There’s no getting round it. Female journalists face exceptional risks when reporting events across the world. Especially as freelancers undertaking assignments alone, women must factor the dangers of gender and sexual violence into their assessments of hostile environments.
L-r: Richard Spencer, Alison Baskerville, Elisa Lees Munoz, Nadine Marroushi and Caroline Neil
This was the resounding conclusion of News Reporting and Navigating Risk: Is Gender a Factor? – a panel discussion at the Frontline Club on Tuesday 23 June organised in partnership with the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) and the Frontline Freelance Register (FFR).
IWMF executive director and panel chair Elisa Lees Munoz opened the debate by presenting the results of the foundation’s recent survey of 1000 female journalists, of whom 20% had experienced some form of gender-based violence while on assignment.
“We were pretty horrified by that number,” said Lees Munoz. “But we were also pretty distressed by the fact that the majority of the perpetrators weren’t strangers… but were their colleagues, supervisors, fixers or translators.”
These risks can be difficult to mitigate against, said Caroline Neil, director of hostile environment training providers RPS Partnership.
“The risks that female media workers face are really intangible. The interpersonal relationship between you and your interpreter, fixer or male colleague who might have misconstrued the situation,” said Neil.
“It’s very difficult to mitigate those types of risks because it’s very much around your interpersonal skills, experience and whether you are susceptible.”
But the dangers to women journalists are by no means purely physical, said journalist Nadine Marroushi, who personally suffered post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after being assaulted by a crowd while reporting on protests in Egypt’s Tahrir Square.
Psychological trauma resulting from sexual assault in the field continues to affect women long after the physical scars have healed. Yet PTSD can affect all journalists, regardless of gender, and is an issue the industry needs to urgently address, she added.
“It’s really important for journalists to acknowledge how things are affecting them and to create some kind of space where they can talk about those things,” said Marroushi.
That space just doesn’t exist at the moment, especially for local journalists who aren’t able to get out and get help, said documentary photographer and FFR board member Alison Baskerville.
“We can’t forget about local journalists. It feels like there’s this huge need for us to collaborate with all the knowledge that we have… so that we can educate ourselves and spread that further,” said Baskerville.
L-r: Elisa Lees Munoz, Nadine Marroushi and Caroline Neil
Richard Spencer, Middle East editor at The Telegraph, said that the culture towards mental health within media organisations is developing, with PTSD counselling now on offer for all who work with the paper. But many still fall through the gaps, he said.
“It’s difficult to see who takes responsibility for the longterm mental health of local hires such as translators, who may be working for fifty different places,” he said. “The policy is there, but the gaps for those who fall between them are very large.”
Excellent event @frontlineclub on the risks faced by women reporting in the field #journoselfcare – http://t.co/LucJzEmPCy
— Brian_Condon (@brian_condon) June 23, 2015
Chair Lees Munoz, who is helping to develop a call for international guidelines on hiring freelancers, told the Frontline Club audience that the IWMF is lobbying to include a clause for a no-tolerance policy on gender violence perpetrated by media employees.
She also stressed the need for international databases of trusted fixers and translators, global hostile environment training standards and for increased efforts to reach out to local journalists affected by sexual assault.
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Heading to Sheffield Doc/Fest this year? Not only does the programme contain a fantastic selection of documentaries, but everyone with a full festival pass also has access to the diverse and inspiring conference programme. We have produced a conference session, Dangerous Storytelling: Documentary Filmmaking and the Safety of Subjects, which will place at the ITV Town Hall Council Chamber at 10:15 AM on Tuesday 9 June.
The relationship between filmmaker and subject is a topic hotly debated by film directors, academics, and journalists. Methods such as undercover filming, encrypted communication and Skype allow filmmakers to reach individuals who may otherwise be reluctant to speak or difficult to meet in person. However, unprecedented access to a compelling story can come with a risk to the individuals at the centre of the film. How can documentary makers without a journalism background practice safe investigative work? When the telling of a story has potential consequences, how can a filmmaker ensure the protection of their subjects? We will be joined by Orlando von Einsiedel, Kim Longinotto, Julianna Ruhfus, and Beadie Finzi to discuss circumstances in which the presence of a camera is risky business.
The panelists:
Beadie Finzi (Chair)
Beadie Finzi is one of the founding directors of BRITDOC, a non profit film foundation supported by Channel 4 Television, Ford Foundation and Bertha Foundation as well as a number of US and European foundations. Having worked in documentary for the past 20 years, Beadie is in heaven in her role at BRITDOC – whose mission is to befriend independent filmmakers, fund great films (120 to date), broker new partnerships, build new business models, share knowledge and develop audiences globally.
Kim Longinotto
Kim Longinotto is an award-winning and critically acclaimed documentary filmmaker. Best known for her unobtrusive observational style and focus on female subjects crossing a multitude of international boundaries, Kim was the subject of a two-week career retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 2009 and was awarded the Inspiration Award by Sheffield Doc/Fest in 2010. She has directed 20 documentaries, a selection of which include Eat the Kimono (1989), Rock Wives (1996) Divorce Iranian Style (1998) and Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go (2007). Rough Aunties (2008) won the World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009. Her most recent films Pink Saris (2010) and Salma (2013) are set in India.
Orlando Von Einsiedel
2014 saw the completion of Orlando von Einsiedel’s debut feature length documentary, VIRUNGA, focusing on the conservation work of rangers within Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Winning 40 international awards, it showcases Orlando’s ability for drawing out intimate and personal stories in challenging locations. Orlando previously directed award-winning films spanning Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Arctic, covering a diverse range of stories. He has been nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA, a Directors’ Guild of America Award, and an Independent Film Spirit Award.
Juliana Ruhfus
Juliana Ruhfus is the senior reporter for Al Jazeera’s ‘People & Power’ investigative and current affairs strand where she has worked since 2006, when her film on Liberian ex-combatants launched the channel’s programming content. Nearly 30 films later she has gone undercover in Turkmenistan and in Cambodian orphanages, produced the five part ‘Corporations on Trial’ series, and her two-part investigation into the trafficking of Nigerian women into the Italian sex-trade is one of the most-watched People & Power shows in its history. In 2010, she was awarded the Ochberg Fellowship, and in 2011 she received a scholarship for Harvard’s Global Trauma Program. She is currently on the European board of directors for the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma. In 2003, and again in 2007/08, Juliana has also worked as an expert consultant for the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee monitoring violations of the arms embargo on Somalia.
In a series of live-streamed panel discussion, freelancers and experts delivered safety tips and guides for freelancers working in conflict zones on risk assessment, communications plans and digital security.
Photo: Emma Beals (@ejbeals)
You can watch each stream again and find links to all the resources discussed here on the Frontline Freelance Register website.
The first talk, chaired by Elisabet Cantenys, Head of Programmes at the Rory Peck Trust, was between freelance journalist and filmmaker James Brabazon and Steve Cook, Director of Media Support and Operations at TYR Solutions. They discussed the benefits of risk assessments, described as “your best way of helping yourself in advance of needing assistance”.
RESOURCES:
- Risk Assessment (RPT)
The second talk on communication plans was chaired by Max Riley-Gould, a researcher and writer at the Rory Peck Trust. He spoke to James Brabazon and Emma Beals, freelance journalist and interim board member of FFR. They covered the method of drawing up a plan, and when and what should be done if you fall out of contact in a crisis.
RESOURCES:
In the final talk, chaired by Andrew Lyons, Digital Producer/Project Manager at the Rory Peck Trust, Kim Pham, a digital security consultant, and Runa A. Sandvik, Developer, Security Researcher, and Translation Coordinator for the Tor Project, discussed digital and mobile security. They covered the importance of learning how the technology you will be using works and understanding when you will be vulnerable as well and the tools available to protect yourself.
RESOURCES:
- Top 14 tips for secure mobile communications (Frontline Club)
- Basic Internet security (FLOSS Manuals)
- Tactical Tech (Tactical Technology Collective)
- Digital Security (RPT)
- Tor Project
- Tails
- Journalist Security Guide