Violence Against Women Increases on TV
A study by the Parents Television Council found that TV violence against women has increased by 120 percent since 2004, while TV violence in general has only increased 2 percent during the same time period.PTC analysts reviewed hundreds of hours of videotapes, observing trends in prime-time television from February 2004 to May 2009.Most major networks, such as CBS, NBC and Fox, showed dramatic increase in violence against women, 92 percent of which was graphically depicted instead of described or implied.ABC was the only network that did not show a significant increase in violence against women during the last five years.Although most female victims were adults, the depiction of teen girls as victims increased 400 percent on all networks.Melissa Henson, PTC's senior director of programs, said she thinks these findings were unsurprising."We did a study from 1998 to 2006 that showed there had already been a huge jump in violence on TV," Henson said.Henson said she thinks the sudden increase in violence could be the result of a general migration of TV programs away from the traditional 30-minute shows toward longer-lasting, higher-intensity reality shows and dramas.Advances in technology and special effects make it more appealing to implement violence into TV shows, Henson said."They are including more violence because they're able to take advantage of these technologies," Henson said.
