Reporting on Violence against Women and Girls A Handbook for Journalists Published in 2019 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 7, place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP, France ©UNESCO 2019 ISBN 978-92-3-100349-3 This publication is available in Open Access under the Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (CC-BY-SA 3.0 IGO) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/). By using the content of this publication, the users accept to be bound by the terms of use of the UNESCO Open Access Repository (http://en.unesco.org/open- access/terms-use-ccbysa-en). Original title Informer sur les violences à l’égard des filles et des femmes : manuel pour les journalistes. Published in 2019 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The ideas and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author; they are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization. Author: Anne-Marie Impe Editor: Mirta Lourenço Cover illustration: LanaBrest / iStock/Getty Images Plus Graphic design and layout: ©Strategic Agenda UK Ltd Printed in France The translation to English of this handbook was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO. Foreword In the age of digital, democratic, societal and political change, communication has become a crucial means of conveying revolutionary ideas and initiatives, capable of creating communities that are stronger, better informed and more engaged than ever before. The emergence of ethical journalism has become central to all newsrooms and is the cornerstone of a news journalism that supports society’s development. In the wake of these changes, the issue of gender is inseparable from progress and ethical journalism. Addressing gender-based violence means addressing a subject that concerns humanity in its entirety. Reflecting on biased representations,stereotypes, prejudices and violence against women and girls means taking part in change so that, finally, this violence is covered in the media in a way that fully reflects the concerns of our societies. This is undoubtedly an ambitious objective for a handbook, but given the scale of this scourge, it is becoming important to cover gender-based violence issues, in order to help the media to better understand the scale and consequences of this violence on the people directly concerned: girls, boys, women, the LGBTI community,1 women journalists, etc. Violence against girls and women knows no geographical boundaries. Although the risk of suffering violence is higher for poor or marginalized women, gender-based violence is not a feature specific to any particular culture, religion or social class. Moreover, this violence is not always an expression of male domination. In some circumstances, it is perpetrated by women. Gender-based violence takes several forms: sexual assaults, so-called ‘honour’ crimes, female foeticides, female genital mutilation (FGM), sexual harassment, forced or early marriages, trafficking in persons, violence in times of conflict, etc. While putting together this handbook, an analysis of selected press articles and television and radio reports revealed the need to assist the media in improving the coverage of such crucial and unjust issues as violence against women and girls. In order to provide concrete examples and case studies, the topics covered had to be carefully selected. This handbook does not seek to provide an exhaustive and complete analysis 1 Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons. of the subject of violence, but it does intend to help radio, television, press and social media professionals determine which channels of investigation and information would be relevant and ethical. It therefore provides working media professionals and those already involved in ethical journalism with recommendations and examples of good practice to help them make the right choices in media coverage of such an important topic of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In terms of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 on gender equality, progress has been made. Nevertheless, women and girls continue to suffer from discrimination and violence, while media coverage of the issue does not reflect the reality and extent of this scourge. The media can create the right conditions to neutralize this violence and combat it through articles and by taking a committed civic stance. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) therefore wished to publish this handbook in order to provide journalists and other media professionals with explanations, definitions, statistical data and, above all, resources and advice so that from now on these issues are treated as violations of fundamental rights. Saniye Gülser Corat Moez Chakchouk Director, Assistant Director-General Division for Gender Equality, for Communication and Office of the Director-General Information UNESCO UNESCO Table of contents Introduction 8 1. Ten specific themes (in alphabetical order) 15 1.1. Cyberbullying and online harassment of women journalists 18 1.2. Early marriages or child marriages 30 1.3. Female genital mutilation/cutting 37 1.4. Forced marriages 47 1.5. Gender-specific foeticide and infanticide 53 1.6. Sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape 59 1.7. So-called ‘honour’ crimes 68 1.8. Trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants 73 1.9. Violence against women in conflicts 82 1.10. Violence by an intimate partner or ex-partner and domestic murders 94 2. How should the subject be addressed, framed and covered? 107 2.1. General recommendations 109 2.1.1 Talk about it! 109 2.1.2. Treat gender-based violence as a violation of human rights and no longer as an isolated incident 110 2.1.3. Explain the context 111 2.1.4. Be careful with vocabulary 112 2.1.5. Pay attention to headings 113 2.1.6. Analyse statistics and surveys with caution 113 2.1.7. Describe reality while avoiding sensationalism 115 2.1.8. Limit the use of hidden cameras and other undercover methods 115 2.1.9. Reject language that ‘lectures’ or could incite judgment 116 2.1.10. Avoid secondary victimization and portray survivors as resilient 117 2.1.11. Think about the order of topics, links and context 118 2.1.12. Practise service and solutions journalism 119 2.1.13. Take enough time before, during and after reporting 120 2.1.14. Gain an understanding to help others understand 121 2.1.15. Rebalance information to improve gender equality 121 2.2. What gender should the reporter be? 123 2.3. How should an interview be conducted? 124 2.3.1. Respect the rights and dignity of survivors 125 2.3.2. Ensure the safety of interviewees 126 2.3.3. Obtain informed consent 128 2.3.4. Adopt an attitude of active, attentive and non-judgmental listening 129 2.3.5. Choose the interview location carefully 130 2.3.6. Be sensitive to and respect cultural differences 130 2.3.7. Choosing the right interpreter 131 2.3.8. Meet with associations on the ground 131 2.3.9. Do not allow technology to take over from humans 132 2.3.10. Ask questions that will help explain the context 132 2.3.11. Finish an interview well 134 2.3.12. Interviews with children 134 2.4 Which images should be chosen? 136 International declarations, resolutions and conventions 140 Index 143 Acronyms 147 Reporting on Violence against Women and Girls: A Handbook for Journalists 8 Introduction ■ Worldwide, nearly one in three women (30 per cent) have experienced physical or sexual violence at some point in their lives committed by their intimate partners, and 7 per cent have experienced sexual assault by another person.2 ■ 38 per cent of all murders of women are committed by (ex-) intimate partners.3 ■ At least 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone FGM in 30 countries.4 ■ More than 126 million girls are ‘missing’ worldwide due to prenatal sex selection.5 ■ 99 per cent of victims of forced labour in the sex industry are women and girls.6 ■ 84 per cent of forced marriages and 96 per cent of early marriages involve girls and women.7 The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda) SDG 5 calls on all countries to make gender equality the foundation of a peaceful world.8 Violence against women is not a minor issue, only worthy of being reported as a short news item or ‘in other news’. These are not isolated ‘incidents’, private family matters or sacrosanct ‘local customs’, but rather very serious societal problems. Acid attacks, so-called ‘honour’ crimes, incest, gender-specificinfanticide and foeticide, early and/or forced marriages, FGM, rape, domestic violence and (online) harassment are gender- based violence. They are based on a patriarchal system that establishes relationships of power and domination between men and women. “Recognizing that violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women, which have led to domination over and discrimination against women by men and to the prevention of the full advancement of women,” the Declaration on 2 World Health Organization (WHO), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and South African Medical Research Council, Global and Regional Estimates of Violence against Women: Prevalence and Health Effects of Intimate Partner Violence and Non-partner Sexual Violence, Geneva, 2013. https://www. who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/violence/9789241564625/en/ 3 Ibid. 4 https://www.unicef.org/media_25228.html 5 United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Gender-biased sex selection, 23 July 2018, https://www.unfpa.