Reporting Heroes: Afghan Female Joualists

خبر ها - افغانستان

پنجشنبه 26 حمل 1395 ساعت 15:25 نوشته شده توسط TOLOnews.com

Translations pending.

Afghan Joualists Safety Committee (AJSC) on Thursday launched its latest study in on the status of female joualists and media workers in Afghanistan and found that "it is clear that female media workers face substantial obsta¬cles in their work, both gender-related and universal to all joualists in the Afghan context".

AJSC is an independent structure dedicated to enhancing safety and protection of Afghan media workers and inteational reporters working in Afghanistan.

Their report reflects the findings of a survey performed by Afghan Joualists Safety Committee with the purpose being to identify the extensive challenges female joualists and media workers face so as to develop specific measures to tackle those challenges.

The report states that the vast growth of free media in Afghanistan over the past decade has provided employment opportunities for a large number of joualists and other media workers in the country.

However, this growth has also come with difficulties, among which is the challenging work environment female joualists face.

The report states that gender discrimination and sexual harassment are two of the many social ills that Afghanistan has inherited in part as a result of decades of war.

"These problems also come as the direct products of the traditions and customs prevailing in Afghan society. In the traditional and patriarchal society of Afghanistan, being bo a woman can mean a lack of access to many social opportunities and many barriers to success throughout life," read the report.

It stated: "Women in Afghanistan enjoy fewer privileges and less security than men," adding that in addition to being a difficult country in which to be bo a woman, Afghanistan is among the most dangerous countries in the world for joualists and the free media.

The report stated that given this backdrop of gender discrimination and hostility towards the free media, female media workers face intense challenges within the Afghan context.

"Female joualists in Afghanistan fight for their rights and livelihoods on two fronts. The first involves persuading their immediate family, close relatives and, in some instances, tribes, to grant them permission to work outside the house. Many families are opposed to their daughters and wives working outside the house and woman's decision to work in media usually isn't solely her own choice: relatives and acquaintances tend to get involved."

AJSC stated that "in cases where women are able to obtain permission to work outside of their homes—usually following a lengthy struggle with family—and overcome the challenge of finding a job in the media, they then walk into a new realm of hostilities, stemming from individuals and groups who oppose free reporting and freedom of speech."

In several instances, the interviewees said that the primary members of their family, including fathers, brothers and husbands, did not have any issue with their work in the media but that other relatives, such as pateal and mateal uncles and third degree relatives, were opposed. "Since families are very closely knit in Afghanistan, even opposition by distant relatives can have a large impact," read the report.

However, data regarding family opposition to women working in the media varied significantly across differ¬ent regions of Afghanistan. For example, "in Kabul only 25 percent of the participants said that either some or all of their family members were opposed to their work from the beginning, whereas this figure stood at 50 percent in Balkh province. In Kandahar and Nangarhar provinces, 80 percent of media workers surveyed said their families were opposed to their work in the media."

On the issue of sexual harassment faced by women in the media, the AJSC report first defined the terms.

It said sexual harassment is defined in their report as any intimidation or advances of sexual nature or any promises of reward in exchange for unwanted sexual favors. They stated that according to the views of those participating in this research, in Afghanistan, sexual harassment in¬volves
verbal harassment, including making Idea of a sexual nature, commonly known as purza; visual harassment, including staring and making faces for sexual purposes; bodily, physical harassment, including touching women's bodies; harassment by telephone; and harassment through the inteet.

Respondents felt that the scale of harassment was directly proportional to the level of women's pres¬ence in society. The more women are present in the society, the more participants reported the scale of harassment increased. Since media work by nature takes place in public spaces, female joualists were subjected to sexual harassment in many contexts.

Sixty-nine percent of the participants reported that they had been subjected to sexual harassment with¬in their workplaces.

Harassments occurred outside the workplace as well. Women reported to being subjected to harass-ment as soon as they walked out of their home or workplace. They also reported harassment by media audiences during live broadcasts, and by media colleagues at their workplaces.

Respondents reported the highest figures of sexual harassment to occur at their workplaces, with male colleagues as the perpetrators. Fifty-nine percent of the participants said that they have been subjected to sexual harass¬ment by media colleagues at workplace.

The report stated that: "One of the factors behind the increase in instances of sexual harassment of female joualists at the workplace is the silence of victims to report these incidents. They usually appoint silence out of the im¬perative to preserve their and their families' honor. AJSC's questionnaire asked respondents whether they would report harassment by media colleagues if it happened in the future. Seventy-five percent of respondents gave an affirmative answer to this question."

According to the AJSC report, gender discrimination is another major conce for female joualists in Afghanistan.

Fifty-one percent of survey respondents reported that the authority and salaries of women were lower than men in their media organizations.

In addition to the many gender-specific problems female joualists face, they are also affected by the insecurity and the threats that affect all joualists working within the Afghan context, both male and female.

Thirty percent of the respondents reported that they have been subjected to intimidation or violence at least once since they started working in the media. They attributed these incidents to their political reporting.

The AJSC stated that in light of the data analyzed in this report, it is clear that female media workers face substantial obsta¬cles in their work, both gender-related and universal to all joualists in the Afghan context.

"Social and cultural restrictions limit female mobility and increase women's vulnerability in the workplace. Women must strive to overcome extensive barriers to pursue media work, including family opposition, social pressures and strong stigmas and taboos. Despite a shortage of female workers, women often face difficulties securing a job in media," the report stated.

In addition to the risks that all media workers face in the unpredictable, conflict environment of Afghan¬istan, female joualists are often intimidated and threatened because of their profession and gender, read the report.

The AJSC stated that relatives, acquaintances and extremist religious groups that are opposed to women working outside the house are the most commonly responsible parties for these threats and intimidation.

"Against these overwhelming odds, hundreds of female joualists continue their work in Afghanistan, with hundreds more studying joualism in various universities across the country, training to become the future of joualism in Afghanistan. To that end, it is not out of place to call female joualists heroes of Afghanistan; heroes fighting for freedom of expression, speech, livelihood and the future of female media workers in the country," read the report.

To view the full report click here.

افغان فردا...