Women journalists are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to online attacks, a study by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation and International Centre for Journalists has found.
The three-year global study on gender-based online violence against women journalists sampled 1,100 across 15 countries.
Twelve per cent said they had sought medical or psychological help for the effects of online violence, while some were suffering from online violence-induced PTSD.
Further, the study found that online attacks had taken its toll on the mental health of many women journalists that they were seeing therapists.
Seventy-three per cent of those interviewed reported having experienced online violence in the course of their work. The study interviewed women journalists from Kenya, Nigeria, South, Lebanon, Tunisia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Poland, Serbia, Brazil and Mexico.
They also sampled some from Sweden, the United States and the United Kingdom. The attacks came in the form of image-based abuse, including manipulating their photos or videos, stealing their images and sharing explicit images publicly without their permission.
Some were victims of ‘deep fakes’ whereby perpetrators generated manipulated videos—often associated with fake porn—to taint their reputation.
Of concern is that much online violence targeting women journalists occurs in the shadows of the Internet, away from the public view.
The study found that almost half (48 per cent) of the women journalists were harassed with unwanted private social media messages. They also experienced offline stalking, which had begun online via direct messaging.
These attacks negatively impacted the women journalists, with 38 per cent saying they made themselves less visible, missed work to recover (11 per cent), quit their jobs (four per cent) or abandoned journalism altogether (two per cent).
The study calls on multinational technology companies to overhaul business models and algorithms that have been found to drive hate online. It also calls on law enforcement agencies to develop gender-sensitive digital investigation capabilities to curb the violence.
“States need to take action to protect women journalists from online abuse, harassment and threats, recognising the risks posed to their safety and press freedom,” the researchers recommend.
There are, however, resources for empowering women journalists to protect themselves from online violence and cyberattacks.
A consortium of media rights organisations, including Twaweza Communications, has developed a protection guide for journalists in Kenya. The guide provides tips on how to secure oneself in the online and offline space.
Google, too, has launched an anti-online violence application, Harassment Manager, a web application that allows users to document and manage online abuse. They can filter the attacks.
