FRAMING THE VICTIM

This paper analyses the (re-)presentation of rape complainant testimony on three Australian television programs which investigate the issue of football and sexual assault. The ways in which the testimony is framed—the use of others’ narrations, ‘expert’ testimony, and conventional film techniques such as music and editing—are critical in determining whether the woman's words are likely to be believed. Although the framing process is fraught, and complainants are frequently objectified and the authority of their words undermined, there is nevertheless great potential for the framing of a complainant's narrative to lend it truth-value and present it as believable.