Persuasive Essay – Female Journalists (Final)

Should women journalists be sent to cover conflict zones? What are the problems that they will face? How safe is it for female journalists to be in conflict zones around the world? Who is responsible if something goes wrong while they are in the conflict zones?

We as humans need to take responsibility for whatever is happening in the world. When an incident of sexual harassment takes place, as responsible human beings we should voice our opinion.

The question, ‘Whether female journalists should be sent to cover conflict zones’?

According to me, it is a decision to be made by the journalist herself. If a female journalist feels that she would be comfortable reporting in a conflict zone then she should have the freedom to go and if not, then they should have the liberty to decline the offer.

Though the journalist herself agrees to cover a conflict zone, if something does go wrong then necessary action should take place. I feel that the person herself is responsible as it was her decision to go, but the TV Channel should help her and bring justice.

If the journalist is comfortable covering a conflict zone, then she should have the freedom to go as long as she takes necessary precautions. A few precautions could be, wearing a ‘dupatta’ over your head when in eastern countries, training in self-defense and working in groups, which will be uninviting for locals and therefore safe. Alex Crawford, Orla Guerin, Lindsey Hilsum and Zeina Khodr are a few journalists who closely monitored the conflict in Libya and did a great job at it. All these women covered stories from Libya during the revolt and managed the situation well.

If the journalist is not comfortable then she should not be sent to cover such areas. It might affect the career of the journalist herself and also of the TV Channel as she might not get to go to other places to cover stories. Also, the TV Channel will lose out on interesting and important news from around the world. They need female journalists to be able to interact with women from eastern country and cover their stories. They also add a different perspective to the situation in conflict zones, as they are easily able to interact with other women who have suffered injustices about which they will be uncomfortable to speak to men. If the journalist is sent forcibly to cover stories in conflict zones, they will not be able to work well and therefore the TV Channel’s quality of work will be affected. Also, if there is a situation where the journalist is assaulted then the channel will be held responsible and they will have to help her.

Marie Colvin, another female journalist was shot dead in her apartment after reporting about the torture, mass execution and kidnapping by the military during the conflict in Chechnya. Such an incident could have occurred with a male journalist as well. Therefore, I feel that the liberty to decide whether one wants to cover a conflict zone or not should be with the journalists themselves, whether male or female.

Journalists rarely speak up about sexual harassment while reporting, as they fear being looked at as weaker than men and losing their job. The reason not much has been done about sexual violations in conflict zones is because there are hardly any cases that are known to people. Therefore there is a need of journalists like Lara Logan who have the courage to speak about the injustice faced by them. Lara Logan was reporting from Tahrir Square, Egypt when she was assaulted by a mob of over 200 men. Unlike most other female journalists who would keep that quiet, Lara decided to talk about it publicly in order to draw attention towards the injustice faced by many women journalists around the world. Unless we have journalists like Lara who will bring up the issue to the world, we will not have the knowledge of such incidents at all.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression said that all journalists around the world should be given special protection as they are doing a great service for the society. The responsibility is with the society and they should take responsibility. I too feel that the journalists are providing an important service to the society and therefore we all should be responsible for them. As part of our responsibility we could arrange for extra police protection or voice our opinions and fight for their rights.

A lot of people will argue that, if an assault takes place on a female journalist who had agreed to cover a story in the conflict zone then who will be held responsible and what happens to the journalist?

I feel that if a person decided to go after knowing the risks involved, then they should be responsible for themselves. We should also speak up for the injustice that she would have faced and bring justice to her.

A few people might also mention the TV Channel’s policy about reporters and how that might force female journalists to cover conflict zones.

I personally fell that the TV Channel needs to be responsible for any situation that the journalist might face if they are forced to go to a conflict zone. The TV Channel should be held completely responsible for whatever happens to them while they are on work in the field.

We have no right to say what the solution should be, as it is entirely up to the journalists themselves and their comfort with the situation. There cannot be a law about such an issue, since every situation might have a different solution depending on the journalist, the conflict zone and the TV Channel. In a democratic world like todays, each person has the right to decide what they want to do and we have to respect their rights.

By – Savyasachi

Links referred to -

http://www.newssafety.org/images/stories/pdf/programme/wrw/wrw_brochure.pdf

http://www.stylist.co.uk/people/women-on-the-front-line#image-rotator-1

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1381710/Lara-Logan-reveals-terrifying-details-mob-sexual-assault-Egypt.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9098196/Marie-Colvin-killed-in-Syria-other-female-journalists-killed.html

http://newssafetyblog.org/2012/06/22/un-expert-calls-for-special-protection-of-journalists/

http://www.alternet.org/story/52626/female_war_reporters_hide_sexual_abuse_to_continue_getting_assignments

Persuasive Writing

                     "ARE WOMEN THE TARGETS?"     

                           Should the Media pull women journalists out of war zones?                                                                      

Should female journalists be sent out to cover conflict, critical zones? How safe is it? What are the problems that she might have to undergo? Who is responsible for her if something went erroneous: The channel or the woman herself?

   If media are a mirror of society as they should be, they certainly need to reflect better the fact that gender equality is a fundamental human right. “Gender Equality does not mean that men and women have to become the same, but that their rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female.” ABC of women worker’s rights and gender equality, ILO.

    It is essential that the media promote gender equality, both within the working environment and in the presentation of women. Journalism is no exception. But since the very beginning, journalism is considered to be a male-dominated profession. Many of the stereotypes have reflected a mental block not only in terms of what society may expect from women, but also on a much serious note, in terms of what women may expect from themselves.

    I stand for the topic. I think if women are comfortable and aware of the pros and cons that are associated with it, then they have all the right to make their own decision and go forward with it.

   Today, more women than ever are working in media. In some countries like Russia and Sweden, they form a majority of the journalism workface. According to the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP), a global survey taken every five years since 1995, by 2005, 57% of all television news presenters were women, yet only 29% of news items were written by female reporters. Meanwhile only 32% of “hard” news was written or covered by women. Women are more often found reporting on “soft” subjects, such as social issues, the family, or arts and “living” (up to 40% women).

   Females molested. abused, sexual assault and violence are some of the terms we hear frequently when talking about women and girls in the news and media. But even after all of this, women choose to be silent and not confess it in front of the rest of the world as it could lead to a deterioration in future assignments, further effecting their career immensely.

   

    How much of the risk faced by female war reporters due to their profession – and how much due to their gender?

    Amidst one of the most turbulent years in female history, war correspondents have been thrown into the spotlight. Some instances, such as Alex Crawford’s exclusive coverage of the fail of Tripoli for Sky News, were testament to the tenacity of women in the field.

     Last month, Marie Colvin’s death, alongside French photographer Rémi Ochlik, in a bomb blast in Syria shocked the industry. And last year, the attack on CBS correspondent Lara Logan in Tahrir Square illustrated the particular dangers of that women face. Logan later gave an interview of 60 minutes, of how she had her clothes ripped off her body, was beaten and “raped with their hands”.

  

       A few steps should be taken to improve the current status of women by each organization to ensure safety of the woman while making sure that it does not hamper her work, career and success. A few recommendations by INSI for a woman’s safety working in war zones are as follows. Women journalists should be encouraged to discuss their particular needs for support and protection by their male colleagues – male and female- and ensure that these are met. Colleagues and managers should be aware of the unnecessary pressure women can experience to prove that they are capable of doing the job. It must be made explicitly clear to everyone that sexual harassment and uninvited sexual advances are unacceptable. Male bosses should be aware of it and acknowledge the threat and fear of rape. If possible, women journalists should be allowed a say in who they would like to work with in a team. Women journalists including freelancers should also, if possible have the opportunity to train in self-defense.

       To address the issue, International News Safety Issue (INSI) conducted an investigation in 2010 to check whether female reporters found the task of reporting danger conflict zones especially difficult. The survey included women freelancers, travelling reporters, staff members and women based in foreign bureaus. The INSI survey suggested that a total of about 82% respondents reported physical attack and about 55% spoke of sexual abuse. However, a major percentage of female journalists covering conflict zones believe that they should be treated equally among their male colleagues. The conclusion brought out from this statement held true to most of the journalists who were interviewed.

      Several women who were interviewed believe that their job as journalists in life-threatening zones was not challenging due to their gender. Conversely, the trick for journalists for either gender is to fly below the redar. “A TV camera already draws a lot of attention and makes you stand out”, says BBC foreign affairs correspondent Orla Guerin. “You need to dress in a way that doesn’t compound that. The aim is to connect with people, not antagonize them.”

      However, Guerin and Holland argue that nationality can be one of the biggest problems. “Being from the wrong ethnic group, in the wrong place, can be a death sentence.” Guerin says. “There are no hard and fast rules, for men or for women, and no guarantees. Everyone is at risk in a war zone. You have to rely on instinct – and luck.”

   

     After all of this, I know and can totally imagine what a huge responsibility it really is for the media. They go through a lot and I respect them for it. I stutter to even think of accepting these challenges and actually going up there. It is very easy for us to sit in our comfort zone and to debate over it. We are actually no one to decide whether women should go cover war zones or not. But they should be prepared of the consequences. Hats Off to all the women journalists fighting out there, just for the fact that we get to know about the latest happenings.

Persuasive Writing

"Rape and sexual violence have become the tool of choice of many of the armed groups a means to control, subjugade, humiliate, intimidate, and ethnically cleanse".

Women and girls suffer disproportionately from violent conflict. They suffer not only from the by-products of war, but are also targeted as a strategy of war. Rape and sexual violence have been recognised as instruments of war, designed to weaken families and break down the social fabric of communities and societies. Although men and boys are also victims of gender-based violence, women and girls are the primary target.

There is increasing acknowledgement that women and girls play multiple roles during conflict. They are not only victims of violence, but can also be active participants in the violence, directly as combatants, or indirectly, by facilitating violence through fundraising or inciting their male relatives to commit acts of violence. Women also often become heads of households during war; women and girls learn new skills and contribute to peace making and rebuilding local economies and communities. These changes in gender relations, however, are usually short-lived and societies resort back to traditional gender roles after conflict.

Women also tend to be side-lined from formal conflict resolution and peace building processes, and post-conflict recovery programmes often overlook women’s security needs. This compromises the inclusiveness and sustainability of peace building efforts.

Sexual exploitation, trafficking and sexual slavery tend to increase in armed conflict. Women and girls who are recruited, often by abduction, into combat are in many cases forced to provide sexual services and/or are subjected to forced marriages. Refugee and internally displaced women and girls, separated from family members and traditional support mechanisms, are also particularly vulnerable. Government officials, civilian authorities, peacekeepers and aid workers have been reported to demand sexual favours in exchange for necessities – safe passage, food and shelter. Limited monitoring of camp security also renders women and girls vulnerable to sexual violence and forced combat.

The condition faced by women in conflict zones are of immense significance in the current scenario where one finds increased sites of conflict. The sites of conflict would not only include war zones but also areas of internal unrest due to self-determination issues, communal conflicts, Environmental disasters etc.

It is often seen that in the larger framework of addressing these issues, women’s concern take a backseat. Consequently their needs and issues get buried within larger scheme of things. It is submitted that conflict situations puts additional strain on women who get doubly marginalized as well as vulnerable to attacks from the aggressive opposition as women are most often symbolize the honour of the family. Violation of the bodily integrity of the women, displacement, Issues relating domestic violence, Denial of Properly rights etc. are some of the major issues which remain hidden. the international society has become aware of the specific challenges women have to face in times of conflict. A number of studies in this field have been undertaken by humanitarian and human rights organizations, such as the International Committee of the Red

Cross (ICRC) or the United Nations Development Fund for Women - Through these studies it has been shown how often the plight of women and the impact of war on their lives had been ignored. Women are, owing to their position in the society, affected by wars differently than men. Their problems resulting from situations of conflict are however very often neglected. It is important therefore to bring attention to these issues and create awareness of the rights women have in these circumstances as well as present possible means to improve their situation.

Other case laws:

Important international cases concerning issues faced by women in conflicts deal mostly with sexual violence. It is in fact in this particular problem that most progress has been made. A milestone in the prosecution of sexual violence was the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Both these tribunals were empowered to prosecute grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, other war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Rape was listed in their statutes as an act which may constitute a crime against humanity.15 several significant rulings concerning sexual violence have been passed by these tribunals.

women journalists and wars! first draft//

Women journalists and wars!

Should women be allowed to go and cover up the war? Are the war zones safe for the journalists? Does the sexuality of the journalist matter? Why the journalists are the one who are molested and harassed?

Looking onto such questions, a new question arises; on what basis the journalists should be send to war areas? There are cases where women journalists did excellent work in covering the war for instance take Barkha Dutta. And then on the other hand there are cases where not only women but even men were abused and harassed. For instance “It is an expected networks response. In 2001, when a (male) Swedish journalist was killed in northern Afghanistan, several networks pulled out their reporters from the region." says long time war correspondent Anna Badkhen. So the thing is both the sexes are not secure when they go to cover some critical situation or areas.

To avoid these things, not to send the female journalists is not the solution. Though they are at risk but then also restricting them is just demotivating them and clearly stating the fact that women are much more vulnerable than men. Even if prohibiting the females, will that account for 100 per cent safety for men? Obviously not, because what matter is the condition and environment not the sex of the journalist

What could be done here is, to give women journalist the choice whether to go on the project or not, and when they are willing to go, they should mentally prepare themselves to such sexual harassment. They should feel confident enough to report and take actions against if they face any such thing. Not only for women but even for the male journalists they should also accept the fact that the palce is not safe and they could be molested or abused, so they should have courage to face whatever comes.

By

Muniza shariq

WOMEN ON WAR

Surprisingly, after Lara Logan, an experienced reporter and a paramount foreign columnist for CBS news, was attacked and sexually assailed in Cairo, news network supposedly assembled to debate of drawing their female journalists out of any war zones. An attempt that some journalists’ say is comprehensible and likely, and where some say it is hypothetically offending and unsafe. What we have to decide is where do we stand? Do we really agree with “women journalists being sent out to cover conflict zones?”

Logan came out to be rebellious, initiating a fresh new chapter in the debate about the protection of women journalists. She firmly said, “I want the world to know that I am not ashamed of what happened to me. I want everyone to know I was not simply attacked – I was sexually assaulted. This was, from the very first moment, about me as a woman. But ultimately, I was just a tool. This was about something bigger than all of us – it was about what we do as journalists. That ancient tactic of terrifying people into submission or silence.” However, according to me that ancient tactic did not work.

To address the above issue, the International News Safety Institute (INSI) investigated the extent of these other dangers in a survey conducted in 2010 that asked whether women reporters found the task of reporting from a conflict situation especially difficult. The women surveyed included freelancers and staff members, traveling reporters, women based in foreign bureaus and line producers and managers. The INSI survey data suggested that more than 80 percent of respondents reported physical attack or intimidation while covering conflict. However, the majority of the responses indicated that many women journalists working in conflict areas do not believe that should be treated differently from their male colleagues. This conclusion held true with regard to most of the journalists interviewed for this project.

Conversely, several of the women interviewed thought that their job as journalists in conflict zones was not more difficult because of their sex. However, the trick for journalists of either gender is to fly below the radar. But trying to be modest can be hard. “A TV camera already draws a lot of attention and makes you stand out,” says BBC foreign affairs correspondent, Orla Guerin. “You need to dress in a way that doesn’t compound that. The aim is to connect with people, not antagonize them.” This arouses another question of “Whether gender makes a difference in covering a conflict by women who are playing a major role in the once virtually all-male preserve of battlefield reporting?”

According to this view, the "female personality reporters" - like the female newsreader and the female presenter - are part of a deliberately thought-out media strategy to attract viewers and readers.  Whether this is true or not, it is an incontrovertible fact that almost everywhere women's share of media jobs has increased steadily over the past two decades, and that female senior executives are not uncommon. But despite these advances, however capable they are and ready to "risk their lives" in the pursuit of their profession, women working in the media, may today be reduced to the status of "a (preferably pretty) woman in a flak jacket". Even today, women media professionals are likely to be judged in a quite different way from their male peers.

In contrast, the risk associated with being a war correspondent isn't limited to women, says Badkhen, who has covered wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and number of media outlets, "I categorically do not believe that women war correspondents are more vulnerable than war correspondents who are men.”
This shows that both female and male correspondents have been raped. Male colleagues whom she knows have been subjected to torture that involved their sexual organs. The nature of torture, the origin of torture, is to degrade, to render the tortured helpless. The torturer typically goes for methods both the torturer and the tortured consider the most humiliating.

Personally, after having followed all of the above, I do agree it is a huge responsibility. Sometimes I even ask myself if I would have been capable of accepting the challenges, those woman journalists accepted. In most places women have been regarded almost as a third gender. They aren’t treated like the women of the place. They aren’t treated like the men. But in traditional societies, where cordiality outplays ideology, they are always accorded the special pleasures afforded to guests. For most people and me, there’s no question that women shouldn’t be sent to report from the frontline. But they should be prepared. In conservative societies, that also includes a belief that women need to be protected. Sadly that belief was not one that extended to the treatment of Logan in Cairo. 

Journalism- a profession of men, is it?

Should the media pull women journalists out of war zones? This has been an important debate among media world. Seeing the problems faced by women while covering conflict zones have scared the news agencies to send out female journalists. But is it a right decision to make? Don't women have a role to play while covering such places.

Female journalist have always been facing problems while covering war zones, then why this question now? Just because journalist Lara Logan spoke about the sexual assault she went through? Susan Milligan, a political reporter who has covered war in Iraq and the Balkans and is now a contributing editor at US News & World Report says, "it is insulting specifically to Lara Logan, who is a terrific reporter. If you're pulling all of the women out, you're essentially saying that what happened to her is her fault." There are several female journalists that have under gone such instances but never spoke about them thinking it would bring an end to their career. They could not let this happen as they know the importance of women.

Fadel, who has reported from Baghdad recalls an incident in Kosovo in 1999. "I was with two male reporters and a female translator. We saw a village being burned down, and stupidly drove to it. Then we were surrounded by super paramilitary with guns, who dragged us out and held guns to our skulls and threatened to kill us." Having both men and women in the group changed the dynamic, she says. "They were more willing to believe that we weren't soldiers or part of a movement. It was good to have a mixed group. I think that's why we got out of there alive." This implies sending a mix batch of journalists to such zones could be helpful. Fadel herself has under gone an incident of harassment but she too thinks that pulling out women from these situations is not the answer.

Adding more women to the mix is breaking down a number of stereotypes many reporters and editors had. Some men acknowledge, for example, that women hold up as well as men under fire. Rather than being a disadvantage, women in Bosnia say being female has sometimes proved to be a plus in gaining access and information, or providing cover. Others believe that more women in the newsroom, where the news agenda is set, also contribute to a more humanistic approach to the way war is covered.

Surveys and research has shown that  women report and write about war differently than men. Don Fry, a former associate with the Poynter Institute for Media Studies who has researched the effect of gender on reporting and writing, believes it's best to say that men and women write differently. "It's easy to equate men's writing with hard news and women's with features," he explains. Male journalist could feel compelled to suppress feelings and emotions in a war zone. Such situations have to be covered by women. Female journalist may react with her natural inclination to be more by feelings and select a more emotional type of story because she has been permitted and encouraged.

Many great male journalists have proven that men can report on these issues with empathy equal to any of their female colleagues. The gender of individual reporters is not the determining factor. But critics say that only when more women are in positions of influence in reporting conflict will those human stories be consistently told, not only because women might report them more but also because she will drive the debate on what aspects of war and conflict should be reported beyond the guns, bombs and soldiers. Male reporters will come to see them as more important too.

All of these examples and arguments clearly show the importance of female journalists in  this field. Problems are faced by women, agreed, but this is not the solution for it. They have a greater importance.