Diversifying Story Angles & Sources
As a journalist, you have an opportunity, a responsibility, to enlighten and educate your audience. You have an opportunity not only to present the facts of an incident, but also to add context by reviewing the circumstances that led up to and enabled it, and the consequences that follow.
A report about an incident related to GBV can flourish into a piece with real social impact by adding more and a variety of diverse sources.
Questions Worth Asking
Each person you interview can provide you with information relevant to the causes and consequences of GBV, depending on their specialism. Below is but a summary of the types of questions you might ask and information you might seek from different sources.
Story Angle |
Source(interviewee) |
Informattion Sought |
|---|---|---|
| Legal | Lawyer | What laws apply to domestic violence, child marriage, economic violence, etc (particular in relation to the community the story is focused on (e.g. refugees, children, etc) How can the law better protect survivors? What international agreements have been signed by Lebanon that are either not included or contradicted in Lebanon’s national laws? |
| Judge | What cases have you witnessed? How do you reach a verdict? What circumstances do you take into account? Do the current laws restrict your ability to defend survivors or do you benefit from a margin discretion? |
|
| Plaintiff | What was your experience of the legal system? Did you feel protected? What has your experience of the security services been? |
|
| Defendant | What was your experience of the legal system? What are the circumstances that led to your actions? |
|
| Social | Survivor’s family | How did the violence impact different members of the family? What is the relationship between the survivor and the different family members like now? What societal, economic and legal circumstances contributed to the perpetuation of the violence? How has the local community reacted to your plight? |
| NGO | How have NGOs engaged and assisted survivors? What, based on the cases you’ve witnessed, are the main mitigating factors preventing survivors from taking legal action? What is needed to lessen the prevalence of GBV; and what additional support do survivors need? Are survivors able to engage positively in society? What are the main challenges? What support mechanisms for survivors are available? Which is lacking? |
|
| Sociologist | What are the root causes of gender inequality and gender-based violence? What impact has war and displacement historically had on women’s security? Is society, by and large, supportive or exploitative of survivors? |
|
| Psychologist | Why are women most impacted by GBV? How does GBV impact women, children, society? How prevalent is GBV among the cases you treat? |
|
| Physical | Survivor | How has the violence you experienced impacted you? What steps have you considered or taken to protect yourself? What support have you received? How has your life been impacted by your experience of violence? Has your experience impacted your relationship with family members? |
| Emergency room doctor | Have you witnessed any trends in recent years? (e.g. more young girls with labour complications; more severe cases of violence) How many GBV survivors visit the ER annually? |
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| Paediatrician | What types of GBV do children experience? What impact does child marriage and pregnancy have on young girls’ bodies? What is the long-term impact of GBV on a child’s development into adulthood? How important is it to offer children psychological treatment as well as physical treatment following an experience of violence? |
|
| Economic | UNHCR | How has the war and displacement impacted the vulnerability of refugee women? How does poverty impact the prevalence of GBV in a community? How can UN agencies mitigate the causes or impact of economic GBV? What do UN agencies offer to protect refugee women in Lebanon? What barriers do UN agencies face in advocating for and supporting GBV survivors? |
| Male head of household | Who is responsible for allocating resources and spending family funds in your household? Why? What impact does this have on the dynamics within your family? |
|
| Female head of household | How did you become the main breadwinner? How has it impacted your relationship with your husband, children, family, neighbouring community? Has being the main breadwinner made you feel more or less vulnerable to GBV? |
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| Economist | What is the documented impact of gender inequality and GBV on the prosperity of a community or nation? What is the documented relationship between economic gender equality and GBV? |