Feminist Peace Network

I just came across an interesting piece in the May/June issue of the Columbia Journalism Review that talks about female journalists who are sexually assaulted while doing their job.

“The only attempt to quantify this problem has been a slim survey of female war reporters published two years ago by the International News Safety Institute, based in Brussels. Of the twenty-nine respondents who took part, more than half reported sexual harassment on the job. Two said they had experienced sexual abuse. But even when the abuse is rape, few correspondents tell anyone, even friends. The shame runs so deep–and the fear of being pulled off an assignment, especially in a time of shrinking budgets, is so strong–that no one wants intimate violations to resound in a newsroom.”

Gives one pause to wonder how this situation impacts how journalists cover sexual abuse and rape stories. While this is generally a good piece about a subject that needs to be addressed, I do take issue with the following wording of Judith Matloff’s piece:

“In the cases that I know of, the journalists did nothing to provoke the attacks; they behaved with utmost propriety, except perhaps for one bikini-clad woman who was raped by a hotel employee while sunbathing on the roof in a conservative Middle Eastern country.”

Memo to Ms. Matloff: Sexual violence is not the fault of the victim. Ever. Even when she is wearing clothing that is inappropriate for the setting. Rape and assault are acts of criminal behavior and the blame is solely that of the perpetrators.

Filed under: Uncategorized, Atrocities