‘Women Journalists are Subjected to Violence’

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"The profession is viewed as a man's profession. As for men, they intimidate you, they make you invisible with money. They are in a competition with women journalists.

"When you compare a man and a woman working in the same position, the man has much more influence.

"In debates among colleagues, women editors are easily interrupted. Especially when it comes to the fields of politics, foreign policy or economy, we can be easily left out.

"There is discrimination in distribution of roles. There are no women working in the technical field, in the field of photojournalism. There are distinctions like news reported by women and the ones reported by men.

"There are young, beautiful women on the screen; as for men, they are 'old', 'mature' and 'influential'."

These remarks are from the "Violence Experience Sharing Group Report" prepared by the Women and LGBTI Commission of the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS). The report was shared with the public in a statement for the press held in TGS Central Office in İstanbul yesterday (March 6).

Presented by Gülfem Karataş on behalf of the commission, the report was prepared based on the statements of 27 women journalists.

Here are some other highlights from the report:

* Journalists are harassed by their managers and bosses, their news sources and by people whom they report in their news.

* Women journalists attending the statement for the press stated that though they informed the institutions in question about the cases of harassment, they are not taken seriously by them.

* The incidents of harassment usually ended in women's resignation.

They are also subjected to psychological violence

* The report has also shared details about the forms of psychological violence inflicted on women journalists especially by their colleagues.

* Stating that they are frequently patronized, not taken seriously, mocked and subjected to mobbing by their male colleagues, women journalists have emphasized that these acts belittling their journalism skills aim to make them feel worthless and insufficient

Women journalists are made to do the same jobs

* It is also very difficult for women to get promotion in the field of journalism. They stressed that though they are open to improving themselves, they are always made to do the same jobs.

* The report has also shown that women journalists working as reporters are subjected to physical violence. It has been underlined that women journalists are frequently subjected to violence by law enforcement officers.

Listing the experiences of violence shared by 27 women journalists, the report has also offered a series of recommendations to struggle against physical and psychological violence towards women and LGBTI journalists as well as their discrimination. (EMK/SD)