ලිංගික අපරාධ සුළු කොට නොදක්වමු?

Abstract

On January 23, 2024, the Dinamina newspaper reported an incident in which a person was arrested for allegedly sexually harassing a 21-year-old woman. In the headline, the newspaper used the derogatory term “Athapatha Ge” (අතපත ගෑ) to describe the incident. It not only minimises the severity of sexual assault but it also dangerously trivialises a sexual crime, allowing such offenses to be normalised within society. When reporting on events that are legally classified as crimes or significant social issues it is a violation of media ethics to include headlines or content that trivialises the crime or offense.