October Review Report: What Press Freedom Looked Like in October, For Women Journalists?
In October, The Coalition For Women In Journalism documented 87 cases of threats against women journalists around the world.
During the month of October The Coalition For Women In Journalism documented various cases of threats against women journalists. We identified 87 cases of physical attacks, legal harassments, detainments, arrests and online attacks.
This review report, including the total number of cases noted above, reflects some of the most prominent cases identified and documented by CFWIJ.
In August, Belarus, Lebanon and Pakistan were one of the most impacted countries where women journalists’ safety was at risk. We identified 33 cases in Belarus, seven cases in Pakistan and as a result of the devastating Beirut blasts and the protests that ensued, 12 women journalists in Lebanon were found impacted by injuries and attacks.
Eight women journalists around the world were attacked on the ground while reporting vital issues that affect the society
Liebig34, an “anarcho-queer-feminist” housing project in Berlin, has been cleared of residents following a contentious eviction involving around 1,500 police officers and journalists were impeded at work. Read more here.
In South Africa, The Citizen newspaper’s photographer Tracy Lee Stark and reporter Marizka Coetzer were attacked and impeded at work. Read more here.
Dokuz8NEWS correspondent Fatoş Erdoğan exposed the police violence while reporting on protests of the Youth Movement in Istanbul. Read more here.
Journalist Demet Aran was subjected to police violence while reporting and filming the press statement for the Health and Safety Labour Watch. Read more here.
ABP News crew was attacked and journalist Pratima Mishra was impeded at work while covering the funeral of the young girl gangraped and murdere in Hathras. Read more here.
30 women journalists were detained just because of their journalistic activities
During the operation against Kars Municipality in Turkey, while many politicians and representatives of non-governmental organizations were detained within the scope of the operation, Democrat News reporter Selda Manduz was also among those detained. Read more here.
Journalist Basma Mostafa was abducted and later detained for covering the murder of a citizen in the Luxor Governorate at the hands of a national security officer. Read more here.
Mesopotamia Agency's (MA) Van Bureau and the homes of many journalists were raided in the morning of October 7 and Şehriban Abi and Nazan Sala were detained. Read more here.
16 journalists were detained in Belarus, seven of them being women. Read more here.
Belarusian police detained 40 more journalists, 17 of them being women. Read more here.
Journalist Doaa Khalifa was arbitrarily detained in Egypt pending case no.880\2020 after being missing for three weeks. Read more here.
On 19 October 2020, a German media crew making a documentary about climate-induced migration on the Greek island of Samos were detained for seven hours. Read more here.
Seven women journalists were targeted via major troll campaigns
In Lebanon, former CFWIJ member Luna Safwan was targeted by online hate and harassment. Read more here.
Journalist Ghada Oueiss was targeted by online attacks, for the second time in less than 2 months by Saudi government-linked accounts over her dissident views. Read more here.
In Yemen, online harassment campaigns resulted in the abduction attempt of journalist Weaam Alsofy’s son by Al-Houthi group affiliated members. Read more here.
President Donald Trump who is notorious for his treatment of journalists launched a smear campaign against award winning journalist Kristen Welker who will moderate the debate. Read more here.
Australian journalist Rachel Baxendale was targeted with death and rape threats and photos of her circulated on the internet.
The editor-in-charge of IrfaaSawtak, Rasha Al Aqeed, was attacked online for her views and tweets concerning discourse on Iraq. While Rasha resides in the U.S. the tweets all came from Iraqi Twitter accounts. Read more here.
A wave of social media hatred was unleashed against Mahassen Moursel, an investigative reporter, after it was falsely reported on Twitter that she had been arrested for collaborating with Israel, which is still officially at war with Israel. Read more here.
19 women journalists were legally harassed
In Nicaragua, Journalist and press officer of Radio La Costeñísima, Kalúa Salazar was sentenced to pay a fine for the crime of slander after she reported on corruption by the mayor of El Rama municipality. Read more here.
In Slovenia, we documented that the news portal Necenzurirano.si’s managers are facing a total of 39 law cases initiated against them due to “defamation” of a famous tax expert. Read more here.
Journalist Basma Mostafa released on a 2000 L.E bail approximately 100 $. Read more here.
In Pakistan, Maham Javaid was booked for a trial for exposing sexual misconduct of a celebrity. Read more here.
A lawsuit was filed against Hazal Ocak with a claim of 20 thousand TL for non-pecuniary damages due to her article in Cumhuriyet Newspaper. Read more here.
First hearing of the case against Gazete Yolculuk journalist (former student journalist at Cumhuriyet) Buse Söğütlü was held. Read more here.
In the case against Sadiye Eser where she is being charged with “membership to an armed terrorist organization” the court ruled to lift judicial control measures. Read more here.
A third hearing was held concerning the suit for damages that the T3 Foundation initiated against Sözcü columnist Çiğdem Toker. Read more here.
Fourth hearing of the case against Sabiha Temizkan who is being charged with terrorism over a tweet was held on October 15. Read more here.
First hearing of the case against JinNews Van bureau reporter Hikmet Tunç was going to be held on October 21 but instead a new procedure was applied. Read more here.
Verdict hearing on the case against journalist Sabiha Temizkan over charges of “spreading terror propaganda” was held. Sabiha was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment. Read more here.
Verdict hearing of the case initiated against Cumhuriyet Newspaper’s former diplomacy news reporter Duygu Güvenç was held. Duygu was acquitted of the charges. Read more here.
Al-Shorouk media sued journalist and editor-in-chief of Al-Fagr news outlet, Hadda Hezam over allegations of defaming and attacking Islam. Read more here.
The first hearing of the case initiated against former Cumhuriyet reporter Alican Uludağ and responsible editor in chief of the newspaper Olcay Büyüktaş Akça was held. Read more here.
Dublin Inquirer’s co-founder Sam Tranum and its reporter Laoise Neylon were served with summons about a defamation lawsuit filed against them for an article questioning evictions. Read more here.
An arrest warrant for Middle East Eye reporter Suadad Al-Salhy was issued concerning a libel lawsuit. Read more here.
The second hearing of the case against Hazal Ocak concerning her news piece “Son-in-law knows his way” was held. The journalist was acquitted of charges. Read more here.
Middle East Eye reporter Suadad Al-Salihy’s was served an arrest warrant with the claimant being anonymous and charges being ambiguous. Read more here.
Journalist Necla Demir, who was facing charges of “insulting the President”, is acquitted on the second hearing of the case. Read more here.
Five women reporters were subjected to state oppression
Following large scale protests that have erupted to protest the brutal gang rape and murder of a Dalit woman by upper-caste men in Hathras, a woman journalist who reported on the story was intimidated by authorities. Read more here.
Citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, who is the only woman journalist who remains under bars went on a hunger strike. Read more here.
Journalist Esraa Abdel-Fattah as of October 15 has spent one year in pre-trial detention pending case no. 488\2020. Read more here.
TV presenter Sazdell El-Kak was deported from Kuwait over claims of violating dress code conduct and posting so called immoral social media content. Read more here.
Family members of prisoner of conscience Louijain Al-Hathloul announced that she started a hunger strike protesting her mistreatment. Read more here.
Eight women journalists were arrested
Citizen journalist and human rights defender Ding Lingjie has been missing since June 3 according to her family, On October 1 they launched a campaign. Read more here.
In Iran, Nada Sabouri was taken to Evin prison to serve a sentence of three and a half years in prison. Read more here.
RSF’s 2019 Press Freedom Prize winner journalist turned activist Pham Doan Trang was arrested in October during a raid at her house. Read more here.
Jinnews reporter Sehriban Abi, journalist Nazan Sala and Mesopotamia Agency correspondents Adnan Bilen and Cemil Ugur got arrested. Read more here.
Xol Abaj radio reporter and indigenous rights activist Anastasia Mejia was arrested with charges of “sedition”, “aggravated attack”, and “arson”. Read more here.
Shabnam Ashaouri, the editor of Aghahinameh, an economic bi-monthly specializing in the working class, was arrested at her home on 4 October by Revolutionary Guard intelligence officers in plain-clothes after they searched her home.
After being summoned by the Sentence Executive Bureau of Tehran’s Evin prison, photojournalist Alieh Motalebzadeh and student journalist Roghieh Nafari were returned to prison on charges of “meeting and conspiring against national security.”
One woman journalist’s accreditation got revoked
Tunisian journalist Kareema Nagy’s accreditation got revoked in Libya over allegations of espionage by the intelligence agency. Read more here.
Two female reporters were physically assaulted
Zainab Olayiwola, female journalist at a private radio station named Jamz FM, and her kids were attacked by park manager officials while boarding a tricycle on October 4. Read more here.
In Spain, journalist Mayka Navarro was covering the protests for The Ana Rosa Program and a group of protesters surrounded her, yelling at her and hitting her with a flag pole. Read more here.
Two women journalists were subjected to sexist attacks
CNN political reporter Gloria Borger was targeted with mansplaining and interruptions on live TV during a post debate panel.
Sportscaster Molly McGrath who is now almost full term pregnant took to instagram to refute sexist and body shaming remarks by a male follower.
One woman journalist was threatened with violence
Congolese journalist Rozenn Kalafulo said in an interview that she has been hiding in an unknown destination for a week after threatening comments. Read more here.
One woman journalist was subjected to workplace harassment
Floyd Press managing editor Ashley Spinks was fired from her job last week after she gave an interview about her working conditions to Radio IQ. Read more here.
One woman journalist was verbally harassed
The N1 TV crew was getting ready for the live broadcast in a public green area when a couple approached them and made comments about the crew not wearing masks and were verbally harassed. Read more here.
Two women journalists were subjected to torture in prison
In Turkey, the journalists of JinNews who were imprisoned have been tortured inhumanly, as they are being held in male ward and facing inconvenient conditions. Read more here.
If you would like to request more insight into our findings, or would like to suggest an addition to our work reach out to us at data@womeninjournalism.org. For media inquiries reach out to us at press@womeninjournalism.org.