BY FATMATA BUNDU & MARILYN KING (232news.com)
Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) with support from Irish Aid, IRN, IMC and IRCS on the 9th June 2023 engaged female journalists on general and safety security during and after elections.
Giving the opening remarks, SLAJ representative Mohamed Konneh said the theme of the training is Expanding the democratic space in Sierra Leone. The training also captured media capacity and enhancement in promoting peaceful elections, women’s participation, public interest and conflict mitigation in Sierra Leones against the June 24th elections.
He also said the reasons for the training is because they want safety and security for female journalists in Sierra Leone.
The President of Women In the Media Sierra Leone (WIMSAL), Eastina Taylor said the safety and security of female journalists is very important because mostly female journalists are the ones who get in trouble mostly when they are on duty or covering stories during elections. It is because of this, she continued, that most female journalists are afraid of reporting on serious issues and shy away from going into the fields as there are lots of challenges. She maintained that it is very important that female journalists are involved in reporting because they are the very unique lenses to reporting on issues that involve women. She continued that female journalists are faced with so many negative backlashs during elections and it is their duties to be able to cover those stories with their unique lenses.
Former President of SLAJ Umaru Fofanah made a presentation of general safety of journalists and safety and security of female journalists. He explained that journalists can be in all sorts of trouble or danger during elections without noticing it. Journalists are also susceptible to arrests or detention by police, attacks or threats or even death by political parties or militants and sexual attacks.
“As a journalists, your safety is more important than the story and journalists must prioritize their safety at all times. Journalists are faced with both physical and virtual attacks online and offline, threats of rape to rape and sometimes deaths. Two third of female journalists are faced with gender based violence according to IJF, he pointed out.
He continued that in more recent times 73% of women respondent in 125 countries said they have experienced online violence. He stated that female journalists are affected by gender specific safety risk such as sexual harassment, sexual violence and threats. He ended that as journalists you have to take safety precautions such as paying attention to strange movements or obvious threats, know how and when to take your exit and should understand the situation before you deploy.
