By ALYSSA MAE CLARIN
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Part of the job.
This is how Filipino women journalists perceive intimidation, harassment, and even death threats they experience as truth tellers, initial data from a recent action research revealed.
The Ateneo de Manila de University’s (ADMU) Department of Communication and the Asian Center for Journalism (ACFJ) presented the preliminary data on Sept. 9 on women journalists after their year-long action research, and presented the initial findings among representatives of various media organizations.
“The experiences are cross-generation. When we shared our experiences with each other, that’s when we realized that those kinds of things still happen. Because women have the tendency to keep it to ourselves,” said ACFJ Executive Director Luz Rimban.
The inter-generational struggle of women journalists
The study surveyed 129 women journalists online from 14 of the country’s 18 regions, a bulk of whom are women journalists in the National Capital Region, from May 2 to July 15, 2024. The researchers employed non-random sampling techniques; purposive and snowball, tapping women journalists who were alumni of the Ateneo de Manila University’s journalism programs, and participants from the We-Move activities to recommend possible participants to the survey.
Based on the results, the most frequently cited form is abuse of power or authority, followed by attempts to damage their reputation or honor. However, there are still cases of sexual harassment in the form of suggestive remarks, intrusive questions about their personal life, and even unwelcome physical contact while at work.
At least 71 of 129 respondents said that the perpetrators of these attacks are usually their sources, or contacts, while 56 claimed that attacks are perpetrated by fellow colleagues, and 45 responded that they also experienced attacks from state forces.
Additionally, women experienced more physical than online intimidation, as well as harassment and abuse. Only 10 percent of the respondents said they have not experienced physical abuse compared to the 25 percent who said they did not experience it online.
Women who experienced online intimidation answered that they experienced “being abused with hateful language,” and “being harassed with unwanted private messages,” aside from the usual threats related to their professional standing. One participant said that someone went as far as copy-pasting her article on their own website/blog word-for-word, and red-tagged the outlet she had written for. Another participant also shared how she received false accusations, targeting her credibility, by online influencers and personalities during the 2022 campaign trail.
The researchers also mentioned that they were able to interview several women journalists but only the 129 had complete answers in their questionnaire. There was also the struggle of finding participants who were comfortable to talk about their experiences.
“Because these things happen and it really impacts mental health,” said Rimban, mentioning that 77 of the respondents mentioned that these attacks have the most significant impact on mental health.
Because of the nature of the online platforms being used, most of the perpetrators of these attacks were able to stay anonymous by using throw-away accounts or spam accounts.
As a result, the respondents shared that they felt physically unsafe after experiencing these types of intimidation and harassment.
“We were expecting these kinds of results,” said Christine Anne Cox of ADMU’s Department of Communication.
Cox said that although there were existing preventive measures available in their respective media organizations, some of the respondents and freelancers do not enjoy any of them.
Those who do not have these resources available often resort to self-protection which include enrolling in self-defense classes or investing in strengthening their online security.
“We know it’s very dangerous, especially for women journalists. I think the results still show that the women are resilient, despite the lack of protection mechanisms in place, we would do this (self-protection) on our own,” she said.
The study is part of We-Move or the Welfare and Safety of Women Journalists which started when a group of senior journalists stressed the need for a baseline study to support its advocacy of helping protect women journalists.
Moving forward
The study also includes recommendations like a review on the gender component of the code of ethics, as well as organizing more gender-sensitivity training for media practitioners. The study also highlights the importance of recognizing the unique conditions of women, and the call to stop all forms of attacks on women journalists, including red-tagging. According to it, there is also a need to provide psychosocial support for women journalists who incurred trauma because of the attacks, as well as the need to establish a center to provide immediate response to victims of sexual harassment.
“Journalism serves as the backbone of a democratic society. But for it to thrive, it must be inclusive. But as we know today women journalists face threats that attack the very foundation of media freedom,” Kingdom of the Netherlands Ambassador Marielle Geraedts said. “It is imperative to recognize that these threats have a silencing effect on women everywhere. It sends a message that speaking up has a high personal cost.”
The research team is still in the process of further data analysis. The study will be made available upon publication in an academic journal. (JJE, RVO, DAA)
