The Portrayal of Violence against Women in Pakistani Urdu Newspapers

Abstract

The study aims to highlight the violence against women depicted by Pakistani Urdu Newspapers. According to a recent study, the print media described women as weak, conquered, and deeply drowned in patriarchy. However, violence against women can take many forms, including domestic violence, rape, and honor killings. The study is qualitative in nature and the type of data is primary. The samples contain articles about violence against women from two different Pakistani Urdu Newspapers. Sample contains a total of four articles showing how the newspapers tend to portray violence against women. News that highlight the plight of violence against women comes from two different Urdu Newspapers i.e. Daily Jang and Express. The sampling procedure performed in this study is critical case sample and the study design is cross-cutting. The research tool used in the current study is Lazar feminist critical discourse analysis model (FCDA) (2014). The data is analyzed at various levels. First, it is translated into English using Nida’s Theory of Translation. Then, it is analyzed using Lazar FCDA at the vocabulary, syntax, and paralanguage levels, Lazars model (2014) is applied to effectively assess how the print media portrays violence against women. The results reveal that the Pakistani Urdu Newspapers are very tabloid, trying to portray women as weak, oppressed, oppressed, immobile, and vulnerable to violence. Women are more vulnerable to male violence because of the patriarchal structure embedded in our society.