Argentine radio journalist Sergio Hurtado, who reported on drug trafficking.
According to Hurtado and local news reports, two men armed with knives and one handgun stormed into Hurtado’s house around 4:30 a.m. and demanded money. They ordered Hurtado to hand over 27,000 pesos (US$2,520), although it was not clear why they believed he had this sum at home, FM Luna said.Then the two men each raped Cristina Hurtado, according to news reports confirmed by Sergio Hurtado to CPJ.
The reporter’s wife told the daily La Nación that the couple’s two children were asleep in a nearby bedroom when the assailants entered the house. The oldest son, who is 15, woke up to screams and saw his parents being threatened with weapons, La Nación said. He returned to his bedroom and pretended to be asleep.
Before fleeing, the men stole money, cell phones, and other electronics, reports said. Hurtado said that the assailants issued him a warning: “Stop talking about drugs on the radio. We had orders to kill you.” Hurtado’s wife also said that the intruders claimed that they were hitmen and that her husband must stop talking about drug trafficking, La Nación reported.
No job comes without sacrifices, but how many downgrading comments, criticism or even threats can one person take before it becomes too much?
Just consider the experiences of a female journalist that I know:
She had her phone number shared on dating websites, her email and other accounts were hacked, she received death threats on Skype, the website publishing her articles was hacked and a sex video was posted with the implication that she had participated in an orgy. Anonymous articles with lies about her and her family were also posted online.
Imagine being forced to shut down your accounts on social media platforms because of such massive attacks with detailed images of rape and other forms of sexual violence.
At one point, you would probably be inclined to ask yourself if it is really worth it. Is this a career I want to continue to pursue?
Read more. By Dunja Mijatović for Index on Censorship.
Image:
REUTERS/Aly Song
Negeena Anwari works for Hewad Television, a private channel in southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar Province, the birthplace and spiritual home of the Taliban where every woman is a potential target.
But for Anwari, Taliban guns are a less vexing problem than the daily harassment she endures as a publicly recognizable broadcast anchor in Afghanistan’s second-most populous city.
“Our traditional problems and harassments are bigger than our security problems,” says the young journalist, explaining that concerns about national security, while legitimate, don’t discriminate between gender or profession.
“The moment I walk out of my home, I am bombarded by verbal intimidations and abuse by almost every man I face,“ she says. "They insult me for appearing on TV and some even call for my death.”
Continue reading.
via Akmal Dawi for VOA Afghan Service.
Photo credit: File Photo
mediareporter:
According to the latest Status of Women in the U.S. Media 2014 report from The Women’s Media Center, women are still more likely to cover health, lifestyle news; least likely to cover crime, justice, world politics. The data came from the last quarter of 2013. What decade is this again?
reportagebygettyimages:
The Alexia Foundation is currently accepting entries for its Women’s Initiative Grant. The call for entries asks photographers to propose a serious documentary photographic or multimedia project encompassing any issue involving women anywhere in the world. Learn more at alexiafoundation.org
Image by Tim Matsui, 2012 Women’s Initiative winner
