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Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a widespread and serious societal problem. In order to resolve the issue, it is important that the topic is represented appropriately in the media. According to previous media content analyses, the media coverage of this problem is often severely flawed. Up to now, it has never been investigated which image material is used in press articles about child sexual abuse. This question is now answered for the first time by an analysis of N = 1437 German-language online press articles about CSA, which the Group Media Psychology at Technische Universität Ilmenau has published in the journal SC|M - Studies in Communication and Media. The study shows which central image motifs are used in the coverage and critically comments on this iconography based on criteria of media quality and media ethics. Comparatively, the visual material found in prevention materials is analyzed.

Döring, N., & Walter, R. (2021). Ikonografien des sexuellen Kindesmissbrauchs: Symbolbilder in Presseartikeln und Präventionsmaterialien [Iconographies of child sexual abuse: Symbolic images in press articles and prevention materials]. Studies in Communication and Media, 10(3), 362–405. https://doi.org/10.5771/2192-4007-2021-3-362