Contributing Writers: Azad Ali, Tangerine Clarke,
George Alleyne, Nelson King,
Vinette K. Pryce, Bert Wilkinson
GENERAL INFORMATION (718) 260-2500
Caribbean L 10 ife, JANUARY 10-16, 2020
UNITED NATIONS, Jan
7 2020 (IPS) - Sexual and
gender-based violence terrorizes
women and girls
around the world, affecting
as many as one in three
women. Reporters play an
essential role in bringing
these cases to light so that
authorities can take action
and prevent further abuses.
Yet reporting on genderbased
violence comes with
serious risks to survivors.
When journalists tell
these stories carelessly, or
without proper training,
they can leave survivors
feeling exploited or exposed
to stigma and retaliation.
When members of the
Yazidi community faced
targeted sexual violence
and enslavement by the
Islamic State in Iraq and
the Levant (ISIL, also
known as ISIS or Da’esh),
news reports sparked
urgent action by the international
community.
Some women hoped
sharing their stories would
help bring justice. But others
felt the reporting itself
caused harm, said Sherizaan
Minwalla, a legal
expert who has studied the
issue.
“We explored how Yazidi
women themselves felt
about the ways in which
journalists gathered and
reported on their stories,”
she explained.
“Overall, a majority of
our respondents described
experiences with, or perceptions
about, reporters
that suggested a patterned
breach in ethics among
journalists, who appeared
to disregard the extent
to which the reporting of
the story might negatively
impact highly traumatized
survivors, with further
harm to women’s individual
and collective well-being.”
But new initiatives are
aiming to help journalists
navigate the dangers
of this important reporting.
UNFPA and the Rutgers
University Center for
Women’s Global Leadership
(CWGL) are partnering to
help provide resources
and guidance to reporters,
among other efforts.
“Journalism constitutes
one of the few available
avenues for survivors’
stories to be heard,” said
Jafar Irshaidat, a UNFPA
communications specialist
in Jordan. “Unfortunately,
journalists can inadvertently
become part of the
problem.”
Irshaidat has led trainings
for journalists that
both encourage the coverage
of gender-based violence
and caution reporters
about the potential to cause
harm. These seminars use
videos and guided discussions
to explore issues of
consent, protection, retraumatization
and myths
about victims of violence.
“This training was truly
eye-opening. I was never
really exposed to information
on gender-based violence
and the sensitivities
of reporting on it,” said
Bushra Nairoukh, a reporter
in Jordan. “I feel more
responsible as a journalist
now that I have been introduced
to this important
subject.”
By Eric Adams, Brooklyn
Borough President
In the days since I spoke at
the ribbon cutting for Stonewall
House, the concerns shared by
most of my friends and allies
in the LGBTQ community can
be summed up by that sentiment.
Contentions have been
raised by my sharing intense
remarks during a joyous occasion.
I agree it’s uncomfortable
to hear tough truths at celebratory
events. Activists like Essex
Hemphill, Marsha P. Johnson,
Marlon Riggs, and Sylvia Rivera
knew this well when they
forced generations before us to
lean into our discomfort and face
challenges. We should remember
these heroes and the example
they set of bold, unapologetic
advocacy.
I recall the discomfort as a
young NYPD officer standing
with the Gay Officers Action
League (GOAL) as we pushed
for equality within the department.
That same discomfort
was present during the fight for
marriage equality in Albany —
numerous meetings and celebrations
were disrupted then by people
who knew they were fighting
for what was right.
Community residents who
spoke to me before my remarks,
and have spoken to me since,
said they feel this new building
is not for them. While they
were forced to live in substandard
conditions, with rats scurrying
around their apartments
and toxic mold blooming, they
watched as a nice building went
up a block away. This is a pain we
must collectively speak to and
resolve. That Stonewall House
also includes a new community
center makes it particularly concerning
that some community
residents feel they are on the outside
looking in.
Stonewall House sits on the
campus of NYCHA’s Ingersoll
Houses in a historically majority-
Black neighborhood that’s experienced
rapid gentrification. Seventy
seven percent of Stonewall
House residents are Black, Latino,
or Asian. Ninety-five percent
of NYCHA residents are Black,
Latino, or Asian. Just one third
of the building’s units will go to
NYCHA residents. I think we can
do better, and I’m not alone.
SAGE deserves credit for
making this project possible. I
acknowledged the importance
of this milestone moment in
my remarks and acknowledge
it today, given the significant
discrimination our LGBTQ+
seniors have faced. The issues I
raise here are not about SAGE
or its good work. There’s a larger
conversation taking place about
housing insecurity facing New
Yorkers of every age, race, and
OP-EDS
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How gender-based
violence should be
reported in the media
‘Eric, it’s not what
you said that troubles
me, it’s when, where,
how you said it’
Krishanti Dharmaraj, the executive director of CWGL,
and Dr. Natalia Kanem, executive director of UNFPA,
at the partnership signing.
UNFPA / Malene Arboe-Rasmussen
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