By ‘Dotun Akintomide
As 2019 polls beckon, media professionals practicing online have been asked to combat gender related hate speech and violence through objective and conflict sensitive reporting targeted at enhancing women participation in matters of politics and governance in the country.
At a media round table organized by International Press Centre (IPC) to examine the role of the media in combating gender related hate speech online, The New Diplomat alongside other participants and leading media experts observed that amidst immense benefits that digital connectivity offers, the online media space has been turned to a purveyor of sexist hate speeches, especially during political campaigns and elections, thereby opening the doors to new forms of oppression and violence against female politicians and voters.
In his remarks, Director, IPC, Mr. Lanre Arogundade noted that a research by Amnesty International revealed “the alarming impact that abuse and harassment on social media are having on women, with women around the world reporting stress, anxiety, or panic attacks as a result of these harmful online experiences and in so doing restricting the already limited public space afforded to women politicians.”
Executive Director, Humanity Family Foundation for Peace and Development (HUFFPED), Henry Adenigba, lamented how the online community has developed a strange tolerance for sexist hate speeches often directed at women to limit their participation in certain human endeavors.
“Gender sensitive/Sexist hate speech is often treated as a harmless and non-serious issue and women are explicitly or implicitly told to bear with it. However, not only does sexist hate speech undermine freedom of speech for women and girls, but its psychological, emotional and/or physical impacts are real and severe.”
He noted that the aim of sexist hate speech is to humiliate and damage women’s reputation; undervalue their skills and opinions to make them feel vulnerable, fearful, and to control and punish them for not following a certain behaviour.
“Sexist hate speech has the effect of silencing women, obliging them to adapt their behaviour and limit their movements and participation in diverse human activities.
“Sexist hate speech needs to be addressed by all stakeholders, including the media, the public, international organisations, law enforcement and other actors of the justice system, the private sector and civil society,” Adenigba said.
According to the Managing Online Editor, The Nation newspaper, Mr. Lekan Otufodunrin, the role of the media in remolding public opinions and views away from activities that portray women in bad light is at the core of strategies that must be adopted to develop counter-narratives against sexist behavioural patterns vis-a-vis traditional ideological beliefs.
Condemning the glorification of sexual denigration online, Otufodunrin noted that the tenets of conflict sensitive reporting, demands “journalists to refrain from making pejorative reference to a person’s sex, ethnic group, religion, physical or any mental illness.” Instead, he called on journalists to stick to the facts in a story and not some trivial issues around women or characters in the heart of stories the media is investigating.
Speaking on stereotypes against women and emerging trends, Editor, Health Style Plus Online, Mrs. Yinka Shokunbi, explained that the often showcasing of women as the faces of poverty, diseases and hopelessness by politicians during campaigns is a narrative that must be countered by telling the stories of how women who are empowered are changing the world.
Shokunbi reiterated that the media should emphasize on how practical education and equal access for all women to resources, opportunities and public services like their male counterparts would further deepen Nigeria’s democracy and governance, rather than dwelling so much on such stereotypes that mirror women as sex symbols, dancing queens and sundry demeaning roles, with a view to cast aspersions on women’s ability to take up leadership roles in the society.
“Whenever there is the need to show the face of poverty, it’s often the picture of a woman beaten out by disease and violence. Yes, women bear the brunt of poverty the most; but the narrative need to explore how women who are empowered are changing the world today.
“Rather than report women as greedy, reports should centre on the dominating nature of culture which take advantage of poor education level of many women and so, advocacy must be on how the country nay world would be a better place with more girls’ education,” she said.
While calling on the Nigerian public to do more in giving robust financial support to women seeking elective positions in next year’s general elections, Shokunbi challenged women in politics not to promote female aspirants using mundane criteria, but to identify the right women who understand what the issues are and how to proffer pragmatic solutions to them.
