The way the media portrays violent crimes against women and girls is perpetuating negative attitudes toward them, and a focus needs to be placed on why such crimes are so common instead of focusing on the behavior of the women, NGOs said Wednesday.

Caroline McCausland, the country director of Action Aid, told reporters and media students at a Phnom Penh workshop on coverage of such crimes that  Cambodian newspapers and news websites sometimes blame the victims of sex crimes, treat them as sex objects or publish pictures of their faces in contravention of the press law.

This could include reporting that a victim was dressed a certain way or out alone late at night, she said.

“Rarely does the media question why this is happening in Cambodia and why men feel it is ok to do this. This portrayal of women exacerbates violence against women and girls,” she added.

Statistics provided by rights group Adhoc show that there were 140 reported cases of child rape in the first nine months of the year, and 14 rape-murders during the same period.

Continue reading: Coverage of Sexual Violence Needs Sensitivity