According to the international report of the Women in Journalism Coalition, Turkey is the country with the highest number of cases of violence against women journalists. According to the report, there were 63 cases of legal harassment, physical assault, and detention.
The Coalition for Women in Journalism (CFWIJ) has announced that it recorded 139 incidents of threat, violence and rights violations against women journalists across the world between January and May.
Five women journalists have been killed since the start of the year and three of them were killed in Ukraine during Russia’s invasion of the country.
54 journalists appeared before the judge on the grounds of their professional activities. Around the world, 21 woman reporters were detained while covering news. 23 journalist women were attacked while following the news in the field. 15 women journalists were targeted in online smear campaigns for their news or critical comments.
Top countries: Turkey, Russia, Canada
Turkey, Russia and Canada were the three countries with the highest number of violations against women journalists, according to the report.
Turkey saw the most cases of violations against women journalists between January 1 to April 30, 2022, with a total of 63 cases documented. The most common violation we witnessed in Turkey was legal harassment, including seven civil lawsuits and two defamation cases. In criminal cases the most frequent
charge we saw was under anti-terrorism and “insult” laws.
Out of the total 42 such cases we recorded around the world, 34 were witnessed in Turkey. Among other violations, the country also witnessed two women journalists detained and two imprisoned for their work.
Russia followed Turkey on the CFWIJ’s index with 11 cases of violations against women journalists
documented. These included seven cases of women journalists detained, at one imprisonment and two
criminal lawsuits, among other violations. Not to mention the multiple killings, detentions and harassment of journalists at the hands of Russian invasion forces in Ukraine.
Canada ranked third in terms of the frequency of violations against women journalists in this quarter. The most common violation witnessed in the country was attacks online. The CFWIJ recorded a total of 13 cases of online attacks around the world in the first four months of 2022 and eight of these were witnessed in Canada. Last year right-wing politician Maxime Bernier tweeted a provocative message targeting women journalists of color and we witnessed organized online attacks on more than 20 women media workers hailing from non-white communities. The impunity allowed to Bernier by state authorities and by the digital platform emboldened him to repeat his actions rendering several more women journalists vulnerable during trucker protests. Another common violation we have witnessed in Canada in the past has been excesses by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).