The most important story often remains untold
Today’s digital environment has made journalists more exposed and vulnerable than ever before. Female journalists and bloggers are increasingly being singled out and fiercely attacked online. For some, online threats of rape and sexual violence have become part of everyday life; others experience severe sexual harassment and intimidation.
Primarily the threats/insults come from anonymous online commenters. I’ve had people threaten to assault me repeatedly; one threatened to ‘human flesh hunt’ me. I’ve been called every name in the book and have had my education/intelligence/integrity questioned repeatedly. I’ve had people attempt to impersonate me to make it sound like I say horrible things.
I record every tweet he sends me in a Word document, forward his emails to a dedicated account, then print them out to ensure I’ll have them ready for police in analogue form if he ever threatens me again (or worse).
What numbers say
Female journalists experience roughly three times as many abusive comments as their male counterparts on Twitter. (source: www.demos.co.uk)
More than 25 percent of the verbal, written and/or physical threats and intimidation the respondents encountered took place online. (Source: www.iwmf.org)
Around 5% of the tweets a female journalist gets are abusive or derogatory, more than three times the number for male journalists, or for women in general. (Source: www.huffingtonpost.co.uk)
Call to OSCE States
In a communique issued on 6 February 2015 to the OSCE’s 57 participating States, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media demanded swift action to address the growing problem of online threats to female journalists online. She called on States to:
- Acknowledge the gravity of the problem and put it on the agenda now;
- Give priority to improving the conduct of law enforcement agencies;
- When new laws are drafted be aware of the chilling effects that laws aimed at restricting speech may have;
- Invest in media and Internet literacy to inform and improve citizens’ capacities to contribute to healthy and constructive media environments;
- Encourage more data and research and support non-governmental organizations that address the issue.