Targeted and Silenced
Women working in the field of journalism were not exempt from the violations that affected the field. In November 2021, Rasha Al-Harazi, a journalist and media personality, was assassinated by detonating an explosive device in her car while she was on her way to the hospital in order to undergo routine examinations. before the date of birth, and her husband miraculously survived the incident. At the same time Hala Badawi remained in prison for several months under charges that went so far as to undermine her personality and dignity because she covered topics that the local authorities did not like at the time. In other governorates, female journalists were subjected to harassment while carrying out their field work, such as prevention, harassment, demanding the presence of a mahram, and even threats. By beating if you do not respond to what the aggressors see by refraining from continuing and returning to where they came from.
These Practices limit the role of female Yemeni journalists and create a number of fears. The situations did not stop there, as female journalists were also subject to general measures taken by some parties, such as preventing travel except with a mahram, restricting freedom of movement, and the necessity of obtaining written permission or signing by her guardian as well as other harassment at the level of clothing and even because of her profession, which some see as exclusively for men. This comes as a social premise based primarily on customs and traditions, which is what many are trying to copy and generalize over the entire lives of women under flimsy justifications.
This is confirmed by Khalil Kamel, managing editor of the Media Freedoms Observatory, and he adds: “Yemeni female journalists work in a very difficult environment. Through our follow-up with the Media Freedoms Observatory and our monitoring of the reality of press freedoms, it becomes clear that female journalists face systematic targeting in various ways and methods, by all parties to the conflict to varying degrees. Although their number is limited compared to the number of journalists.”
According to Kamel, since 2015 the Observatory has recorded 43 violations against female journalists, but the reality extends these numbers. Many of the violations committed against female journalists are not announced or published by female journalists for fear of their lives and reputations, which makes it difficult for the Obersvatory to monitor and document them.
The violations monitored by the Media Freedoms Observatory include arrest, verbal and physical assault, in addition to blackmail, bullying, defamation of their honor, and defamation of their reputation through various electronic and media platforms. Additionally, they encounter complex procedures in certain areas for conducting interviews or obtaining permits, even when covering non-political topics
Continuous restrictions
The current situation and its security and cultural consequences, have restricted press freedom in the country, and Yemen has become a laggard in terms of press freedom, as it is ranked 168 out of 180 countries according to Reporters Without Borders, and the International Press Federation. This has caused a number of female journalists to refrain from continuing their work or to adhere to office tasks and work at the expense of going out in the field and searching for stories with an important human and social impact, which only a female journalist can report due to social privacy and the possibility of access to more information.
The deteriorating condition has created many fears. On the psychological level, female journalists were no longer able to continue in the journalism profession as they froze their activities and worked in other professions away from accountability, persecution and abuse. While some of them chose to stop completely and remain at home as housewives out of caution.
Khalil Kamel believes that these methods, especially in Yemen, put the journalist and her family in a difficult psychological and humanitarian situation, as “society’s poor view of women, or the so-called societal customs and traditions, represents a major obstacle to female journalists to practice their journalistic work with complete freedom, which has made many female journalists stop practicing. They work remain silent and this has made the parties persist in transgressions and abuses against female journalists without fear of the consequences.”
For the journalist Samah Emlak, journalism is an exhausting profession, as it has a character different from other professions, which is what she experienced during her field work. She was even subjected to harassment and threats that extended to her family and widespread communications due to her publishing material that talks about the killing of women in honor cases.
Samah told the Yemeni Women’s Voices Platform: “I went through difficult security times. I always felt like I was being watched andfollowed. I was even tracked through my page by some security agencies and they tried to hack it. They were even able to hack into my accounts twice, and they tried to abuse and bully me.This pushed me to be stronger in terms of digital safety through several training sessions as well as through the psychological support that I received, to become able to accept, confront, and understand the nature of what is going on around me and try not to clash.”
But to this day, she still suffers from some of the consequences. She often stops before working on any idea that might lead to a clash with society or if the content of the idea might spark controversy, which causes her psychological problems as she is unable to work on some ideas, as she feels restricted.
A day of freedom
On May 3 of every year, the world commemorates World Press Freedom Day, a day designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), to commemorate the adoption of the historic Windhoek Declaration, which took place at a meeting of African journalists on May 3, 1991.
World Press Freedom Day is an opportunity to shed light on the rights of male and female journalists and the importance of working to confront the challenges that hinder their work and their smooth and safe access to information.
Yemen is living in a state of war, and male and female journalists were among those who suffered from murder, kidnapping, and forced disappearance, in addition to the cessation of number of media institutions, which led to many of them losing their jobs and the source of income that they relied on. Some journalists were forced to practice temporary professions and other work to provide support to their families and meet their basic needs.
Photo by : Nashwan Sadek