Introduction

Ever since 2015, media all over the world have been reporting about the migrant "crisis", as a result of which several million people have been displaced from various regions of the Middle East and Africa to Europe, the United States of America, Australia and other countries. Almost on a daily basis, media show images of boats and ships packed with refugees as well as endless lines of refugees at border crossings where migrants1 queue every day, in the hope of a better life. On their way to the European Union, they cross the so called "Balkan route", which also has also included Serbia since May 2015. To date, approximately a 1.5 million migrants from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Bangladesh, etc. have passed through our country (Danas, 2021).

Serbian media with both nation-wide and local coverage have had various approaches to the migrant situation, while on social media fake news about this population is rather common. Citizens believe that they do not have sufficient information on the matter, with a recorded lower percentage of respondents who have had a positive view of migrants since 2016 and 2017 (CeSID, 2019). The research conducted by the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID) explains that such a trend is a result of, among other things, negative rhetoric in the media, whereby migrant coverage is extremely negative, with migrants being perceived as terrorists who pose a threat to public safety and health. The most negative positions are observed in municipalities which are more strongly affected by the "crisis", such as Šid, Preševo and Kanjiža, whereas the residents of Sjenica and Tutin have a more positive view. This is explained by a high level of migrants being accepted by the local, mainly Muslim community (CeSID, 2019).

Academic research into media reports on migrants and refugees is abundant and it mainly focuses on how they are presented in Western European and US media contexts. It has been established that, in addition to newspaper articles, photos in the newspapers and TV footages affect to a large extent whether the public form positive or negative perceptions. For example, visual portraits of individuals stuck in the migrant "crisis" may "relax" citizens' views (Madrigal & Soroka, 2021; Parrot et al., 2019), while showing the images of female migrants with children develops a stronger "culture of hospitality" and has an influence on more humanised representation of migrant populations (Bleiker et al., 2014). Furthermore, women today largely participate in global migrations (Save the Children, 2020) and besides war conflicts, they are faced with striking discrimination, human trafficking and other forms of threats in transit states, which they cross in order to reach their final destination (Lefko-Everett, 2010). Media image stereotypes can additionally deteriorate their position, especially if one bears in mind the public opinion polls showing that the citizens of Serbia, when compared with earlier years, are decreasingly prepared to interact and speak with female migrants (CeSID, 2019). From the point of view of media studios and journalism, visual media content tends to inspire public reactions more quickly and easily (Coleman, 2010) and it stands for a form of "imaginary contact" with ethnic, religious and other minorities (Özcan, 2013, p. 428). Nevertheless, in Serbia there are hardly any studies looking into media reports and visual representation of women who have fled the Middle East and Africa since 2015 and who have been staying in our country or were here in transit.

Given the context, this paper aims to investigate major visual frames and techniques of visual representation of female migrants in the Serbian print and online media, through the use of a quantitative/qualitative analysis of newspaper photos. In this way, besides the predominant manner of media representation, it could also be established whether visual frames in the Serbian media form a context for humanising this population as well as social and political crises it has undergone for a number of years now. The structure of the paper is such that the theoretical framework of media representation of female migrants in an international context is followed by an explanation of the methodological approach to research, main findings and final considerations.

"Feminisation" of migrations and media representation of female migrations in the international context

International academics rarely investigate how the media treat women who have fled war zones in the Middle East and Africa during the mayor migrant "crisis" of 2015, or women who have fled poverty, political and social repression in pursuit of a better life. The absence of female migrants' representation not only in the media but also in a wider academic community is indicative of the widespread socio-political marginalisation of this important and current topic.

It is important in multiple ways to point out the position of female migrants compared to male ones Zorica Mršević and Svetlana Janković (2019, p. 39). offer argumentation that "the migration of women should be observed through a discourse of gender inequality, traditional roles of women, gender-biased labour market, universal presence of gender-based violence and global feminisation of poverty and work migrations". This means that female migrants, apart from fleeing persecution, also flee violence and discrimination, while on their migrant route also encountering domestic violence and violence of other migrants, even violence by staff of international charities and law enforcement staff in the countries where they are staying (Mršević & Janković, 2019). However, research has shown that it is only when they stay alone, with their children or in groups with other women, that female migrants fall victim to criminals, human traffickers and law enforcement staff in the countries through which they are passing (Mršević & Janković, 2018, p. 59). Some of the major obstacles female migrants are faced with are that they do not speak the local language; they have no sufficient support and documents; they are unemployed and have limited access to healthcare and education resources, and they also encounter longstanding and complicated administrative problems relative to the issuance of personal documents (Mršević, 2016, p. 217).

In academic literature which does deal with the position of female migrants, the term "feminisation of migrations" is used. The term denotes an increase in the number of female migrants vis-à-vis male migrants (Morokvašić, 2010). Reports presented by various international organisations (Save the Children, 2020), show that in the context of global feminisation of migrations, an increasing number of girls of all ages have been displaced and that they cross migration corridors, either accompanied by family members or completely on their own. As the most common reason for which they have decided to flee their homes and countries, these girls state poverty, threat of domestic violence and fleeing political or other forms of repression (Save the Children). In the context of the Western Balkans and Serbia, it has been noted that girls of an even older age have been excluded from decision-making regarding where a family of migrants might set out to, what the envisaged route is and what survival strategies for the journey are (Save the Children, 2020). Female migrants, according to many relevant indicators, are exposed to the worst aspects of migration - besides social exclusion, there is also physical and psychological abuse, and they are faced with inadequate availability of healthcare services and education (Lefko-Everett, 2010).

In the international media and political discourse, the prevalent stereotypical representation of male migrants as them being "mean" and female migrants as being "vulnerable" social categories (Freedman, 2016). Additionally, the media not infrequently depict them negatively as "breeding machines" that are cumbersome for the healthcare system (Mawadza & Banda, 2016, p. 5). Still, the most common way of representing female migrants in the media is within the scope of victimisation, in which women and girls are represented as victims (Hellermann, 2006; Banda & Mawadza, 2015). Even within this frame, we notice stigmatisation of female migrants, especially when they are mentioned in the context of prostitution, which, as a prevalent media narrative in fact clouds the real reasons for such female migrants leaving their homes and gruelling cross border journeys in pursuit of a better life (Banda & Mawadza, 2015).

As part of the media representation of female migrants as victims, some research has shown that their "vulnerability" is most commonly connected with the issues of human trafficking, sex slavery and prostitution (Oloruntoba et al., 2018). The media narrative, which arises from visual media content, often represents women and girls as victims who need aid and protection. This "salvation" media frame mainly results from reports of international organisations, NGOs and governments of the states which provide aid to female migrants (Oloruntoba et al., 2018), rather than from problems these women are faced with. In visual terms, the frame which emphasises the need to save vulnerable social categories, such as women and girls who fled war affected regions, does not go any further than boats and ships, shown as part of articles in which female migrants' concerns are voiced only sporadically (Oloruntoba et al., 2018).

Research into visual and media representation of female migrants is scarce. Studies focus mainly on the Western European media and they indicate that the visual aspect of a victim, rather than one of burden and threat, is shown (Amores & Arcila, 2014). This is to say that the gender dimension in media reports is important for the overall treatment of migrants and refugees, especially in the context of their social acceptance. The German media contain three types of visual stereotypes regarding Muslim female migrants: images of estrangement and insufficient interaction with female migrants, images of a different lifestyle in communal facilities, which are shared with local populations, and images that evoke meanings based on representation of the female body (Özcan, 2013). The most commonly used visual motif in representing female migrants is "viewing them from the back", which entails estrangement, loneliness and distancing women from observers, even absence of any sort of interaction with them.

Studies conducted outside the Western European and US media frames focus on media representation of female migrants in various national contexts. African media treat female migrants as "divorcees, widows or abandoned women" (Nyangairi, 2010, p. 48), who are mostly looked upon suspiciously and are mainly shown as being unaccompanied by men, as potentials sex workers, "desperate and morally depraved" (Nyangairi, 2010, p. 49). Female migrants are similarly reported on by the media in Australia, which by showing a universal human symbolism in the shape of a woman with a child put female migrants in the box of vulnerability and helplessness but at the same time they demonstrate the gender stereotype of being co-dependent (Bleiker et al., 2014, p. 195). Interestingly enough, the images of women with children, as a context for "media feminisation of female refugees" (Lenette & Cleland, 2016, p. 71), also reflect attempts by the media to humanise the specific crisis they are reporting on and in doing so, they no longer depict women and children as strangers but as persons to whom a viewer can relate. In this manner, Bleiker et al. believe that what is developed is a "culture of hospitality" and that it gives rise to stronger empathy among viewership.

In the Serbian context, there are few research studies dealing with media representation of female refugees and migrants who come from the Middle East and Africa. In their analysis of research trends and approaches to the issue of migrants and migration management in internationally relevant national journals, Pavlović et al. (Pavlović et al., 2021). have found that gender-based approach to migrations has been neglected in all analysed areas. Kleut and Drašković (2017, p. 178) argue that the face of a refugee in any media visual content is "recognisable if it involves women and children, whereas the images of men's faces are shown when the dramatic side of an occurrence needs to be stressed". Ethical aspects of Serbian media reporting on migrants (Milinkov et al., 2021) show that female and male migrants and refugees from the Middle East and Africa are mainly seen in the context of fake news, terror campaigns and anti-migrant narratives, which are dominated by manipulative media content. The most common manipulation strategies include broadcasting old instead of current news, intimidation when spreading fake news, unfounded claims, etc (Milinkov, 2021). According to Janjić (Janjić, 2021, p. 12), fake and manipulative narratives in the Serbian language, the narratives being relative to male and female migrants "1) spread very fast, 2) recruit thousands of citizens via different platforms, 3) involve overt xenophobia, chauvinism and hate speech", with predominant narratives being common patterns of misinformation about migrants and refugees, speculation about the number of migrants, the very term "refugee", number of incidents, timelines and location of certain occurrences and population theories. In such a context, gender discrimination is striking, and it is additionally "biased through religious, ethnic and gender stereotypes", while female refugees and migrants are "enveloped by a cloak of media and patriarchate darkness" (Milinkov et al., p. 4).

Methodological framework

Our research is based on the quantitative/qualitative analysis of 54 images from media articles released every June over a period of five years, between 2015 and 20202. We created our sample based on selected relevant print and online media in Serbia, which reported on the migrant "crisis" over the said period and published photos accompanying these articles on a daily basis. The media corpus included the following dailies, their online versions and web portals: Alo, Blic, Kurir, Večernje novosti, Politika, Informer, Danas, Dnevnik and B92.net. For a reliable search of released images and a relevant media sample, we have used a database of press clippings publicly available at the web portal of the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia. June was selected as the month to be analysed because this is when World Refugee Day is marked and it would be reasonable to expect that, unlike other periods of the year, there would be more media content about migrants in general. Furthermore, stronger media coverage of the migrant "crisis" began in Serbia after June 2015, because in May that year we had experienced the first stronger inflow of migrants and refugees from Greece.

The analysis of visual representation of female migrants in the Serbian media included a number of variables. At the information level, we noted the date of release and media outlet where the image was released. Then, based upon the theory of media framing (Entman, 1993), we analysed major visual media frames, which are in academic literature defined as a means of media selection whereby certain aspects of reality stand out or clearly emerge through visual content (Branter et. al. 2011:251). The methodological approach is based on denotative, style-semiotic and connotative level of visual media framing (Barthes, 1977; Rodriguez & Dimitrova, 2011). At the denotative level, we analysed major players, textual tools which go with the image, such as the caption, headline and sidebar as parts accompanying the photo. Then, we also analysed the size of a migrant group within which female migrants are shown (small/medium-sized group - up to 20 members, large group - 20+ members, individuals - portrait of a person, no group - it cannot be identified because the image intends to show something else), as well as the dominant frame within which female migrants are visually portrayed and specifications of an individual visual frame: frame of threat (to the safety of borders, public health, as a cause of threat to other countries, victimisation (victims of transport, war, crimes, treatment of the state where they are staying, human trafficking), administrative frame (asylum or aid seeking or a general approach to migration management), political frame (political decisions issued by Serbia or policies of some other country) and integration frame (social inclusion or inclusion of female migrants in the education system).

At the style-semiotic level of the image, we analysed positioning of the camera used to photograph female migrants - long/medium shot for capturing visual closeness and wide/total frame for capturing visual distance (Wilmott, 2017), as well as activities which capture female migrants performing them (Greenwood & Thomson, 2020), e.g., when they are passive (waiting, sitting or lying down), when they are actively moving (coming or leaving), when they are interacting (with a group of persons, children, police) and activities which suggest "normal" living, such as going to the supermarket, school, doing physical exercise, etc.

At the connotation level, we have analysed the presence of visual symbols and metaphors (Aiello, 2006; Krstić et al., 2020), which may be of help for the purpose of a deeper and broader understanding of the prevailing visual frame, used to show female migrants in the Serbian media. For example, images of prison bars, handcuffs and cages evoke perceptions of female migrants as dangerous and devious individuals, images of a blanket could refer to safety they are in pursuit of, scarves and dresses may refer to cultures from which they come.

Results

During the period between 1^st and 30^th June of every year from 2015 to 2020, a total of 54 images showing female migrants from the Middle East and Africa were released in the nine selected media outlets. Female migrants featured as main characters in 80% of the images, which means that they were clearly indicated as individuals and were the primary focus of the photos. As background figures, female migrants were in the secondary focus compared to the main characters, who were mainly male migrants, police officers or politicians. A substantial part of the sample, i.e. 64% of the sampled images, showed images of women with children. They were often shown within a small or medium-sized group of migrants (83%), but very rarely captured in portraits (8%) and large groups (1.8%). Female migrants were mainly shown in a visual setting of threat, then in the frame of victimisation and far more rarely in the frames of politics and integration (Table 1).

Table 1. Главни визуелни оквир мигранткиња у медијима у Србији од 2015. до 2020. године / The main visual frame of female migrants in the Serbian media 2015-2020

The main visual frame	%
Главни визуелни оквир/Main visual frame	33.3
Оквир претње/Threat frame	26.0
Оквир виктимизације/Victimization frame	24.0
Административни оквир/Administrative frame	11.2
Оквир политике/Political frame	5.5
Оквир интеграције/Integration frame

The results of the quantitative analysis of specific sub-frames indicate that migrants captured in the frame of suffering were shown mainly in the context of threat to public health or as a cause of threat of another country to Serbia, while within the victimisation frame, they were mainly shown as victims to war rather than the victims of human trafficking, cross-border transport or crimes.

If we note how widely spread the visual frame year by year (Figure 1) is, during the first year of the migrant "crisis" the most common frames were those of threat and victimisation.

Figure 1 Хронолошки приказ главног визуелног оквира мигранткиња умедијима у Србији од 2015. до 2020. / Timeline of the main visual frame offemale migrants in the Serbian media 2015-2020

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Between 2016 and 2018, there was an increasing presence of the administrative visual frame whereby women were captured in situations of aid or asylum seeking, as well as in the form of figures and statistics, which shows that the media then were more concerned with calculations of how many thousand migrants entered and exited the country rather than the actual reason for them taking refuge or individual real-life stories which could bring female migrants and their position closer to our understanding. The impression one gets is that female migrants, as part of a larger group, were shown in the Serbian media as a type of burden to the state and society. The only, admittedly a very short, period during which we noticed the visual frame of female migrants' integration in society was in 2016 and slightly less during 2018, which was the case only with the Politika, Kurir and Blic dailies. Nevertheless, starting from 2018, the frame of threat was on the increase again, but there were no longer photographs which associated female migrants with a threat to the safety of borders or captured them in interactions with police officers or at a border crossings, given the fact that titles and captions directly and visually labelled them as sources of contagion of dangerous diseases.

The results have shown that titles and sidebars, as well as captions, were often in contradiction with the content of the image itself. For example, women with children were shown on the move, or in a reclining position (Figure 2), with visually noticeable rucksacks as a symbol of burden, bare feet as a common visual symbol of exile, weariness and long wandering.

Figure 2 Снимак екрана, Информер, 23. 6. 2015. / Print screen, Informer, 23^rd June 2015

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Images themselves illustrated the portraits of women who suffered tragic fate and who were still en route to somewhere or were waiting for a change in their status. Nevertheless, the position of such images, apart from visually noticeable image of violent jumping over the barriers and their breaking, as well as tabloid and sensationalist frame of the heading, puts harmless visual representation of female migrants in the context of a threat and danger to the citizens of Serbia.

This is not the only example. Visual decontextualisation of female migrants is present throughout the sample. Images of women with children or groups of women, in which there is not a hint of dangerous behaviour or threat, provide frame for a context which does not reflect visual content (Figure 3) and which, with the aid of sensationalist titles, spread panic and fear among readers (Figure 4).

Figure 3 Снимак екрана, Политика, 28. 6. 2016. / Print screen, Politika, 28^th June 2016

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Figure 4 Снимак екрана, Информер, 19. 6. 2015. / Print screen, Informer, 19^th June 2015

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Additionally, women and girls were shown as a threat to public health because it was suggested that they "spread tuberculosis and scabies" (Informer, 24^th June 2015) but also that "they knew they had contracted the diseases" and that "they spread AIDS throughout Serbia" (Kurir, 28^th June 2018). In some cases, for the purpose of insisting on representation of devious forms of behaviour, female migrants were not used at all. Instead, other women were used, mainly unidentifiable, photographed from the back, but who, at the connotation level of perception of the image and visual metaphor, were indicative of the meaning of migrants' dangerous behaviour, which is believed to have unforeseeable consequences for the citizens of Serbia (Figure 5).

Figure 5 Снимак екрана, Курир, 28. 6. 2018. / Print screen, Kurir, 28^th June 2018

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At the style-semiotic level of the image, female migrants were mostly shown form a visual distance compared to the camera lens. In 76% of the sampled images, the prevalent visual frame is wide or "total", which captures composition of the photo in space but it at the same time has the effect of visual distancing from persons captured in such images. In rare close-ups and medium distance frames, female migrants were shown mainly as the victims of war, which they fled, with the odd personal story told in the media (Figure 6) or as aliens, estranged in every way from the citizens of Serbia, to whom readership cannot relate or connect (Figure 7 and Figure 8).

Figure 6 Снимак екрана, Информер, 20. 6. 2015. / Print screen, Informer, 20^th June 2015

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Figure 7 Снимак екрана, B92.net, 20. 6. 2020. / Print screen, B92.net/20^th June 2020

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Figure 8 Снимак екрана, Вечерње новости, 25. 6. 2015. / Print screen, Večernje novosti, 25^th June 2015

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The majority of the sampled images in which female migrants were shown in a passive state, not doing anything except waiting, be it lying down, sitting down or standing up, while other images, in which they were active or interacted, were far fewer in terms of the percentage of the sampled images (Table 2).

Table 2.Визуелна репрезентација активности мигранткиња на анализираним фотографијама од 2015. до 2020. / Visual representation of female migrants’ activities in the sampled images 2015-2020

Visual frame of women migrants’ activities	%
Чекање/Waiting	55.5
Транзит/Transit	18.5
Интеракција/Interaction	14.8
Акција/Action	3.7
Илустрација/Illustration	7.4

A frequent visual symbol is a view from back, which is also recognised in other academic research (Özcan, 2013). It denotes distancing from viewership and inability to relate to persons captured in the photos (Figure 9).

Figure 9 Снимак екрана, Блиц, 28. 6. 2015. / Print screen, Blic, 28^th June 2015

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Depersonalisation of female migrants, which is accomplished not only through the position of the camera but also through images which do not show their faces at all, or show them partially, in which their heads are turned to the side or covered with hands, as if they refused to allow precise identification. Hiding faces with scarves or covering the body with blankets to them represents being safe from the outside world, displacement from their own homes and drama in whose centre they were placed. To a viewer, on the other hand, it could mean estrangement from someone and something else. Such visual distancing is apparent in the analysis of the angle from which the photograph was shot. In the photos where female migrants interact with police officers, the angle of the frame is such that a viewer has the impression that he/she is always looking from where the police officer is standing, on the other side of the "barbed wire" rather than from where the female migrant is standing (Figure 10).

Figure 10 Снимак екрана, Политика, 17. 6. 2017. / Print screen, Politika, 17^th June 2017

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Not once does the photojournalist join the migrants' group but instead is at a sufficient distance and captures the group from the outside, at times from above or a bird's-eye view, which shows a status of submission or lower rank vis-à-vis the viewer. Even in some rare images which show female migrants integrating into the education systems, girls who are sitting at the benches are rather far from the camera and they are captured sideways, as profile photos, as if they blended with the setting and the composition of the photo and group which they belong to and in which it is impossible to establish and personal identity.

Conclusion

Female migrants from the Middle East and Africa in transit through Serbia on their way to the EU countries since 2015 to date have had to deal not only with the burden of exile and uncertainties of a better life, but they have been at the same time in the media represented in a very negative context. Unlike media elsewhere in the world, in which female migrants are frequently portrayed as victims thus provoking empathy of viewership, image in the Serbian print and online media is such that they are represented more in the frame of a threat to safety and public health as well as a cause of threat of other states to Serbia rather than within a frame of victimisation. The media treat female migrants as foreigners whose voice is rarely heard in media content and to whom the viewer, in the absence of individual visual portraits and personal real-life stories, can neither relate nor understand. This manner of framing is contributed not only by the technical composition of the sampled images, but also the overall visual distancing from women in exile. This visual distancing is reflected in the prevalent representation of female migrants in large frames or in spaces where they are located, often with their backs turned and their faces and bodies covered. Even when individuals are personalised in middle frames and close-ups, they are seen from where law enforcement officers stand, but never in the context of a migrant group they belong to. The few images which represent the frame of integration and inclusion of female migrants in the Serbian education system, despite the well-meaning intention to show positive developments in Serbia's view and treatment of displaced persons, migrants and refugees, they actually remain at a safe visual distance and fail to convey the positive message.

A feature of Serbian print and online media is a striking discrepancy between the visual context and copy, which is misleading to the viewer because it creates confusion in the perception of where and how female migrants live. On the one hand, images show women who lead modest and far from easy lives, lie in the dust and on pavements, very often barefoot, and they mainly spend time completely in the open, they raise their children and communicate with other members of the group to which they belong. On the other hand, bombastic titles and sensationalist captions are in many cases connected with an "invasion", "attack" and migrants "pouring" into European countries, which entirely decontextualizes it and leads readership into perceiving female migrants as a danger or threat to personal safety and health, and as an administrative burden, rather than perceiving them as the victims of war, violence and exile, who need aid and protection. This manner of visual framing of female migrants is not connected to one specific period but, as a timeline analysis of major media frames shows, has been in place since the migrant "crisis" first started to date. Within major frames, what changes are only sub-types and sub-frames: initially, the predominant frame was that of threat to the safety of borders and representing female migrants as a cause of "tightening the grip" of Serbia and a threat to other countries, especially Hungary, while in later years the predominant sub-frame was that of a threat to public health. The main visual frames, style-semiotic approach as well as visual symbols used for media depersonalisation, visual decontextualisation and dehumanisation of female migrants remained constant throughout the period of 2015 to 2020. In such a context, visual media content depicts women, girls and women with children in exile cannot be an instrument for creating a potential "culture of hospitality" to migrants in Serbia, nor does it contribute to growing empathy and understanding their lives and status. In this atmosphere, media content fails to shed light on true problems female migrants are faced with, to which for decades attention has been drawn in relevant literature and international charities'' reports.