Gender-Based Violence in Pakistani Print Media: A Corpus Linguistics Analysis

Abstract

This paper seeks to explore how Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is portrayed in the Pakistani print media. The study's main goal is to investigate how linguistic choices are selected while covering GBV in the news stories of Pakistani English newspapers. The methodology used by the researchers is mixed-methods. The corpus of news stories on the said topics was collected from Pakistani English newspapers between 2021 and 2025 and analyzed through Sketch Engine. The review was based on the keywords such as rape, murder, victim, and transgender. The most important findings indicate that although newspapers report on extreme cases of GBV, they mostly use neutral and remote words. It is also biased, often neglecting important structural problems, including child marriage, activism, and transgender violence. This individualistic approach to criminal acts in lieu of macro patterns in the society implies that more considerate reporting is necessary. The paper ends by recommending the media practices that employ delicate words that are not only informative but also create more awareness and lead to societal transformation.