Reporters without borders, an independent organization based in Paris that advocates for free journalism, recently published the first part of its annual report on abuses against journalists worldwide. It has been observed that around 387 journalists have been imprisoned by 2020, just for doing their work. Out of them, 54 are being held hostage, and 4 are missing.
Women Journalists Suffer The Brunt Of Online Trolling
But the most striking fact is that there has been a rise (by 35%) in the number of detentions for women journalists. New detainees are mainly from Belarus (4), Iran (4), and China (2). With lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19 in effect, the number of arbitrary arrests increased fourfold between March and May.
There have been conceivably large number (30%) of abuses in the form of physical violence or threats. While many journalists arrested were released in a few hours, 14 journalists are still behind bars.
While journalism around the world suffers this pandemic, women journalism is and for a long time have been a major victim. A report by the International Federation of Journalism states that about “one in two women journalists have suffered sexual harassment, psychological abuse, online trolling and other forms of gender-based violence (GBV) while working.”
While the major (45%) share of the perpetrators has been the outsiders (excluding boss/supervisors and colleagues), 85% of the victims say that “no or inadequate action has been taken against perpetrators and most workplaces do not even have a written policy to counter such abuses or provide a mechanism for reporting them.”
Social Media Scrutiny Of Women Journalists Is Problematic
There were instances when some journalists were threatened based on their social media activism. One example is when the three Lebanese women journalists, Dima Sadek, Luna Safwan, and Mahassen Moursel, were hounded based on their social media posts. Sadek has been the target of various intermittent threats ever since the start of an anti-government wave.
And Safwan has been hounded online ever since her Twitter post critical of Hezbollah (a Shia militant) went online. While on October 3, many social media attacks were unleashed against Morsel, who was falsely accused of being arrested for collaborating with Israel.
The increasing number of online attacks on women, especially Muslim women in India, is yet another example of how this patriarchal societal setup is disturbing the prospects of women’s participation in journalism. Arfa Khanum Sherwani has been getting rape and death threats from various Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts. The bulk of these accounts are ones that adore Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Lack Of Institutional Support To Women Journalists Is Startling
Another example is Masrat Zahra, who is the winner of a global award for courageous and ethical journalism, was charged with terror accusations for merely sharing her work on social media. A former NDTV Anchor, Nidhi Razdan, conveys that “women are special targets because ruling-party trolls are inherently misogynistic. They can’t stand the success of women who are assertive, successful, have an opinion.”
The RSS chief himself suggested women do household chores. The more startling fact is the lack of institutional support given to women and journalists in such cases. A study found that out of 21 journalists murdered while at work over four years to 2019, there was only one conviction.
The inaction taken over the murder of Arooj Iqbal in Pakistan is an example of a lack of institutional support given to women journalists. Arooj was murdered a day before she was about to set up her office. She, however, wasn’t a part of any journalist Union, which consequently backfired her. As there was no active investigation taken from the side of authorities, the case proceedings were subdued with stronger bureaucratic and monetary powers of the main accuse.
Predators Of Press Freedom:
Iran is the biggest jailer of women journalists. Further, more than 80% of female journalists in China face sexual harassment in the workplace. The 2018 #METOO campaign in India did bring out the inherent taboo in Indian society. However, the progress thereafter had been mostly laggard in 2013.
Indian Law on sexual harassment against women does necessitate the need for creating a committee in each company. However, in most Indian media houses, the members are usually appointed by the management. This consequently backfires the actual rationale.
Conclusion
While the violence against women remains to be the most prevalent human rights violations in the world, women journalists suffer the most in terms of their safety and security. This brings a need for stronger institutional makeup to prevent such violence.
Silvia Chocarro, Head of Protection Journalists & Human Rights Defenders at the international human rights organization Article 19, states that “The measures that can be taken include and are not limited to legislation and comprehensive public policies; capacity building of public officials, including judges and law enforcement, and awareness-raising; monitoring and documentation, and mobilization by civil society and other actors; commitment to human rights by internet intermediaries and to protect journalists by media outlets.”
“Silencing women journalists would be a major blow to diversity in the news media at a time when gender and racial diversity is recognized as a critical element of journalism’s 21st-century transformation.”, says Julie Posetti, Global Director of Research at the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ).