Safety of Women Journalists

In October 2020, UNESCO and the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) launched a global survey to assess the scale of online violence targeting women journalists around the world, and to help identify solutions to the pernicious problem.

On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, UNESCO released the preliminary findings of the global survey. Additional results were published at the World Press Freedom Conference 2020 on 10 December 2020 during a session titled ‘Online violence: The New Front Line for Women Journalists - #JournalistsToo’, jointly hosted by UNESCO and the ICFJ.

The survey was a key plank of a UNESCO-commissioned study implemented in partnership with ICFJ, which is examining this major threat to press freedom and journalism safety in 15 countries.The survey was offered in five languages (English, French, Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese).

Among key results of the survey:

• 73% of women journalists who responded had experienced online violence in the course of their work.
• 25% had received threats of physical violence, while 18% of them had been threated with sexual violence.
• 20% of women reported being attacked offline in connection with online violence they had experienced.

Read all results in our publication "Online violence against women journalists: a global snapshot of incidence and impacts" here.

The  Global Survey at World Press Freedom Conference 2020

During the session ‘Online Violence: The new frontline for women journalists’, journalists Rana Ayyub, Carole Cadwalladr and Ferial Haffajee and researcher Julie Posetti called on media companies, social platforms and colleagues to stand together to support - and protect – women subjected to online violence. Watch here. 

Right-click to download the images or download them all here

A UNESCO/ICFJ survey has revealed that 73% of women journalists who responded had experienced online violence in the course of their work. During the session ‘Online Violence: The new frontline for women journalists’, journalists Rana Ayyub, Carole Cadwalladr and Ferial Haffajee and researcher Julie Posetti called on media companies, social platforms and colleagues to stand together to support - and protect - women who have been victims of online violence. An audioreport by Glenda Boza Ibarra. 

This report was produced as part of the Youth Newsroom 2020. The Youth Newsroom is a team of 15 young reporters from all corners of the world that covered the World Press Freedom Conference 2020 under the guidance of experienced journalists and editors.