Impunity Begets Violence
Date: November 2, 2021Available in: 🇹🇷 TürkçeGender Disparity Emboldens Crimes Against Women Journalists
On this International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists the Coalition For Women In Journalism extends support to women and LGBTQI journalists worldwide, who face mistreatment and abuse because of both their gender and their reportage. Disparaging attitudes towards gender in the society at large infiltrate the profession as well. As we call for an end to impunity against journalists, we must be cognizant that while attacks on journalists go unpunished, gendered attacks on women journalists often also go unnoticed. The CFWIJ stands to correct this. We stress on the impunity for gendered discrimination, and rhetoric, that women journalists face, not just in the field but at home, at the workplace and in society at large for this colors the kinds of violations they face.
"Since the beginning of our work on press freedom advocacy, we have seen an astonishing rise in frequency and seriousness of violence against women and LGBTQ journalists. Imprisonments, detentions, police violence and state violence, often leaving journalists under serious harms and at times fatal. All our investigations of these incidents reveal an overpowering tool that makes them possible, i.e: impunity. Today, it is time to emphasize that for democracy to prevail, we have to revive the importance of accountability for crimes against journalists. We must remember that nations fail without a robust journalism, and a free press and we must work hard to fight for it," says CFWIJ founder Kiran Nazish.
In 2021, the CFWIJ documented at least 741 violations against women journalists across the globe. Of these, 26 cases were of workplace harassment, 22 were of sexual harassment, 13 women journalists were subjected to verbal harassment and at least three women journalists were discriminated against solely because of their gender. We also recorded 157 cases of legal harassment of women journalists, 124 cases of physical assault, 71 instances of women journalists obstructed in the field, 87 organized troll campaigns, 49 threats of violence or intimidation, 40 cases of women journalists expelled from work, nine killings of women journalists, eight instances of state operation, six arrests and three cases of revoked press accreditation. Moreover, three journalists were abducted and eight were exposed to racial discrimination.
Nearly all cases involving harassment, threats, organized troll campaigns and intimidation were deeply gendered. In fact, in some instances, gender was invoked to discredit the woman journalist’s reportage. The culture of impunity for violations against women extended to the more sinister crimes against women journalists such as murder, abduction and assault. It also does not go amiss that verbal threats, whether in the virtual or physical space, do not take long before manifesting into physical attacks.
“As a woman journalist, the culture of silence and impunity begins from the workplace and extends on to the social fabric,” said Laila Raza, a grassroots activist and political worker based in Pakistan. “Women journalists face gender-based discrimination at workplace in the form of division of beats,” she elaborated, speaking to CFWIJ. “Crime beats aren’t assigned to women, for instance, they’re always considered better ‘suited’ for the culture or entertainment beats.”
In a society which frequently discourages women from speaking up, whether through gendered rhetoric or impunity for gender-based violence, the barriers to entry for women journalists begin before they reach the field.
“Opting for journalism as a profession is often equated to being outspoken, daring and resourceful. In Pakistan, being daring or outspoken is viewed as willing to share bed with colleagues, government stakeholders; while hatred towards a woman who speaks is often also manifested in online trolling, threats and abuse, through messages or phone calls, and reaching out to women journalists’ workplace or at their home,” says Laila.
Similarly, Ayesha Tanzeem, who doubles as a CFWIJ core member and Voice Of America Bureau Chief for Afghanistan and Pakistan, believes, “Women do not have the same exposure as men when they enter this field. This is an issue with our social structure. A man, for instance, could stay out as long as he wants – but similar liberties are not allotted to women in the household.”
ON THIS INTERNATIONAL DAY TO END IMPUNITY FOR CRIMES AGAINST JOURNALISTS, MANY JOURNALISTS JOINED THE CAMPAIGN OF COALITION FOR WOMEN IN JOURNALISM AROUND THE WORLD. LISTEN TO OTHER WOMEN JOURNOS HERE.
Such difficulties aren’t unique to women journalists in Pakistan but are faced by women journalists everywhere, to varying degrees. While journalists across the globe find press freedom increasingly threatened and face different kinds of violations for daring to speak truth to power, women journalists have to face gender-based violations before and after they step into the profession.
Only last month, President of Russia Vladimir Putin resorted to sexist remarks when questioned by CNBC journalist Hadley Gamble on fuel prices. In a blatant attempt to dodge her question, Putin implied that Hadley was too “pretty” to understand policy changes regarding the recent gas shortage in Europe. The sexist behavior displayed by the president during a panel discussion held in connection with the Russian Energy Week, was further amplified the next day when a Russian newspaper published a picture of Hadley alongside Putin, which clearly objectified her.
In a recent interview, American journalist Liz Habib highlighted the undue pressure women sports journalists face because of their gender. The issues she touched upon ranged from job insecurity to the objectification of women journalists in the field. Her interview highlighted that issues in sports journalism, especially against women journalists, are structural and deep seated. They require urgent redressal.
Coming back to Pakistan, Laila elaborated on how impunity for gendered attacks leaves women journalists more vulnerable in the field.
“Being a daring woman is also perceived as being comfortable with abuse, threats, discriminatory practice and being willing to put up with everything. These perceptions aggravate the situation for women journalists. Often, when they step out to pursue their career, they are without support from anyone, including their families. Hence, it becomes convenient to target women journalists and force them into silence. It is very much due to this culture of impunity that the society thinks it is entitled to ‘punish’ women for being journalists and questioning power.”
Such attitudes towards women manifest themselves into the crimes against them as journalists. “The state must take drastic measures against violence targeted at women journalists. We must allow women to work, we are free people. When we speak of free expression, that’s the point, to let women work. We are free to do the work we chose. If not, women will work in a more placid manner, to put it simply,” said Diane Kablakan, speaking to the CFWIJ on the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. The Côte d'Ivoire-based journalist emphasized that the silences foisted on women because of their gender add to the attacks they face as journalists.
Casual attitudes towards gender-based discrimination and quick dismissal of violations against women extend to the impunity for crimes against women journalists.
Earlier this year, on March 23, Melissa Reddy, senior football correspondent for The Independent, shared her harrowing ordeal of harassment and assault on the field. The journalist recalled how she was subjected to two assaults in a single day on February 28, 2016, at Wembley stadium. Melissa recalled that after the second incident of harassment, she called her manager and explained why there would be no video. She described it as “one of those days”.
On September 10, Indian journalist Greeshma Kuthar was harassed by a man while traveling at night. According to Kuthar, the incident took place at a prominent junction in Anna Nagar.
In the United Kingdom, seven men interrupted BBC journalist Fiona Irving and harassed her during a live broadcast. The men ran across the camera, screaming sexist remarks against the journalist before the transmission had to be abruptly halted. Fiona took to her social media to register her protest against the incident, calling out the misogynistic culture that enables this behaviour. This came at a time when the UK is dealing with the question of categorizing misogyny as a hate crime.
“It’s not funny. It’s misogynistic. Just calling it out,” Fiona wrote on Twitter, reporting the incident, which happened on October 7, 2021 in Brighton.
Women journalists are not immune to gender-based or political violence either. On January 26, 2021, Algerian journalist Tin Hinan Laceb, of ENTV’s Amazigh channel (TV4), was murdered by her husband. Tin Hinan Laceb was married with two daughters and worked as a presenter for the Algerian TV4. She appeared on TV4 for many years and worked as a website specialist for Arab and Amazigh news. Her husband was arrested for the killing.
In Afghanistan, Mursal Wahidi, Sadia Sadat, and Shahnaz Roafi, who were employed by Enikass Radio and TV, a news and entertainment platform based in Jalalabad, became victims of targeted killings. On March 3, 2021, three women media-workers were shot by terror outfits in the city. The women worked on translations and dubbing of foreign entertainment programmes into local languages.
"With the take over by the Taliban, work restrictions have increased for us women journalists. They are in a third country. I hope that our voice will no longer be silenced in Afghanistan and that the punishment for journalists will stop,” said Khatera Ahmadi, speaking to the CFWIJ on the impact of Kabul’s fall for women journalists.
A reporter for Ariana News, Mina Khairi was murdered on June 4. Mina died in an IED blast. She was the fourth Afghan journalist to be killed this year. Her mother reportedly died in the same attack and her sister sustained serious injuries for which she is being medically treated.
The very first month of 2021 was marred by violence against women journalists. On January 8, a separatist attack on a convoy in Njikwa, the North-West region of Cameroon, resulted in the unfortunate killing of Rebecca Jeme and four military officials. Rebecca, popularly known as Becky Jeme, was the top Divisional Delegate for Communication for Momo.
On March 22, former photo director for Hearst and Conde Nast, Lynn Murray was one of 10 victims of a shooting in King's grocery store, Boulder Colorado. Murray was inside the store on a food delivery run when the shooting began. She was working for Instacart, an app service that people use to get groceries delivered at home.
Moreover, journalist Aviva Okeson-Haberman was shot dead in her apartment on April 23. Aviva was a young radio journalist cherished by her colleagues and friends. The police investigated the case as a homicide.
On the night of May 11, Israeli forces targeted several residential apartments in different neighborhoods including al-Rimal, Tal al-Hawa and the Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City. Journalist Reema Saad, her two children and her husband who were in their home in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood were also killed in the attack. They were among more than 40 casualties, including children, that night. More than 200 Palestinians were also injured in the attack.
Women journalists were persecuted not just in the physical space but also the digital space.
Organized troll campaigns against women journalists was a toxic pattern that the CFWIJ recorded worldwide. The gender disparity prevalent in different societies was more overtly reflected in the attacks on journalists in the digital space. Women journalists were subjected to gendered hate, abuse and threats for their commitment to their job. These troll groups worked to attack their integrity as journalists and questioned their credibility. In 2021, CFWIJ identified at least 87 major trolling campaigns against women journalists. We recorded a 22.53% increase in such attacks globally as compared to 2020.
In Pakistan and India, the CFWIJ observed major troll campaigns against several accomplished women journalists. In the case of the former, we found that despite the issue being raised by local women journalists before members of parliament last year, attacks continued.
The recent organized troll campaign against senior journalist Asma Shirazi is one example. Asma was criticized by Pakistan’s ruling party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, and its troll army for allegedly insinuating insults against Prime Minister Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi. Asma was forced to clarify her stance but the trolls and even ministers of the ruling party continued their smear campaign. She was viciously attacked online and repeatedly threatened.
Not long before this, the CFWIJ documented a similar organized troll campaign Gharidah Farooqi. She too was sent vile abuse and hateful messages online. She was put through mental anguish by government-backed trolls for questioning the representation of women in the Single National Curriculum introduced by the incumbent government in schools countrywide. Her questions as a journalist led to attacks by trolls, who painted her as some “agenda-driven” journalist.
The CFWIJ has documented severe attacks on Gharidah, Asma and other women journalists in Pakistan. It does not go amiss that the current government frequently perpetuates a discriminatory rhetoric towards women, with PM Khan frequently coming under fire for his rape apologist comments, which are later explained away through weak reasoning.
In India, veteran journalist Rana Ayyub was subjected to an organized troll campaign after she criticized the government's handling of farmer's protests. Rana had stated her disappointment on how the farmers' protests were met with gas shelling and water cannons. Trolls and followers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party unleashed a tirade of misogynistic and hateful comments against her, attacking her person and her work. This was not the first time Rana was targeted for her critical questions, she is frequently subjected to harassment for her fierce reportage. “I shall continue to do my journalism,” wrote Rana on Twitter.
Canada’s digital space proved to be the most hostile for women journalists this year. In September, at least 18 women journalists were threatened with vile and hateful emails, after a right-wing politician sent out a provocative message to his followers. Maxime Bernier, angered by their reporting, publicly posted the email addresses of several women journalists and invited his supporters to target them.
The CFWIJ documented this organized attack in depth and found that despite several condemnations and calls for justice, negligible action was taken by the authorities to protect these women journalists. It was extremely unfortunate that most of these threats and hateful messages were based on the race, gender and sexual orientation of these journalists. The sort of bullying and harassment that was directed at Canadian women journalists of color was nothing but criminal.
We spoke to journalist Elisha Dacey about what occurred. "This is a symptom of a larger issue and that is misogyny and toxic masculinity on the internet," she said.
Another affectee, Ashleigh-Rae Thompson emphasized on the dangerous rise of right-wing rhetoric in Canada. She believed the vicious and organized troll campaign was a manifestation of such rhetoric. “I think the rise of the right-wing on social media is already having real-life ramifications. People will feel emboldened and move from harassing people online, to possibly attacking people on the streets.”
What’s alarming about troll campaigns is that they are often driven by power sanctions of the state. Ruling parties find it hard to digest dissenting voices and encourage their supporters to attack women journalists online. There's been a long debate on how desperately these online spaces need to provide safe experience for women journalists but much of this debate has fallen on deaf ears when it comes to social media giants. The keyboard warriors carry on with impunity.
In several cases, trolls shared the addresses of the women journalists they were targeting online and exposed them to further attacks - both online and offline. We documented cases of women journalists facing physical threats or intimidation after online threats.
The CFWIJ also recorded cases of physical assault and police brutality against women journalists in the field. Across the globe, 76 women journalists were physically assaulted and attacked in the field in 2021.
Turkey led the pack when it came to such violations against women journalists. Over the past two years, the CFWIJ has observed a consistent rise in police violence against journalists covering various issues in the country, especially against women journalists.
Women journalists faced obstructions by the police during their reportage. Interviews were obstructed, accreditation cards were seized, journalists were beaten, threatened and detained. The outlet cards of most women journalists were not accepted as press IDs because they were not approved by the Presidency's Directorate of Communications. Under this pretext, the police intervened in the field and also detained journalists. With the directive initiated by the General Directorate of Security (EGM) on April 27, 2021, it became nearly impossible for journalists to do their job. It paved the way for the direct intervention of journalists filming and the social movements they followed.
The latest incident, which took place on September 7, stood as evidence of increased police brutality against journalists. The police physically assaulted 12 women journalists covering student protests in İstanbul.
Belarus was another challenging country when it came to press freedom this year as a massive crackdown launched against critical voices became more intense after last year’s election. Challenges multiplied for women journalists as the environment became more repressive with each passing day.
Moreover, the CFWIJ recorded 46 cases of harassment, detention and imprisonment of women journalists in 2021 even as there was little to no action taken against the 77 similar violations documented in 2020.
The stresses and difficulties brought about by Covid-19 also added to the risks to the physical and mental well-being of journalists. Women journalists again bore the brunt as along with their professional responsibilities they had had to address increased domestic and care work. Gender, being an inherent signifier of how one is treated in society, inevitably increases the risks faced by women journalists. It also increases the impunity with which perpetrators of crimes against journalists operate when it comes to women journalists.
The CFWIJ is proud of the safety network it has established for women journalists around the world. “One of the almost magical privileges of this job is to be able to give you the license to try (and almost always achieve) that unknown people, and that you will probably not see again, tell you their story and if possible, open their hearts to you. It is, for me, the most beautiful thing about being a journalist,” Peruvian journalist Stefanie Medina told the CFWIJ.
Her passion for her work does not protect her from discriminatory attitudes, however.
“Being a woman and a journalist is not a winning deck. Insults, when there are any, are sexist and many times it is believed that our prowess or professional evolution is not due to our merits and intelligence. It remains to look straight ahead and continue to show that talent, even if it is uncomfortable, should not be hidden and that being a woman and a journalist can be a tool for change, to achieve a more just, equitable, and informed world.”
Journalists and journalism must be protected for their can be no true democracy without a robust and independent press. Yet, perpetrators of crimes against journalists continue to operate with impunity. Investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated by a powerful car bomb outside her Bidnjia home in October 2017. Since then, seven men have been arrested or implicated for their involvement in the cold-blooded killing, five of them have entered some sort of plea bargain, and a public inquiry report has held the state responsible. Justice is yet awaited.
“When journalists are killed because they have been uncovering corruption, we counter the very high rate of impunity. The reason for this is that the institutions which could and should have protected them are rather weak,” said Daphne’s sister Corinne Vella, speaking to the CFWIJ. “It's not just about justice for a specific case, it's about establishing a principle that there is no room for impunity. People implicated in those crimes don’t ignore public attention. They know that big social awareness can pose a threat.”
We concur with Corinne. Impunity for crimes against journalists can only end when the crimes are on record. As we amplify different violations against women journalists we call for recognition of and justice for crimes against women journalists, specifically. The culture of impunity must end across the board for all journalists to be free to do their work.
On this International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, the Coalition For Women In Journalism demands not just justice for the journalists killed, attacked, abducted, threatened or subjected to any kind of violence for their reportage, but calls for deep structural change. We call for the recognition and subsequent rectification of the attitudes that hinder and target women journalists.
Violence that goes unpunished helps create the conditions for further violence. As we call for an end to impunity and demand the safety of journalists, the CFWIJ highlights the many violations against women journalists, in particular. Only when the added risks faced by women journalists are acknowledged by media organizations, the state, the society, and specially by the journalists community, can these violations be stopped. The CFWIJ stresses that for women journalists, the transgressions begin before they even reach the field. We demand structural reforms to truly end the culture of impunity against women journalists.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism closely monitors the incidents in Turkey with great concern. Since March 8, Women's Day, police violence against women journalists increasingly continues in the country. As the coalition, we urge the Turkish state to provide a free environment for journalists. Following the news is our most fundamental democratic right to report. We demand the immediate release of our detained colleagues. Journalism is not a crime. Journalism cannot be prevented.
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