United States: CFWIJ Is Following The Rape Case Against Fox News

Location: United States, New York
Date: July 21, 2020

The Coalition For Women In Journalism expresses solidarity with journalists Jennifer Eckhart and Cathy Areu who filed a lawsuit against former Fox News and its anchors Ed Henry, Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson along with the network which turned a blind eye to sexual harassment and even protects and reward perpetrators.

According to News Day, former Fox News anchor Ed Henry raped a woman journalist in 2017, and forced her to perform oral sex on him in 2015. 

Former Fox Business associate producer Jennifer Eckhart was repeatedly assaulted by Ed Henry according to the lawsuit. 

Cathy Areu stated that the network “refuses to take accountability for putting such persons in positions of power from which they can subject women to sexual misconduct, sexual assault and, in the case of Jennifer, rape.”

The lawsuit includes how Ed Henry groomed, psychologically manipulated and coerced Jennifer Eckhart into having a sexual relationship with him, and that, when she would not comply voluntarily, he sexually assaulted her on office property, and raped her at a hotel where Fox News frequently lodged its visiting employees. Jennifer was 24 when she joined the network. 

The lawsuit also states that Henry "sent Cathy a slew of wildly inappropriate sexual images and messages — which are in her possession — throughout the first half of this year."

In a despicable way Fox News further protected the alleged rapist in a statement issued after the lawsuit and defended themselves by saying that Ed is no longer an employee of the network.

In a Twitter post on Monday, Gretchen Carlson, who sued former Fox News Channel chief Roger Ailes and 21st Century Fox in July 2016 for a variety of sexual harassment claims that the company later settled stood with Jennifer and Cathy.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism stands with women journalists who are not afraid or ashamed to speak up about the corrupt and sexist ways the industry works at times. We urge Fox News to conduct themselves with integrity while the lawsuit is pending.

 

The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.

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

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