‘Culture plays a role’: Women journalists in Pacific island countries face harassment and worse

Two weeks ago, delegates at the Pacific Media Conference in Fiji heard harrowing stories of women journalists facing threats of violence and harassment.

This raises the question: are we doing enough to protect women journalists in the Pacific?

In 2022, the Fijian Women’s Rights Movement and South Pacific School of Journalism plan, published a report on The prevalence and impact of sexual harassment on women journalists: a case study from Fiji.

Among the 42 respondents surveyed, the youngest was 22 years old and the oldest was 51 years old, with an average age of 33.2 years and an average working experience of 8.3 years.

Most of the respondents (80.5%) worked in the print industry, while others chose online and/or broadcasting. Most of the respondents answered that they were aware of sexual harassment happening.

this ABC Fijian journalist Lice Monovo is an experienced journalist who has worked for RNZ Pacific and The Guardian.

She said she was not surprised by the discovery and that such incidents were not new to her.

“These are things that have happened to me, and to some of my close friends, and I’ve seen them firsthand, but I’m also shocked that it’s still happening and shocked that it’s even more prevalent.”

After reading the report’s preliminary findings, she realised that while women did take steps, including reporting harassment, contacting their employers or seeking help, not enough was being done to protect female journalists.

“Their worries, their troubles, their experiences are denied, they are told to just live with it, they are told to put it behind them.”

Movono added that the burden and responsibility of harassment often shifts to the victim.

“So, I don’t think we’re doing enough,” she said.

Laisa Bulatale of the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement said many of the women in the study had experienced verbal, physical, gestural and online harassment at work. She said the harassment was not limited to the workplace.

“They also encountered a lot of harassment when they went on assignments or interviewed senior government officials, MPs, even rugby celebrities or sports figures,” she said.

She said they have reasons to be reluctant to report these problems.

“They (female journalists) fear being victim-blamed and feel shamed, so many of the female journalists we spoke to in our survey said they had this mentality, they felt they didn’t know how to report the incident yet, and even if they did, they were not sure whether their organization’s complaints process or referral pathway would accept or deal with it.”

Georgina Kekea is an experienced Solomon Islands journalist and Event NewsShe conducted a survey of female journalists in newsrooms in the Solomon Islands.

“When I got the response, I thought to myself, for someone who works in this industry, it validates everything you’ve been through in your career. What we’re all going through as female journalists,” she said.

Kekea said she didn’t receive much support from her superiors in the newsroom.

“I think it’s mainly because the men who lead the team don’t understand the issues that women face, and of course, as a Melanesian society, culture plays a big role and men also face barriers when it comes to addressing women’s issues,” Kekea said.

Alex Rheeney was a news editor at the Papua New Guinea News Service The Courier and samoa observer.

He said he was not surprised by the panel’s discussions.

“Our female colleagues, our female reporters, our female broadcasters have gone through some really, really huge challenges that those of us who were journalists in the newsroom before have not experienced simply because we are male, and that is unacceptable.”

“Why are we facing these challenges today?”

He said newsrooms should have policies in place to look after the welfare and safety of women journalists.

“We just have to see the results of the investigation that is being done in Fiji.”

He commended the investigation carried out by Fiji but asked what follow-up measures should be taken in establishing a mechanism to protect women journalists.

“I remember when I was the editor of The Mail & Courier, I had to drive a female reporter to Boroka police station to apply for a restraining order against her husband.

“I personally intervened because I knew it had affected her, her children and her family.”

Rainey said the media industry needed to do more.

His personal intervention was a response to a personal problem. However, with harassment and violence against women journalists at a crisis point, the industry needs to do more.

“We can’t just sit back and wait for things to happen; we need to be proactive.”

Rainey believes the media industry across the Pacific needs to do more to protect female journalists and staff, both in newsrooms and on assignment.