Sexual harassment in newsrooms was one of the major topics of discussion on the first day of the Africa Women in Media conference which began in Nairobi on Thursday.
Various speakers and contributors shared their experiences and called for a break in the silence and stoppage of the act.
Read below some of the tweets on the issue:
+”Sexual Harassment remains the biggest elephant in the room in all our media houses. The bosses are aware but have less to do. Where is the evidence? No confidentiality, many times the survivors are stigmatised” @janegodia
+If a journalist doesn’t give in to sexual harassment, she is called ‘primitive’. Here is good news for you, ‘remain #primitive but #principled’
+Did you know that sexual harassment is not about sex? Yeah, it’s about power – @WomenInNews
+What can we do to prevent sexual harassment?
Jane Godia: We must first start having conversations.
@janegodia @CultonScovia
READ ALSO: Advice for women in media: Showcase your talents, don’t limit yourselves
+Somebody who is being sexually harassed doesn’t want to leave home for work. Media houses should put measures to stop the vice, commit to establishing a practical sexual harassment policy & educate managers on sexual harassment @janegodia
+”The first thing media houses should do is 2 commit 2 zero tolerance to sexual harassment, commit to establishing a sexual harassment policy that won’t only be kept in the shelf, remove a hostile environment. its time 2 act NOW, we must stop sexual harassment” @janegodia
+@janegordia Sexual harassment has a financial cost to media houses – lose staff, lose reputation. Need a policy, and need to implement it. Train managers, make all employees aware
+Sexual harassment in newsrooms is not a foreign problem. Unfortunately, it’s rarely reported.
+Panel discussion on sexual harassment. Breaking the silence. Media doesn’t talk about this frequently. #AWiM19 Discussion happening now in African women in media conference .@GenderMonitorRw @ArfemRwanda @RwandaGender @ProfemmesTH @biolaa1 @RMC_Rwanda @paxpressrwanda @arjrwanda
+#AWiM19 Four types of workplace man – The tight hugger, the cheek kisser, the fist pump guy, and the head massager. And the handshaker #breakingthesilence
+Bosses always ask for evidence of sexual harassment from victims, should women wear body cams to capture evidence? Some of this harassment is verbal, shall we start walking with recorders?
+Women in higher positions in a newsroom should speak up against sexual harassment so as to inspire those under their supervision to do the same.
+2017 64pc of African women in Media said they had been verbally sexually harassed at work. Women in News programme offers training module for media houses
+#AWiM19 Breaking the silence. Media don’t talk about Sexual Harassment frequently, lack of evidence is still a big issue @ArfemRwanda @WomenInNews @WomenNMedia
They ask “why do you take things so seriously. “ and then add “but I was just joking”
