Tackling sexual harassment in the media in Africa

The MeToo era awakened the whole world to sexual harassment, not only in the entertainment industry where the allegations began, but also in the corporate spaces. Journalists report on chronicles of sexual harassment (such as MeToo) when they themselves have endured it. Jane Godia, the Gender, Development and the Programme Manager Women in News (WIN) for East and Central Africa, has studied sexual harassment in African media houses for years. In her presentation at the AWiM19 Conference in Nairobi, Ms Godia shared data on the prevalence of sexual harassment: according to a 2017 report from WIN, 64 per cent of women have been verbally harassed and another 10 sexually assaulted.

Jane also said that only a paltry 29 percent reported the abuse. This could be explained by the reaction that many women who report sexual harassment get. They are not believed, and the people they raise the concern with do not see it as a problem. When they appreciate it, they consider it a foreign problem.

Sexual harassment costs newsrooms a lot of money because the victims become less productive. The good news is WIN has some strategies on solving the challenge of sexual harassment. She elaborated those strategies below.

https://www.slideshare.net/AfricanWomeninMedia/confronting-sexual-harrasment-in-the-media