstrates the media ‘episodic vs. thematic’ concept. When GBV cases are presented in 
the media as isolated events, with a focus on details of crimes and individual behaviors as shown 
in the headline above, the journalism takes an isolationist approach known as episodic framing 
(Tasneem, 2022, p. 16). Media experts suggest that employing a thematic frame instead, where 



the reporting focuses on a contextual narrative to address the whole cycle of GBV, from 
prevention to prosecution, is what actually helps curb cases (Tasneem, 2022, p. 16).  

Another example of a sensationalist headline in South Asian media is “Uncle Turns 
Monster, Rapes 18-month year old Baby” (Feminism in India, 2021). In using the euphemism 
“monster,” this headline implies that these men are barbaric and rare, taking away from the 
ubiquity of sexual violence. The term additionally leads to the development of what a “monster” 
looks like, which often aligns with caste discrimination in South Asia (Feminism in India, 2021) 
and makes it difficult for survivors to speak out about “respectable” perpetrators. This 
sensationalist trope therefore makes it harder for all survivors to be believed and promotes the 
stereotype of perpetrators fitting into a singular category.  

 Aside from graphic headlines and 
euphemisms, sensationalist media tropes use 
imagery and graphics that impose certain 
narratives to displace the reality of GBV. South 
Asian media tends to use stock images that 
depict a woman cowering and hiding her face, 
which reinforce gendered prejudices that 
women are weak and require rescue (Som, 
2020). Figure 1 shows common images 
Bangladeshi media uses when reporting cases 
of violence against women. By exposing 
audience members to images of victimized 
women, the media further fuels stereotypes 
about women being helpless, and ignores the 
more important question of how perpetrators 
can be stopped (Mowri and Bailey, 2022, p. 
272). Such images can also be triggering for 
people who have faced abuse, forcing them to 
relive the horror in their minds, furthering their 
trauma, increasing feelings of loneliness, and 

impacting their mental health (Som, 2020). Research indicates that articles accompanied by 
photographs, “especially those depicting victimization,” enjoy longer reading time and audience 
attention — demonstrating the impacts of the sensationalism frame (Mowri and Bailey, 2022, p. 
272). Certain Pakistani news articles even use photographs of survivors, which disclose 
otherwise private identities and further create a spectacle out of the crime (Ali and Pasha, 2022, 
10) 
 Another sensationalist pattern found within images used in South Asian media is the 
visual depiction of perpetrators: They are either completely absent, or a menacingly overbearing 
presence (Som, 2020). The latter claim is exemplified by Figure 2, where eyes are staring down 
on a survivor. This could be interpreted to represent perpetrators fixating their eyes on women, or 
even as the wider South Asian society judging the survivor. Either way, these types of images are 
triggering, and employ the sensationalist strategies of turning a “grievous crime into a media 
circus,” thus resembling entertainment (Sonderlund and Frisken, 2022, p. 17).  

Figure 1: Stock Images used in Bangladeshi News 
Coverage of GBV (Mowri and Bailey).



 
 Another crucial 
component of 
sensationalism is the 
concept of very specific 
cases of GBV sparking 
outrage. Paromita Vohra, 
a documentary filmmaker 
whose work focuses on 
gender in South Asia, 
states that “the rape cases 
that get sensationalized 
have certain elements in 
common” — they are 
violent cases that are 

accompanied by death and perpetrated by strangers (Singh, 2020). According to India’s National 
Crime Records Bureau, 94.2 percent of registered rape cases in 2019 were perpetrated by 
individuals known to the vicitms. But mainstream media coverage tended to ignore these cases, 
due to “victims surviving their crimes and the details of the attacks not being obscenely graphic 
in nature” (Singh, 2020). It is therefore clear that the sensationalism used in the media has far-
reaching consequences: By making graphic cases hyper-visible and more common cases 
invisible, most women in South Asia remain unaware of the different forms GBV can take.  
 I remember this being the case with me, too. Growing up, I thought one could only be 
raped by a by stranger and that cases of GBV had to be extremely violent, with a victim either 
dying or being close to death. This is what the newspapers fed the public — only certain types of 
cases made it to the media. The sensationalist media tactics of attention-grabbing headlines, vivid 
imagery, and the creation of a spectacle around specific types of GBV, are deeply ingrained 
within the South Asian media spectrum. By exclusively spotlighting the conspicuous crimsons 
and bold blues on the color wheel, South Asian news coverage sidesteps cases that may require 
greater institutional focus and also distorts the presentation of these incidents. It is not merely the 
sensationalist choice of cases, but also how the media presents and frames these incidents: It 
perpetuates a cycle of misinformation, stigmatization, and a skewed understanding of GBV in the 
South Asian public consciousness. 

Muted Tones of Blame: Illuminating Victim-Blaming Dynamics in South Asian Media 
  

The second core media frame that applies to the South Asian news portrayal of gender-
based-violence is victim-blaming. According to distinguished Professor Rae Taylor, victim 
blaming is defined as placing the blame of the perpetration of violence onto the victim, a 
narrative to which female victims are particularly vulnerable (Taylor, 2009, p. 24). In the context 
of the media, victim-blaming tactics predominantly include the use of unnecessary details about 
the victim and strategic language to place the burden of responsibility on them. Tactics can also 

Figure 2: An Image of Eyes Staring at a Survivor in Indian News Media (Som). 



include the deletion of information about perpetrators to absolve them of their guilt, placing the 
blame on survivors. According to Taylor’s research, victim-blaming is the main barrier to social 
change with respect to GBV, as it diverts attention from the true root of the social problem, 
which is the abuse of women by men (Taylor, 2009, p. 22). When examining the specific 
language and frames of responsibility used in the South Asian media color spectrum, it is 
apparent that the glistening pastel hues that could represent survivors as strong and empowered 
are dim. The luminescent shades are muted, with the responsibility of GBV falling on survivors, 
thereby exacerbating trauma, reinforcing rape myths, and discouraging women from fighting 
back.  

According to Indian journalist and activist Purnima Singh, the victim-blaming frame is 
one that is inherent within Indian news articles about violence, as most articles either partially or 
entirely shift the blame onto survivors (Singh, 2019). An example of this is a headline that states 
“Woman Gang-raped in Odisha on Suspicion of Having Illicit Affair” (Singh, 2019).  By 
providing a motive — the suspicion of an illicit affair — this phrasing in an Odisha newspaper 
ends up justifying the horrific act of gang-rape. The survivor is now viewed with judgment and 
stigma for a suspected affair, potentially preventing more women from sharing their stories. 
Through giving reasons as to why a particular case might have occurred, South Asian media 
builds a dangerous culture which holds survivors responsible for the crime rather than the 
perpetrators (Singh, 2019).  

Furthermore, another example of phrasing that perpetuates victim-blaming structures is 
the mainstream media statement, “Indian woman admits to being raped” (Singh, 2019). Words 
like “admits” or “confesses” imply that the woman had a choice or agency in the matter of her 
rape, suggesting that she willingly participated or was complicit in the act. This language shifts 
the focus away from the perpetrator, who is the one responsible for committing the crime, and 
places undue blame on the victim, thus reinforcing the narrative that women themselves are 
responsible for being raped. Rather than employing such words, the media should strive to use 
neutral language like “woman shares experience” when covering cases of gender-based violence, 
especially since reporting statistics are already low within South Asia (Singh, 2019). Using 
language that suggests that being raped is contemptible does not only make survivors feel 
ashamed, but also prevents future generations from reporting, thereby continuing the cycle of 
violence.  

An additional example of an Indian headline on a case of GBV is “Canadian Woman 
Allegedly Raped by Man She Met at a Pub in South Delhi” (Singh, 2019). By mentioning 
specifically that the woman was Canadian and that they met at a pub, this media representation 
reinforces South Asian stereotypes that “white women who hang out in South Delhi bars are 
loose” and “women who drink alcohol invite rape” (Singh, 2019). Similar victim-blaming 
language is highlighted in the Indian news coverage of a “mass molestation event” in Bangalore 
(Diwanji et al, 2021, p. 352). Leading newspapers coined this incident as “Bangalore’s night of 
shame” and stated that the women “self-invited the violence” by wearing “western clothes,” 
exacerbating the prevalence of the concepts of demeaning and shaming survivors (Diwanji et al, 
2021, p. 353). Another well-known GBV case in Bangladesh is a case involving 21-year-old 
college student Mosharat Jahan Munia, who committed suicide after being assaulted by a 
prominent Bangladeshi businessman (Islam and Siddique, 2023, p. 23). The Bangladeshi media 



used phrases such as, “she had an uncontrolled lifestyle,” “she targeted well-known people,” and 
“she had great ambition” to describe Munia, thereby using the victim-blaming frame to place the 
onus of responsibility on her (Islam and Siddique, 2023, p. 24). These examples give credence to 
the notion that South Asian victim-blaming media tactics often portray women in a negative light 
and use rape culture stereotypes about clothing and alcohol to make survivors culpable.  

Another way the victim-blaming frame is used in the media is through strategic deletion 
of facts and information to exonerate perpetrators and ostensibly place the onus on victims. An 
example of this strategic deletion was used in the newspaper portrayal of the case of 6-year-old 
Zainab in Pakistan, who was kidnapped, raped, and strangled to death by a man, Imran Ali 
(Zaman et al, 2023, p. 590). A research study analyzed the use of deletion in Pakistani media on 
this case, reaching two core findings. Firstly, most newspapers focused on highlighting details 
about Zainab and her family, with comparably minimal information on her rapist and the other 
people who kidnapped her (Zaman et al, 2023, p. 592). Zainab’s name, age, and personal details 
were published, and the media also highlighted how her family went to Saudi Arabia to perform 
pilgrimage before her kidnapping.  

 This was used to insinuate negligence or 
irresponsibility on the part of the family, subtly shifting 
blame away from the perpetrator, Imran Ali. By 
emphasizing this detail, the media implied that the family's 
absence created an opportunity for the crime to occur, 
suggesting that they were somehow at fault for Zainab's 
abduction, rape, and subsequent tragic death. Secondly, 
most news articles did not mention the word “rape,” 
describing the case simply as a “heinous crime” (Zaman et 
al, 2023, p. 593). The hence media trivialized the case, 
presenting it as solely a murder case, using deletion to 
ignore the rape.  Zainab’s example thus shows how 
deletion is used in the media to exonerate perpetrators of 
their complete crimes, thereby blaming survivors and their 
families, utilizing victim-blaming techniques. 
 Media experts such as Columbia professor Helen 
Benedict have also identified a ‘good girl–bad girl 
dichotomy’ that is commonly used by the media to 
unfairly depict female crime victims within the victim-

blaming frame (Benedict, 1992, p. 16). This is used extensively in South Asian media. Sidra 
Fatima Minhas’s paper on the newspaper coverage of a particular rape incident in Pakistan is an 
example that epitomizes this dichotomy. In the case she focuses on, Doctor Shazia Khalid was 
raped and later threatened, silenced, and forced to leave the country because the alleged 
perpetrator was an army officer (Minhas, 2009, p. 65).  In the Pakistani context, “good women” 
are portrayed as virtuous, domesticated, and traditional, and a “bad woman” is portrayed as a 
woman who “indulges her ego, seeks recognition for her work, and neglects her familial 
responsibilities” (Minhas, 2009, p. 68). By being a renowned doctor, Dr. Shazia immediately fell 
into the “bad woman” trope. She was described by newspapers as a “loose woman,” and a “kari” 

Figure 3: An Image of Zainab that went 
viral (Zaman et al).



— which translates to being a “a stain on the family’s honor” (Minhas, 2009, p. 72). It is 
therefore clear that the notion of a “woman becoming ‘bad’ by virtue of having been raped” 
(Benedict, 1992, p. 17) is an inherent part of the victim-blaming framing in South Asian media, 
as can be seen by Dr. Shazia’s experience. According to Minhas, this is intrinsically connected to 
the “patriarchal character of the Pakistani state,” as the state is supported by the media (Minhas, 
2009, p. 70).  

Feminist writer Nawal Aamir Khan describes it very simply: “for women in Pakistan, 
victim-blaming is the only thing that awaits you after you have been subjected to a crime” 
(Khan, 2022). She describes how the “training to victim-blaming begins very early on in our 
lives” (Khan, 2022) — this is something I have felt, too. Our schools would teach us that 
wearing eyeliner or lipstick was immoral because it would entice men, leading to harassment and 
rape. From a young age, we were taught that it would be our fault, and that only we could 
prevent something awful from happening to us. There was rarely a focus on institutional 
changes, or a focus on the abusers themselves. And as shown above with the “good girl–bad girl 
dichotomy” and victim-blaming language, South Asian media continues to spin the subdued 
color wheel — where female empowerment is replaced by female shame, rape culture 
stereotypes are embedded within readers, and there is minimal focus on how perpetrators can 
change their actions. 

Reimagining the Color Wheel: Transformative Narratives on Gender-Based Violence 
Discourse in South Asian Media 

 Ultimately, the answer of how exactly gender-based violence is portrayed in news media 
in South Asia lies within the media framing paradigms of sensationalism and victim-blaming. On 
one hand, the sensationalist frame includes exaggerated headlines, graphic rhetoric, and stock 
images that make cases of GBV a spectacle. On the other, the victim-blaming frame shames 
survivors and makes them hyper-visible, while keeping perpetrators invisible. These frames are 
epitomized by the Noor Mukaddam case that was mentioned at the beginning of this paper. The 
graphic details highlighting how she 
was “tortured with a knuckleduster” 
and repeatedly mentioning her name 
sensationalized the case, while the 
character assassination done by the 
media perpetuated victim-blaming 
(Azeem, 2021).   

 But today, two years after Noor 
was killed, the impact of her 
experience has resulted in changes in 
Pakistani law, with the creation of 
special courts for cases of GBV, and 
my community at home becoming 
adamant to change the stigma around 
GBV (Jaffery, 2022). Noor’s case Figure 4: An Image of Pakistani women fighting for #JusticeforNoor at a 

rally (Saifi). 



resulted in #JusticeForNoor protests on social media and across the nation about how women are 
treated by men, society, and the media. I attended some of these protests myself, raising posters 
with my friends to call for justice and change in Pakistan. There had previously never been any 
national law criminalizing domestic violence, but Noor’s case prompted the Pakistan Domestic 
Violence Prevention and Protection Bill to be passed in the National Assembly (Saifi, 2021). 
Although the initial newspaper coverage on her case was sensationalist and blamed her, that 
coverage transformed as protests increased, becoming more empowering and focusing on 
holding Zahir accountable (Saifi, 2021).  

The urgency of transforming the harmful media practices around GBV in South Asia is 
clear — there needs to be thematic framing instead of episodic framing, intersectional patterns of 
violence should be highlighted, headlines need to use less graphic language, and the mindset that 
continues to perpetuate rape myths and gender stereotypes needs to change (UNICEF and UN 
WOMEN, 2022, p. 40).   
Noor’s experience can become a watershed moment for a transformation of the media across 
South Asia – the multi-faceted hues of survivor justice and institutional change can replace the 
muted hues of victim-blaming and the striking shades of sensationalism in the color wheel. The 
colors can become empowering, not debilitating.  

And if there’s change, maybe, just maybe, one day, I will be able to walk alone on the street 
next to my home.  



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