Why Female Voices Matter in Iranian Mediated Debate on Sexual Assault : The Study of Narratives of Sexual Assault in Iran’s Media

Abstract: Abstract The core purpose of this dissertation is to reflect the voice of one of the biggest and most marginalised groups in the contemporary history of Iran; women, in particular women who have been victims to sexual assault. The thesis puts its emphasis on the value of voices of individuals in this marginalised group and seeks to show how having a voice can lead into their empowerment. For this purpose, the research uses the tweets of the victims who participated in a Twitter campaign against sexual assault, through which they recounted their experiences of sexual assault. The significance of the retold memories of assault is also due to being in reaction to the official narrative of sexual assault, which almost exclusively addresses women and holds them responsible for initiating sexual assault and has been doing so during the last few decades. Therefore, the tweets of participants function as counter narratives against the official narrative, while the latter is constantly advertised and imposed through the state controlled mass media. The thesis also argues that social media have provided people with a platform were they can have a voice and therefore the power to resist the state narrative. The thesis also puts its focus on the responses the participants receive from other Twitter users, which shows the awareness that the online campaign has raised regarding the issue. Another result of the campaign, the thesis argues, is the empowerment of the victims in the instances of encountering perpetrators of assault. The research therefore shows how ordinary women make powerful narratives through recounting their experiences of sexual assault and thus challenge the official narrative that puts the responsibility of experiencing it on them rather than the perpetrators. The project also puts its attention on the difference such participation makes for the victims, as they mention in their tweets that speaking about their experience of assault has led them into feeling healed and has given them the mentality of having the ability to defend themselves against assault.