Rape myths on Instagram
Three Danish non-profit organisations' multimodal communication about sexual consent
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54337/ojs.globe.v20i1.11646Abstract
Since the introduction of the new consent-based rape provision in Denmark on January 1st 2021, reports (Christensen, 2021; Det Kriminalpræventive Råd & Epinion, 2023) show that young Danes are interested in sexual consent but experience confusion about its concept and practice. The report by Det Kriminalpræventive Råd and Epinion (2023) shows that young men display a higher acceptance of rape myths. International research (Dunn & Orchowski, 2022; Hust et al., 2014) points to rape myth acceptance as being an indicator for lower intentions of seeking sexual consent. Rape myth acceptance can be affected by media consumption (Edwards et al., 2011), which is why this paper examines how rape myths, sexual consent, and gender roles are reflected in Danish non-profit organisations’ multimodal communications about sexual consent on social media. This focus was chosen because non-profit organisations are primary contributors to sexual consent communication, and social media is where young Danes spend time (Danmarks Statistik, 2023) and access information about sexual boundaries (Christensen, 2021). The paper employs a multimodal critical discourse analysis (Machin & Mayr, 2012; van Leeuwen, 2008) to explore verbal, visual, and auditory elements in Instagram posts by three different non-profit organisations over the course of 2023.
The analysis shows that the non-profit organisations’ communication about sexual consent on social media reflects traditional gender roles where sexual consent is the responsibility of women. Their communication also perpetuates rape myths and presents sexual consent as a complex and difficult issue. This focus on difficulty and complexity could be argued to hinder a clear understanding of sexual consent and could, alongside the ascription of sexual consent as the responsibility of women, be used as an excuse for sexual violence. The findings highlight a need for organisations to adopt more clear and inclusive communication strategies to improve young Danes’ understanding of sexual consent.
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