Reporting on Rape

Abstract

The last twelve months have seen an unprecedented surge in press coverage of rape - be it opinion articles, columns or front page stories. Normally, rape stories appear regularly on the crime pages of both government-controlled and opposition newspapers, be they leftist or Tslamist oriented. But two events brought rape to the forefront this year - a fatwa or religious opinion on the rights of rape victims made last November and the revision of the penal code dealing with rape in April 1998.