Women Press Freedom reiterates call for concrete actions from social media platforms to address and prevent targeted attacks against women journalists

Location: Ecuador

Date: March 8, 2023

Women Press Freedom stands unequivocally against the targeted online harassment and gendered attacks faced by journalist María Sol Borja following her critical response to the First Lady of Ecuador, Lavinia Balvonesi's statements on International Women's Day. The reprehensible online harassment directed at Borja not only undermines the principles of free speech and press freedom but also highlights the entrenched misogyny within online spaces and, by extension, the broader societal attitude towards women who dare to voice their opinions. Women Press Freedom condemns online attacks against Borja and attempts to silence her through harassment. We reiterate our calls to social media networks, particularly Twitter, to clamp down on targeted attacks against users on its platform.

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Journalist Maríá Sol Borja became the target of sexist insults after expressing her opinions regarding a message from the First Lady, Lavinia Balvonesi, on International Women's Day. 

Ecuador’s First Lady posted a video on her social media with a message commemorating March 8, stating, "Women are the delicate sex, but not the weak sex. Everything we propose, we do with a lot of love and passion, and that is what sets us apart."

Borja was outraged by the First Lady’s phrasing and rejected these statements from her Twitter account. "Someone explain to me what the 'delicate sex' is," she said, adding that Balvonesi's public platform "cannot be trivialized with statements that ignore the reality of women and the still harsh struggles that are fought.”

After posting her commentary, she received several insults questioning her mental capacity and even urging her to "find a husband."

Borja persisted in the discussion despite elaborating on her point in the thread, she faced more insults.

Later the same day, Borja became the target of aggressive comments from what she describes as trolls and anonymous accounts, after participating in an event organized for International Women’s Day.

A third target of attacks against her was an opinion column published that day in the media outlet Primicias, in which Borja presented data on cases of violence against women in the country.

"The attacks were constant throughout the day. Some comments were directly aimed at my username, others referenced my tweets and the column I published,” says Borja. “All the comments had a gendered tone." 

Women Press Freedom denounces the attacks against Soja Borja for expressing criticism of the First Lady of Ecuador. We reject any form of offense and aggression against journalists, especially if they are based on gender and aimed at minimizing their opinions. Boja has every right to criticize the words of the First Lady respectfully and to take offense to the description of women as the “delicate sex.” As the wife of the president, Lavinia Balvonesi is a public figure; her social media post on Women’s Day was a public announcement, Borja was well within her rights as a journalist to comment on its content. We also call on social media networks to take action against hateful content and attacks targeting journalists on their platforms. They need to act and remove users who are persistently attacking women journalists. The impunity for online abuse exacerbates the problem, further emboldening perpetrators.

Women Press Freedom is an initiative by The Coalition For Women In Journalism

The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.

If you have been harassed or abused in any way, and please report the incident by using the following form.