From the jailing of two women journalists in Belarus to the targeting of local reporters in Britain, women are on the frontline facing threats and repression
Two women journalists in Belarus have been sentenced to two years in prison for reporting on the protests against President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime, which swept the country following last summer’s election.
Many countries did not accept the result of Belarus’ 2020 Presidential Election, with the EU imposing sanctions on Belarusian officials for violence, repression and election fraud.
Daria Chultsova and Katsyarina Andreyeva, who work for an independent TV station in Belarus, deny any wrongdoing.
In a statement, 27-year-old Andreyeva said: “Every time I went to work, I risked my health and life. I managed to hide from rubber bullets, explosions of stun grenades, blows from truncheons. My colleagues were much less fortunate. I have everything: youth, a job that I love, fame, and most importantly, a clear conscience.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned the women’s imprisonment, with its deputy executive director, Robert Mahoney, saying that “these prison terms are naked political persecutions designed to bully into silence any journalist who would dare report independently on democratic protests in one of Europe’s most authoritarian states”.
The sentencing follows a 32% rise in women journalists being detained in 2020. Analysis published in 2019 reported that 29 women journalists were being held in “inhumane conditions” around the world simply for doing their jobs – that number has now increased.
Last year, Filippino-American journalist Maria Ressa was imprisoned in the Philippines on “cyber libel” charges for reporting on the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, including documenting his brutal anti-drugs campaign. Last summer, Russian journalist Ilya Azar was jailed for 15 days. In January, Habibe Eren, Oznur Deger and Eylul Deniz Yasar were detained by Turkish authorities while covering protests.
Women journalists are also being targeted by the police while doing their jobs and reporting.
In Poland, photojournalist Agata Grzybowska was dragged away from covering the autumn’s Women’s Strike protests and detained by the authorities. A few months before, in Russia, journalists working alongside Ilya Azar were detained for covering protests against Vladimir Putin’s regime.
Following the shocking assassinations of Anna Politkovskaya, Daphne Caruana Galizia and Kim Wall, killings of women journalists are also on the rise.
The arrests, attacks and detentions of women journalists form a pattern of repression combined with misogyny. This causes a chilling effect on women’s freedom of expression – including in the UK.
Threats to Women Journalists in the UK
Last year, Reporters Without Borders ranked the UK at 35 out of 180 countries for press freedom, saying that its record on the issue “remained cause for concern throughout 2019”.
This was in part due to sectarian attacks on journalists in Northern Ireland, including the killing of 29-year-old Lyra McKee. A man has since been charged with her murder.
But the attacks didn’t end with McKee’s horrific death.
In Belfast, Sunday World journalist Patricia Devlin has been repeatedly targeted – most recently with graffiti of her name in crosshairs. She has also received threats from men saying that they will rape her infant son. She says that threats from paramilitary groups are “worse for women reporters” and the attacks have been “never-ending”.
Séamus Dooley, of the National Union for Journalists in Northern Ireland, is clear that “women journalists in particular are being targeted with vile and misogynist abuse”, although both men and women are threatened by paramilitary groups.
Women journalists have also told Amnesty International in Northern Ireland about receiving sectarian threats on Twitter for their reporting.
Women who cover the far-right and other forms of extremism are also regularly attacked or threatened for their work. Independent journalist Lizzie Dearden was targeted by far-right activist James Goddard, but the abuse went beyond him. Dearden described receiving messages saying “hope you get gang raped by jihadists then thrown off a rooftop” and calling her a “traitor”, “ugly motherf***er”, and a “f***ing stupid bitch”.
In the Ukraine, Katerina Sergatskova has been threatened with deadly violence for reporting on the far-right.
Other women journalists have described how reporting on the far-right has led to threats and pile-ons, sometimes being sent photoshopped pornography. Even this reporter is not immune from attacks and hate mail for writing about feminism and LGBTIQ rights.
Women’s experiences of abuse are backed by the data: analysis published in 2019 found that one in 14 tweets sent to women journalists in the UK and US were abusive or “problematic”.
A survey conducted by the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) found that 73% of respondents had experienced online abuse, harassment, threats and attacks, while 20% of the women surveyed reported being targeted with offline abuse and attacks.