Submitted by crinadmin on
The Swiss newspaper "Le Matin Dimanche" failed to respect properly the dignity of a victim of paedophilia in an article published in June 2008, according to a statement by the Swiss Press Council, published on its Internet website (see here in French). In the framework of the article "The baby-sitter was a sexual torturer", the Swiss newspaper reported the story of a five years old girl who had been abused by a young man who was her baby-sitter. The journalist wrote crude details on how the girl was abused. In order to preserve the anonymity of the victim, he gave her a fictive name. But he mentioned too many details (like the name of the small town where the victim and her family were living, the marital status of the mother, and the number of kids she had, including their age) to guarantee her and her family a real anonymity. In its statement, the Swiss Press Council reminded news outlets than when reporters are confronted with cases of dramatic and brutal events, they must weigh carefully the right of the public to be informed with the interest of the victims and the persons involved. The Council also said that cases of sexual crime require special care and attention, especially when minors are involved. As the Swiss Press Council is just a moral authority, its statement will have no legal implication, but it highlights that the difficulty of the dual obligation of informing the public while in the same time protecting victims is a universal challenge for journalists. It also shows how much trainings for journalists in reporting on children rights issues can be useful worldwide. The original article in French from 'La Tribune de Genève' can be found here Further information