UNESCO launches campaign to end online violence vs women journalists

Seven in 10 or 73% of women journalists faced online violence while doing their job, according to a 2020 survey conducted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ).

The report – authored by Julie Posetti, Nermine Aboulez, Kalina Bontcheva, Jackie Harrison, and Silvio Waisbord – surveyed over 900 participants from 125 countries, including the Philippines. It found that these attacks are “increasing exponentially” especially during the coronavirus pandemic.

Hoping to inform more people, UNESCO launched a campaign to highlight key results of the survey on online violence against women journalists and push for solutions to end the attacks. The campaign will run until World Press Freedom Day, May 3, when UNESCO launches a study on good practices in tackling the issue.

When a woman journalist is attacked, she is not the only one who suffers. Everyone's freedom of expression and access to information suffers too.

Social media platforms and governments need to protect women journalists from online violence. It affects us all. #JournalistsToo pic.twitter.com/rebvGCSy1Z

— UNESCO 🏛️ #Education #Sciences #Culture 🇺🇳 (@UNESCO) March 10, 2021

The study will feature legal analysis, findings from the global survey, big data analysis, and case studies from 15 countries including the Philippines, Brazil, South Africa, and Sweden, among others.

UNESCO said solutions are needed to end the online violence against women journalists, including strong responses from social media platforms, national authorities, and media organizations.

“This violence harms women’s right to speak and society’s right to know…. To tackle this increasing trend, we need to find collective solutions to protect women from online violence,” said Guy Berger, Director for Freedom of Expression and Media Development at UNESCO.

Those interested to join the campaign may share a short message and UNESCO’s campaign video with the hashtag #JournalistsToo to raise awareness on the issue.

– Rappler.com