‘Too sexy for my newsroom’
- Unsafe work environment for female journalists
- A professional and personal challenge
LINEO MALATALIANA
MASERU – The safety of female journalists in the country is a taboo subject that hinders the professional and efficient execution of their duties – and has proven to be an unsexy topic in the media space.
In the spirit of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence (GBV), Paballo-ea-Bophelo, in collaboration with the Norwegian Union of Journalists, held a two-day training workshop on the Safety of Female Journalists in Lesotho at Transformation Resource Centre in Maseru this week.
Paballo-ea-Bophelo is a non-government organization focused on media literacy on health and environmental issues.
The Secretary General at Paballo-ea-Bophelo, Pascalinah Kabi, noted that statistics presented by Assistance Commissioner of the Lesotho Mounted Police Service, Tebello Tšepe, paint a grim picture of the harsh realities of GBV.
Between January and September this year 454 cases of GBV were reported.
“Female journalists are not immune to the abuse that permeates our society. Despite their professional roles, they remain vulnerable to the same societal harms that disproportionately affect women,” Kabi said.
Female journalists in the country face imminent threats to their safety as women and more so as journalists. This reality is further validated by data from the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), which highlights that at least one in two women journalists globally have endured sexual harassment, psychological abuse, online trolling, and other human rights violations.
“We live in a time when journalism plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of our societies, holding power to account, and shining a light on the truth. However, for many women journalists, the pursuit of truth is fraught with dangers.
They face not only the usual threats of the profession, such as physical violence, harassment, and censorship but also unique gender-based challenges, including online abuse and sexual violence,” president of Media Women Association of Lesotho, ‘Marefaele Mohloboli, said in her opening remarks.
She further showed that barriers to female participation in the field are not perpetuated only by what happens in the field but also by structural inequalities and lack of support systems in media organisations. This is sadly at the stewardship of fellow women practitioners trusted with captaincy.
This sad reality seems to be a practice in the media sphere. Where women are prone to violations in the field where they have to endure harassment from colleagues and sources that compromise their wellbeing in the name of breaking a story.
Physical violations are not the only threats women journalist face. The cyber world is also filled with dangers that make it even easier for them to land in trouble.
“No story is worth your life,” said Keiso Mohloboli as she took the podium as an Investigative Journalist and Digital Security Specialist.
In relating events that led to her exile in 2016, Mohloboli emphasized the importance of being technologically savvy in order protect one’s self in the cyber space as a journalist and a member of society.
She capacitated the workshop with practical skills and know how on things to do in the cyber sphere for protection.
The workshop was also a platform for female journalists to discuss these pressing issues of safety and come up with practical solutions, assess risks and make commitments to helping Pabollo-ea-Bophelo to reach their goal.
“This is not just a conversation about security – it’s about empowerment. It’s about ensuring that women journalists can do their work without fear, that they are heard and respected, and that their voices are protected, celebrated, and amplified-but then again the onus is on you,” Mohloboli said.
Highlighting the ills of the media sphere in regards with female journalists safety would be a fruitless task if women were not tasked with the responsibility of their safety.
“Your safety starts with you,” she said, insisting that while dealing with this issue, there is a need to mainstream gender responsive approaches in human rights standards and mechanisms on the safety of journalists. She also said that male counterparts should not be left behind on this journey.
