This article explores public debates about credibility in media discourse regarding a Somali refugee who was raped
on Nauru. Given the pseudonym “Abyan”, she was living on Nauru as a result of Australian refugee policy and was brought to
Australia for medical assistance. Her treatment by the Australian authorities became the subject of debate and was widely
discussed in the Australian media. Analyzing a corpus of media articles reporting and commenting on this debate, this article
explores how the media’s representations of the key actors shape their credibility. Reflecting existing research, this article finds
that Abyan’s experience is used to support broader policy arguments. Further, the discourse presents Abyan as a key speaker,
despite her limited ability to defend her credibility. The article concludes that credibility remains an important theme in
discourse on refugees and that power asymmetries hidden within this discourse create obstacles for those wishing to challenge
it.
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This list is based on CrossRef data as of 2 september 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.