UGANDA | WOMEN VOICES | ACME

March 8 is a day that reminds us, and most importantly, women, of the accomplishments and a great milestone on the journey to equity for women.

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day was “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”

During a special gathering of women in media and communication intended to align and amplify actions on women's right to free expression, female journalists were sensitized to defend fellow women’s voices online and offline.

Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights outlines the human rights of all people, “without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinions, national or social origin, property, birth or another status”.

However, gender-based violence, hate speech and disinformation are being used extensively online and offline to mute women’s expression.

A 2022 study by UNESCO on global gender equality and media regulation revealed that nearly three-quarters of women journalists have been subjected to online abuse, harassment, attacks, and threats, which have sometimes spilled over to violence offline.

“ACME recognizes the work of multiple groups in contributing to discussion, debate, and solutions to enhance women’s freedom of expression. The purpose of this gathering is to ‘align and act’ by building partnerships among key players and strengthening pathways to increase knowledge and awareness of gendered freedom of expression violations,” Dr. George William Lugalambi, the ACME executive director, said.

In her speech, Zahara Nampewo, the Deputy Principal School of law at Makerere University, noted that women are less represented than men either as news subjects or reporters, and face problems with access to promotion and career development. 

“They suffer cultural and sexist attitudes from their male colleagues. This minimal representation of females or female stories further preserves the status quo –where female journalists feature in areas closely associated with their domestic roles as mothers, housewives, and caregivers, reporting on ‘soft’ news areas such as family life, gender, children, leisure, health, and education while men take on the hard stuff -politics, war, crime, business, the economy, and sports., Dr. Nampewo said.

Dr. Nampewo also noted that the use of internet-powered computer communications created opportunities for human development through the rapid sharing of news. However, it also remains a double-edged sword for many female journalists based on the very fact that it has been built, anchored, and largely governed by patriarchal systems of dominance, making it very difficult for women to maneuver through.

She noted that women need to prompt the use of the existing legal frameworks to eliminate negative female stereotypes in the media that perpetuate discrimination against women and undermine gender equality generally, in all spheres – education, economic empowerment, and leadership.

“Media houses should observe gender principles, by having gender policies because the protection of female journalists requires an institutional approach that needs to be reflected in every organizational setup,” Dr. Nampewo said.

Addressing female journalists, Brenda Namata, communication and Advocacy officer at Uganda Women’s Media Association, said that both men and women need to be trained on gender equality and respect for human rights, but specifically training for women on self-protection mechanisms.

“We need to empower men to be gender-responsive to promote workspaces that are safe for women journalists. This is because men trivialize issues that affect women journalists.” Namata said.

Namata noted that women in the media need to be deliberate in creating a feminist internet that works to empower everyone in their diversities, creates equal power relations and dismantles patriarchy in all of its forms, and places more feminists and marginalized groups at the decision-making tables.