Article 19

05/03/2022

While journalists and communicators1 worldwide experience threats, surveillance,

attacks, arbitrary arrest, detention, enforced disappearances, and murder for carry-

ing out their vital work, women2 journalists deal with additional, gendered threats,

violence, abuse, and harassment – in their workplaces, when out reporting, and on-

line. They bear the brunt of not only the increasingly hostile environment affecting

all journalists but also pervasive gender-based violence, gendered discrimination,

and ‘gendered censorship’.3 These risks multiply for women journalists, who ex-

perience multiple, overlapping discriminations on the basis of race, ethnicity, age,

sexual orientation, sex characteristics, gender identity/expression, and religious

beliefs, among others.

Current policies and practices – even those deemed ‘gender-sensitive’ – are fail-

ing to protect women journalists from these risks. A bulletproof vest may be use-

ful in some contexts, but it will not protect a woman from sexual harassment in

her newsroom, abuse when she shares her stories online, or assault on public

transport when she travels to an assignment. Due to this lack of effective pro-

tection measures, women journalists have in some cases taken the situation into

their own hands, creating solutions to keep themselves and their colleagues safe.

These solutions are grounded in diverse feminist approaches that place women’s

everyday experiences, lived realities, and protection needs front and centre.

Our research findings form the basis of this report, which aims to:

→ EXPLORE how feminist practices have been, are being, and can be applied to

improve all women journalists’ safety worldwide;

→ BRIDGE international legal and policy frameworks on the safety of journalists

with the practical approaches being adopted on the ground; and

→ CATALYSE a conversation about how – together – we can move towards

feminist approaches to the safety of journalists.