Ageism, rape myths, and disgust: Australian news media, older women, and sexual violence

News media narrowly shapes how we understand and respond to sexual violence. Yet scholarship has focused on representations of younger women victims with limited attention given to older women. This omission is concerning considering the invisibilisation and underreporting of older women’s experiences of sexual violence within both community and institutional settings. Drawing on qualitative content analysis of 298 Australian news articles, utilising an intersectional framework and the affective evocation of feelings of disgust, we argue that media reporting perpetuates limiting stereotypes of older age and rape myths. These compound to narrow the discursive construction of sexual violence against older women. We explore four findings: the focus on ‘stranger rape’ and home invasions; ‘elderly’ victims as vulnerable, believable, white; monstrous and disgusting perpetrators; and the prioritisation of a law-and-order, specifically criminal legal, response. Across these findings we also reflect on moments of rupture that encourage alternative framings that centre older women’s rights.