The NT News Describes The Sexual Assault And Murder of A Politician As A ‘Sex Romp’
Domestic violence shouldn't be trivialised, much less turned into a joke.
This article includes discussion of domestic violence and sexual assault.
–
The NT News is pretty well-known for its legendary headlines, bizarre story choices and ocker style; Junkee’s given its unique style plaudits before. But today, the newspaper crossed the line from so-bad-it’s-funny into something altogether more concerning. Earlier today, a link to what appeared to be a salacious story involving sex, murder and a Russian politician went on the NT News‘ Facebook page.
The raunchy headline and accompanying image of the very pretty Oksana Bobrovskaya makes the story seem like tabloid fodder, like her death might have been an unfortunate accident. The opening sentences of the story describe the “glamorous” politician and her husband having a “late-night romp” in the back of their four-wheel drive. They’re also careful to let us know that Bobrovskaya and her husband, who also died, were found “naked below the belt” after their deaths.
It’s not until you get to the final sentences of the article that it’s explained that Bobrovskaya was actually murdered by her husband, who suspected her of having an affair, and allegedly forced her to have sex before proceeding to detonate a grenade. This story about a ‘sex romp’ is actually about a woman being threatened with an explosive device, who was then sexually assaulted and murdered.
A screenshot from the NT News website.
It’s absolutely baffling that stories like these, that glamourise domestic violence as exciting, still exist. Just last week, The NT News ran a story saying that Northern Territory police respond to 58 domestic violence-related calls a day — and those are just the incidents that are reported and acted on.
That same day, they stressed the importance of White Ribbon Day in an editorial, saying that “Ultimately we need that sort of cultural change to properly tackle DV; rather than deterring the perpetrators, we need our boys to grow up with respect for women, to not become the sort of person who would hit a partner or another member of their family”. But how do they expect this cultural change to occur when violence against women is still used as clickbait?
It’s worth mentioning that as this story making light of the murder of a woman went up today, a gunman opened fire on a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado, killing three people and injuring nine. After five hours, the gunman was taken into custody, and although the circumstances have not been confirmed yet, many have linked the attack to threats against the women’s health organisation, which have doubled in the last five years.
We’re not going to link to the NT News article in question, but the fact that this story has been distorted for titillation and attracting mirth from readers, who are making jokes about the circumstances of Oksana Bobrovskaya’s death and clicking through to her Instagram account – a link to which The NT News have happily provided – reveals that we still have a long way to go in Australia in changing the culture around domestic violence.
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.