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Media Hijacks Rihanna's Right to Privacy

Decision to come forward should have been hers alone

By Sarah Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 27, 2009 1:10 PM CST

(Newser) – The Los Angeles Times and other media outlets violated Rihanna’s privacy by publicizing her identity as a domestic-violence victim, Smita Satiani writes for the Huffington Post. Public desire for details, the need to know if Rihanna herself somehow brought it on, “stems from the ultimate denial that these horrendous crimes are real—and even worse, that they can happen to anyone.”

Rather than “investigating a victim’s actions prior to their assault,” Satiani urges education for men and women. “Societal shame, the media blame, a lack of access to resources, a perceived absence of efficacy in our criminal-justice system” all make it hard to report domestic violence, Satiani writes, and those barriers must fall. But ultimately, each victim should decide for herself whether to come forward.

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Rihanna arrives at the Clive Davis pre-Grammy party in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Feb. 7, 2009. (AP Photo)

Rihanna and Chris Brown perform in New York on Dec. 12, 2008. (AP Photo)

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Imposing these questions and invading the privacy of a victim—celebrity or not—to pacify our fears and provide us an explanation of assault is wrong. - Smita Satiani

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Media Hijacks Rihanna's Right to Privacy