Judgement versus Prejudice. A Best-Practice Case Study in the Legal and Social Representation of Gender Based Violence

The representation of male violence against women in public discourse can contribute to various forms of gender-based social injustice and lead to secondary victimisation. Journalistic and legal language plays a key role in this process: it can reinforce distorted narratives or, conversely, help promote a culture that actively challenges and prevents gender discrimination and violence. This paper draws on the analysis of a corpus of judicial rulings issued between 2020 and 2022 by the Court of Tivoli, a nationally recognised example of good practice in the legal handling of gender-based violence. Based on this analysis, the article aims to identify effective strategies and formulate guidelines for the accurate and responsible representation of gender-based violence in both legal and journalistic language.