Press Freedom Status For Women Journalists: April 2022
Throughout the month of April 2022, the Coalition For Women In Journalism documented 42 cases of violations against women journalists. These included killings, physical assaults, detentions, organized troll campaigns and legal harassment among other attacks on press freedom and women journalists reporting from different parts of the world. Read on for more details on violations against women journalists this month.
Two Women Journalists Killed
Ukraine: Vira Hyrych, a journalist working for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) in the capital Kyiv, was killed on April 28, when Russian invasion forces launched a strike at the residential building where she lived. Her body was found the day after. Vira was the third woman out of the six journalists killed in Ukraine since the war broke out in February. More details available here.
Palestine: Journalist Nasreen Salem was shot in the head with a rubber bullet by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) while covering attacks on Al-Aqsa mosque on April 15. Her condition was not immediately clear. Nasreen’s employer organization, Al Qastal, claimed that the journalist was hit by DF fire. She was among 152 Palestinians injured during the Israeli raid at Al-Aqsa mosque. More details available here.
One Woman Journalist Abducted
Russia: Human rights defender and citizen journalist Irina Danilovich was abducted seemingly by the authorities on April 29 while returning home from work in Russian-occupied Crimea. Shortly after she went missing, a raid party of unidentified persons reached her family home in unmarked cars and conducted a search. The raid party told Irina’s family that the journalist is being detained for 10 days on allegations of sending information to a foreign country. No charges were disclosed at the time. Read our detailed coverage here.
Seven Women Journalists Detained
Lebanon: American freelance journalist Nada Homsi was held for 12 hours at the Beirut airport and threatened with deportation before she was allowed to enter Lebanon on April 11. Lebanese authorities had detained her at the airport claiming there was a ban on her entry to the country. But the journalist refused to be expelled. This was the second time Nada was detained in Lebanon. She was earlier detained for 23 days in November 2021. Read more here.
Somalia: Voice of America reporter Sagal Mustafe Hassan Nur and freelance journalist Naima Abdi Ahmed were among 10 journalists arrested in Somalia’s breakaway Somaliland region while covering a prison scuffle in its capital, Hargeisa. The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) confirmed the arrests on April 13. Police also raided Horn Cable TV, an independent television station in Hargeisa. Read more here.
Tunisia: Journalist Chahrazed Akacha was detained on April 14 by a Tunisian court for criticizing the interior minister and police forces of the country. The journalist had taken to her Facebook account to demand that the interior ministry rein in the police after security forces physically assaulted her on the field and took off her veil. Find more details here.
Belarus: Aksana Kolb was arrested on April 20 amid a wave of arrests which caught several independent journalists and activists. Aksana, an editor at the independent weekly Novy Chas, told her relatives at the time that she would be held in a temporary detention center for up to 10 days. Find more details here.
Egypt: Journalists Safaa Al-Korbaji and Hala Fahmy and were detained by the state security prosecutor after they posted online videos criticizing President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s government in late April. The two journalists had also publicly supported and participated in state media workers’ strikes, which began in January. Find more details here.
Five Women Journalists Faced Legal Harassment
Greece: A Greek court fined journalist Elena Akrita 8000€ for defamation because of her criticism of actor Marko Seferlis’s joke in his TV show. The court was ruling on a lawsuit filed by Seferlis in 2018 against the journalist and the director of TA NEA newspaper, which published the column. More details available here.
Belarus: Imprisoned journalist Katsyaryna Andreyeva was charged with “high treason” after a so-called secret investigation. The details of her alleged crime have not been disclosed but the journalist could face another 15 years in prison under these charges. Read more here.
Russia: Former DOXA student journal editor Natalia Tyshkevich was sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest over a social media post in 2017 in the first week of April. The journalist was accused of displaying symbols of banned organizations. On April 12, she was sentenced to two years of correctional labor along with Alla Gutnikova and three other former editors on separate charges of encouraging minors to protest in a YouTube video DOXA published in January 2021. The journalists were banned from administering websites for three years. Know more here and here.
Russia: Olga Komarova, editor of Listock a small newspaper based in Gorno-Altaysk, western Siberia’s Altai region, was fined 100,000 roubles (1,100 euros) while the newspaper was fined additional 300,000 roubles (3,300 euros) for articles “discrediting” the Russian army.
Three Women Journalists Faced Threats and Intimidation
Canada: Award-winning journalist Brandi Morin was subjected to unauthorized surveillance bordering on harassment by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) while documenting militarized action against Indigenous land defenders in Wet'suwet'en territories. More details here.
United States: Times reporter Alene Tchekmedyian faced an investigation by the county sheriff, Alex Villanueva, after she reported on departmental cover ups. The probe was later abandoned in the face of widespread criticism from journalists and press freedom groups as well as politicians.
Romania: Investigative journalist Emilia Șercan was subjected to online and offline threats after the publication of her report revealing plagiarism by Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă. Emilia was threatened in three separate instances and she lodged complaints with the Bucharest Police Criminal Investigation Service for each of them. Instead of seeing her complaints resolved, documents the journalist submitted to the police as evidence were leaked causing her further distress. Read more here.
16 Women Journalists Were Physically Assaulted But Incurred No Injuries
Pakistan: Journalist Annie Shirazi and other women journalists were assaulted by pro-government journalist Maleeha Hashmey while covering the dissolution of assemblies on April 4. Annie alleged that Hashmey misbehaved with her, kicked her, pushed her, and later misquoted the incident on social media. A video that surfaced later depicted Hashmey being escorted out of the Parliament gallery for defying the code of conduct. Find our detailed coverage here.
Turkey: Meral Danyıldız, Fatoş Erdoğan, Elif Bayburt, Rozerin Gültekin, Özge Doğan and another journalist were physically assaulted and restrained by the police following a press briefing on April 18 about Labor Day activities in İstanbul. Learn more.
Turkey: Journalists Eylem Nazlıer, Fatoş Erdoğan, Dilek Şen, Gamze Elvan, Eda Nur Tanış, Özge Doğan, Evrim Kepenek, Elif Çetiner and Sultan Eylem Keleş were obstructed by the police on April 27, while following the protests against Gezi Trial verdict. The journalists’ right to report was deliberately violated and they were prevented from filming demonstrations in İstanbul. More details available here.
Five Women Journalists Faced Major Online Trolling Campaigns
United States: Online attacks against Iranian-American journalist Negar Mortazavi saw an uptick in April against the backdrop of negotiations between the Biden administration and Iran. She faced persistent threats and organized online trolling. The journalist has lived in exile for over a decade and has faced threats directly from and sponsored by Iranian security forces, the Trump administration and political groups based in the Middle East. Click here for more details.
Czech Republic: Investigative journalist Pavla Holcova was subjected to a relentless smear campaign for her work on Pandora Papers and reports on corruption by former Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš. Pavlo reported on alleged money laundering by Babis and his purchase of a castle in France via offshore accounts. Learn more.
USA: Taylor Lorenz, Washington Post’s tech columnist, faced a malicious slander campaign over a report she published. The columnist was accused of disclosing the identity of an anonymous account “Libs of TikTok '' creator. The account is known for its anti-LGBTQ+ views and enjoys influence among right-wing conservative media. More details available here.
Pakistan: Journalist Gharidah Farooqi was targeted by a supporter of former prime minister Imran Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), during a political rally held on April 22. The man who was caught on camera carried with him a banner with a veiled rape threat against the journalist. When the instance was highlighted on social media, the journalist was subjected to further harassment online. A staunch critic, Gharidah routinely faced state harassment during PTI’s tenure in power. After Khan’s ouster, she continues to face vicious trolling on social media by PTI supporters. Find detailed coverage here.
United States: Broadcast journalist Amna Nawaz was subjected to online threats and attacks after she hosted a TV discussion where the journalist spoke about pedophilia allegations levelled against Senator Mallory McMorrow by her republican colleague. Amna was targeted with vile misogynist and sexist attacks online. More details available here.
Two Women Journalists Targeted By Pegasus
Jordan: Findings published by Front Line Defenders and Citizen Lab in April revealed that the mobile phones of four Jordanian human rights activists, including journalist Suhair Jaradat and an anonymous female reporter, were hacked for over two years, using Pegasus spyware. Continue reading.
One Women Journalist Dismissed From Work
Turkey: Demirören News Agency (DHA) Samsun correspondent Zeynep Irmak Öcal was laid off after taking a maternity leave. The media magnate claimed that the journalist could not devote enough time to her profession because of her pregnancy. Learn more.
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.