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Survivors of sexual violence around the world have started to speak out more in recent years. This happened in part because of the #MeToo movement, which started in 2006 in the United States and gained momentum thanks to high-profile cases like Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein and actor Bill Cosby.
On the African continent, several countries have seen the movement gain ground. In Kenya there was the #mydressmychoice campaign while in Nigeria the #ArewaMeToo campaign mobilized survivors and activists. In South Africa, women have used several campaigns including #EndRapeCulture, the #AmINext campaign and #TheTotalShutdown to demand change. And in Malawi, journalists took to the streets in November 2020, during a march against rape and sexual abuse.
Read more: #MeToo is not big in Africa. But women started their own versions
The suppression of the silence of survivors may have accelerated in recent years, but the response from organizations remains uncertain at best. As a result, in many areas there is little incentive for survivors to come forward. Policies designed to protect people from sexual harassment are often opaque or non-existent. In addition, punishment of perpetrators is rare and retaliation for survivors who report it is common.
The news media is one of the long list of problematic industries. When the #MeToo movement took off globally in 2017, it sparked new research into the prevalence of sexual harassment in the media. But much of the investigation has focused on the west, with almost no attention to the global south.
We have researched sexual harassment in newsrooms in collaboration with WAN-IFRA Women in News, a global organization focused on gender equality. Our large-scale survey of media staff looked at the rate of sexual harassment, how often people report it, the sources of harassment, and the response of organizations.
Women in News defines sexual harassment as unwanted and offensive behavior of a sexual nature that undermines a person’s dignity and makes them feel degraded, humiliated, intimidated or threatened.
The results show that little useful action is taken when survivors report this behavior. Organizations still cultivate hazardous work environments in which their staff rarely report it. If they do, their claims are likely rejected. Or the accused is simply warned. The negative cycle silences survivors and empowers aggressors.
Women are prime targets
This project used two methods of data collection: a survey of media staff, distributed online, and in-depth interviews with media officials conducted online through video calls. The approach was designed to understand patterns of sexual harassment in newsrooms and monitor the perceptions of agents in positions of power in media organizations.
Survey responses were anonymous and interview participants were given a pseudonym to protect their identity. Data collection started in July 2020 in Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It ended in November 2020.
The survey was completed by 584 participants and 32 in-depth interviews were conducted with managers and executives.
The results show that women are the main targets of sexual harassment. On average, 56% experienced verbal harassment and 38% experienced physical harassment. But 24% of men said they had experienced verbal harassment and 15% said they had experienced physical harassment. Those who identified themselves as gender non-conforming made up a small sample of the study, but 50% said they had experienced some form of sexual harassment. Almost half of participants said they had witnessed sexual harassment – 17% said they had witnessed five or more incidents. And it was pretty consistent across all types of media.
When people imagine sexual harassment in the workplace, they may assume it is a powerful man in a senior position targeting junior employees. And certainly it does. But senior executives only made up about 20% of abusers in our survey. Participants also reported that the authors were 38% colleagues, 22% direct supervisors, and 17% external sources of information (participants could also choose “other”). In short, sexual harassment is so pervasive that it can happen to anyone and come from anyone.
With the severe emotional and psychological effects of sexual harassment on survivors and the dangerous work environments it cultivates in newsrooms, it would seem logical that news organizations would make it a top priority. Unfortunately, it is not the case.
Why Sexual Harassment Thrives
The first problem is that there are no strong policies in place to prevent sexual harassment. Only 53% of participants said they were aware of the existence of an anti-sexual harassment policy within their organization. And even fewer – 17% – were aware of what was contained in the policy. In interviews, 68% of CIOs were aware of a policy within their organization. The results indicate that the policies are weak and that there are not enough staff trained on them.
A secondary problem is that only a third of survivors ever report their experiences to their organization. The most common reason given was fear that it would negatively impact their work or reputation. The second most common reason was the lack of a reporting mechanism. This would imply that organizations lack the infrastructure for survivors to report and that a negative atmosphere around reporting inspires fear.
Read more: Sexism is rampant in the Nigerian, Kenyan and South African press. And it is not checked
When we looked at the cases where survivors reported, we found that organizations responded to only 42% of them. The most likely response was to warn the abuser. Only four participants said the perpetrator was fired and eight said the perpetrator was suspended. Survivors risk their reputation, status, retaliation and other trauma to come forward. Those who do may be disappointed by the lack of response from their organization.
What news agencies should do
Without proper accountability and due process in place, sexual harassment will continue in the media and in workplaces around the world. The lack of reporting and the consequences will also continue. Journalists will fear the backlash. Many survivors choose to quit their jobs and even the media industry to get away from harmful newsrooms. Those who remain risk sexual harassment, anxiety, feelings of helplessness and many other negative consequences in the future.
News agencies must adopt zero tolerance policies for sexual harassment. These should clearly describe what sexual harassment is, how survivors can safely report it, the procedures for how complaints will be properly handled and the consequences for the perpetrators. Staff need regular training and survivors need support.
Lindsey Blumell receives funding from WAN-IFRA Women in News.
Dinfin Mulupi receives funding from WAN-IFRA Women in News.
By Lindsey Blumell, Senior Lecturer in Journalism, City, University of London And
Dinfin Mulupi, PhD student, University of Maryland
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