Diffusion of Responsibility: A Discourse Analysis of The Toronto Star’s Protrayal of Domestic Violence in the South Asian Community

Literature on domestic violence in the South Asian community demonstrates that there is an over emphasis on dismissing violence as a ‘cultural’ phenomenon. Likewise, literature on media’s portrayal of violence against women tends to reinforce patriarchal ideologies by blaming the victim, excusing the perpetrator, and reporting violence as a private, individual matter rather than a larger, social problem. Using discourse analysis, my findings illustrate that the portrayal of domestic violence in The Toronto Star reinforces racism and sexism when framing the problem. In doing so, responsibility is diffused and therefore the solution to violence against women becomes limited, if not non-existent.