Narrating Silence: Discursive Erasure of Trauma in Rape FIRs, A Forensic Linguistic Discourse Analysis

Abstract

This study examines the discursive construction and erasure of trauma in rape First Information Reports (FIRs) through the lens of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). Drawing on Norman Fairclough’s three-dimensional model, the research analyzes a purposive sample of FIRs from Pakistan to explore how linguistic and institutional practices shape the representation of sexual violence. The analysis operates at the levels of textual features, discursive processes, and broader social structures. Findings reveal that FIR discourse systematically transforms deeply personal experiences of violence into depersonalized legal narratives. At the textual level, the frequent use of passive constructions, legalistic vocabulary, and narrative compression obscures agency and sanitizes violence. At the level of discursive practice, victim narratives are re-voiced and reformulated within institutional frameworks, resulting in the suppression of subjective experience. At the social level, these patterns reflect and reinforce broader ideological commitments to legal neutrality and socio-cultural constraints surrounding the articulation of sexual trauma. The study argues that trauma in FIRs is not merely underrepresented but discursively erased through structured linguistic and institutional mechanisms. By foregrounding the concept of “narrated silence,” this research contributes to the intersection of forensic linguistics and critical discourse studies, highlighting the need for more victim-centered approaches in legal documentation practices.