9 March 2005
IFEX MEMBERS MARK INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
As the world celebrated International Women's Day on 8 March, IFEX members called for the immediate release of Florence Aubenas, the French journalist who has been held hostage in Iraq for more than 60 days. Members also focused attention on the plight of seven other women who are being persecuted for defending the right to freedom of expression.
Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) are urging Aubenas' captors to release the reporter, who was last seen pleading for her life in a video released to French media in late February 2005. "My name is Florence Aubenas. My health is very bad. I'm very bad psychologically also. Please help me," Aubenas said.
Aubenas is a veteran foreign correspondent for the French daily newspaper "Libération". She and her Iraqi interpreter, Hussein Hanoun, went missing in Baghdad on 5 January.
Detained Women
RSF is also calling on the international community to campaign for the release of four women who have been detained in Iran, Rwanda, Turkey and the Maldives for expressing their views.
Profiles of the women can be viewed here: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=12765
Cyber-dissidents
The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN (WiPC) is focusing attention on female cyber-dissidents who have been persecuted for using the Internet to challenge governments. The IFEX member is inviting advocates around the world to write letters in support of Tunisian editor Sihem Bensedrine, Chinese writer Ma Yaliang and Iranian Internet writers Mahboudeh Abbasgholizadeh and Fershteh Ghazi.
Details on the cases can be found here:
- Sihem Bensedrine: http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/dev/viewArticles.asp?findID_=274
- Ma Yaliang: http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/dev/viewArticles.asp?findID_=276
- Mahboudeh Abbasgholizadeh and Fershteh Ghazi: http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/dev/viewArticles.asp?findID_=275
Dangers Facing Women Journalists
In marking International Women's Day, IFJ notes that women who work as journalists in conflict zones face unique dangers that are not properly recognised by the media industry. A recent survey by the International News Safety Institute (INSI) reveals that more than half of female war correspondents have experienced sexual harassment. A significant number said they were sexually abused.
Away from the battlefield, women journalists also face discrimination despite increasing numbers of women in the newsroom, says IFJ. "They struggle for equal pay, they are passed over for top management jobs, and they have fewer opportunities than men in a profession that remains male dominated."
Visit these links:
- Campaign to Free Aubenas and Hanoun: http://www.pourflorenceethussein.org/english/index.shtml
- IFJ: http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=2999&Language=EN
- INSI Survey: http://www.newssafety.com/stories/insi/wrw.htm
- Gender Links: http://www.genderlinks.org.za/pubs/resrepsubcat.asp?scid=3
- International Women's Media Foundation:
http://www.iwmf.org
- Women Make the News:
http://tinyurl.com/6dady
- UN: http://www.un.org/events/women/iwd/2005/
- Women Watch:
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/
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