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
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