World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) Women in News conducted research in 20 countries across the world on sexual harassment in newsrooms and the report indicates that 80 percent of sexual harassment goes unreported. The data from a global study released on January 26 shows that on average, 40 percent of women media professionals have experienced verbal or physical sexual harassment in the workplace. However, only 20 percent of that number choose to report such cases while others remain silent. The report also revealed that there are no reporting mechanisms in place to help the victims report their perpetrators and another issue is fear in various kinds such as fear of losing a job or of being labeled. According to this report, women and gender non-conforming media professionals are almost three and a half times more likely to experience harassment than men. And out of those few reported incidents, only 41 percent action was taken where in most cases they only warn perpetrators and provide support while in other cases some even dismissed. The study also shows that those who experienced sexual harassment 39 percent of their perpetrators are their fellow employees and 19 percent are their managers among other few people. Melanie Walker, Executive Director, Women in News at WAN-IFRA recommended media organizations they need to recognize the extent of sexual harassment and put in plans steps to provide a safer working environment to curb the issue. Walker also noted that they believe this data will help their collective effort to establish the mechanisms, and bring about the culture change necessary, to root out sexual harassment for good. She further explains that this report aims to make the data around trends in sexual harassment more accessible and to better inform media partners about the very real issue of sexual harassment in their newsrooms. “We believe this data will help our collective effort to establish the mechanisms, and bring about the culture change necessary, to root out sexual harassment for good,” she said More than 2,000 individuals including 85 senior executives participated in this research from November 2020 to September 2021, in various countries such as Rwanda, Uganda, Malaysia, Jordan, and Central America among others.
