Kenyan Media has Failed to Provide Safe Spaces for Women Journalists – Patience Nyange

Association of Media Women in Kenya (AMWIK) Executive Director Patience Nyange has said the Kenyan media has not created safe spaces for women journalists. 

According to Nyange, sexual harassment has been normalized in newsrooms, and there are no proper channels to deal with the vice or to hold culprits liable.

Moreover, the AMWIK executive director stated that some women who have fallen victim of sexual harassment have failed to report because they are not sure of how to go about it. 

“I asked women who have stayed in the newsroom for 30-40 years whether anyone reports cases of sexual harassment and whether people have been convicted. They said they do not report but negotiate it out. There is a need for us to prosecute that and create a more conducive environment for women to thrive within the newsrooms,” she said. 

“We have normalized hugging, let us hug each other in a decent manner.” She added.

Nyange while speaking during an interview with Hot 96 reported that, AMWIK now purposes to train people within newsrooms to understand what sexual harassment is. 

Likewise, a study conducted by Women in News in 2021 revealed that Central America and Africa recorded the highest cases of sexual harassment in the newsroom, which is 42% and 40% respectively. 

Similarly, out of the over 2000 media professionals surveyed 40% of women said they had experienced sexual harassment in verbal/or physical form, whereas 12% of men reported the same.

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According to the research, the top perpetrators of sexual harassment were fellow employees, supervisors, higher management and news sources respectively.

Also, most of the sexual harassment cases were never reported. However, several media professionals who reported the cases said no action was taken. 

Apart from sexual harassment, it has also been reported that women are excluded from the decision-making tables in newsrooms. 

“Most women move from media to corporate sector to find a fitting. Our campaign right now is to see more women stay in the newsroom,” Nyange expounded.