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The war in Ukraine is the most recent and explosive example in a wider trend of backsliding of democracy that is taking a toll on women and their inherent rights.

Even before this conflict, speeches, statements, and media content that reinforce gender inequality had increasingly become a political tool used to gain popular support, further undermining women’s rights.

Newsrooms already reflected this power imbalance, and COVID-19 only exacerbated the problem.

Now, as the war grinds on, we know that female journalists are at higher risk – and often at even greater disadvantage in their newsrooms than before.

Surveys have shown that women in the newsroom, particularly those with child care responsibilities, were already at a greater disadvantage. They report unequal pay, unequal hiring and promotions processes, and discriminatory allocation of work.

War and displacement will only exacerbate and entrench these inequalities.

All journalists, but particularly women, may become targets of misinformation, online abuse and hacking. Violence can be indiscriminate, most journalists are working without protective equipment, and some journalists have been killed already in this conflict.

Deeply rooted gender norms mean that there is an expectation that women take on household and child-caring responsibilities. In many parts of the world, if women aim for a career in journalism, this is considered by their families and wider society as an “extra”. This was particularly evident during lockdowns. “If something has to give, the career of the woman had to be dropped first,” said one Ukrainian female journalist we worked with.

Today, many women working in media in Ukraine find themselves torn between risking their lives to stay and do their jobs, or take their families and flee. Men of fighting age are not legally permitted to leave Ukraine. The impact will be years of family separation, career disruption, higher rates of poverty and ill health.

Women who were professionals in Ukraine may find themselves in lower paid or more menial jobs outside their home country. We are hearing first-hand accounts of senior female journalists and editors having to leave their city or even their country with their children, alone – this will have a tremendous impact on both their futures, and on the quality and range of coverage their media houses are able to produce.

This threatens newsroom equality in the longer term. Even before the conflict, Ukrainian female journalists told us that sometimes they had to miss training if it required travel, due to their child-caring responsibilities, putting them at further disadvantage compared to their male colleagues. This becomes an even more critical issue if it means missing important physical and online safety briefings that could make all the difference to their security.

Media organisations at home and internationally should actively reach out to female journalists ensuring they do not miss out on opportunities to help ensure they can cover the news safely.

Female journalists’ perspectives matter, particularly during war time

Our research also tells us that female journalists were already often prevented from covering subjects considered the exclusive domain of male journalists – such as politics and, now, conflict. They may be pigeonholed in journalism roles, more often covering topics of a social nature or that are otherwise considered “feminine”. This is deeply problematic and leads to an absence of women’s voices and perspectives on issues that directly and indirectly influence their rights. How events affect women, and what information they need in order to respond, is a critical component of coverage in any crisis.

There is a need for both media organisations and donors to better protect and support women in their journalism careers - now and in the future.

There are few genuine due processes for recourse, if women are harassed or otherwise have their rights infringed in the workplace. An estimated half of female journalists in Ukraine have faced sexual harassment in the workplace, mostly perpetrated by their colleagues and contributors through sexual jokes and verbal sexual abuse. This can only be expected to increase in times of high pressure and real risk.

Female journalists say that gender equality is still often perceived as a donor requirement or tick-box exercise, rather than a pillar of achieving effective democratic governance and social equity.

Media representatives we work with say it can be difficult to engage women in leadership roles in the newsroom, and there is a lack of support and mentorship to help women to tackle challenges and discrimination. Many female media practitioners remain at a junior or editor level, with correspondingly lower pay grades. Progress was stunted by COVID-19, and will be more so by the current war, leaving staff with less time for conversations about career progression and how to address the gender gap.

In the long term, newsrooms and donors need to ensure they are creating an environment in which women can fully participate in the workforce and in public discourse.

Both male and female journalists and media practitioners can bring gender concerns and analysis into topics and stories they cover. Policies to support and help protect female journalists, and ensure they are treated fairly in the workplace, will enable women in the newsroom to thrive, to raise social concerns and bring their own perspective to issues.

First COVID-19, and now the current crisis, have put many women’s livelihoods and economic security at risk – in journalism as well as in other sectors. Restoring these livelihoods, empowering them to return to the workforce, and allowing their issues to be better represented in the media will all be essential.

How women are represented in media is also important. Content that is stereotypical, sensational, or lacking in professional and ethical standards can further restrict women’s freedoms and increase their sense of insecurity and vulnerability.

Now and in the longer term, donors should consider the following in support for independent media:

• Ensure female journalists are equally included in all safety briefings, actively reach out to them and ensure they have protective equipment to help them to cover the war safely;
• Support the creation of internal policies ensuring gender equality and protection achieving the highest possible standards of fairness, clarity, and transparency. This includes policies for sexual harassment, and the use of gender quotas in recruitment;
• Support the creation of gender policies aimed at improving balance and representation in content to help uphold the rights of women and girls during the conflict;
• Provide training, mentoring, and networking opportunities to female journalists and media practitioners, to help mitigate the disadvantages they face in accessing senior and decision making levels.
• Ensure efforts are made to reach out to, and understand caring responsibilities of, female journalists, and how they could be supported through funding and when organising workshops and training.
• Use a solidarity-based approach that positions men and women as agents of change, and include men in the debate.

Across all of our training and mentoring work with public interest media, Â鶹ԼÅÄ Media Action aims to improve the balance and participation of men and women. We mentor female journalists in senior positions at partner media outlets to enable them to successfully navigate change and reforms within their organisation. And a cross-cutting theme is ensuring that media content is inclusive, considering the need to tell the stories of those who are misrepresented or less represented in the media, and to uphold their rights.

With public interest media under threat around the world, we are committed to continuing our efforts to ensure that women’s voices are meaningfully represented - throughout media organisations, and in the content they produce – to properly reflect the audiences they serve.

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