Yaounde, Cameroon Africa. (Cameroon News) – Reporters Without Borders says that women are still not given the importance they deserve in the news reporting business.

The entire world speaks about gender equality and equal opportunities for both sexes and the press is equally vocal about such a cause. But surprisingly there seems to be more words than action in the newsroom as far as female presence and equal opportunity goes.

The newsroom is still dominated by men if a recent report released by Reporters Without Borders –an organization that works towards global press freedom can be trusted.

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The reports indicate that though many journalists who belong to the fairer sex have been involved in bringing up to date and precise news to the forefront and in spite of the fact that numerous women take up journalism and press reporting as professions there are very few women who have been able to make it big here.

In fact there are just a handful of women who have been able to occupy top level editorial and executive positions as the study undertaken by Reporters Without Borders reveal and it proves that this is still very much a Mans World.

The conditions of women journalists and the treatment meted out to them , be it in the most developed economies or the still struggling economies are quite deplorable.

The groups has asked for equality by which they indicate that they would like to see more women in the newsroom “for proper coverage of the hidden half of humanity”–in its report titled, “News Media:

A Men’s Preserve that is Dangerous for Women,” released at just the right occasion on the day that has been set aside to celebrate the magic of womanhood- International Women’s Day, March 8.

Women journalists are in no way inferior and “have the ability to deal with aspects to which men do not have access,” the report said.

It also emphasized that research undertaken in the area have proven that there is very little reference to women in media, and most of the coverage showcases women in a “very conventional if not degrading image.”

As the world moves towards progress in many countries more and more women are being inducted into the business of reporting and the female presence is slowly picking up in the field.

There are many newspapers and news channels that are slowly realizing the potential of their female staff and are giving the importance and recognition that they need, but there are still very few women out there who have been able to make it to the top.

But the story is drastically different in other countries. Countries like Cameroon and Nigeria still treat their female reporters in a very deplorable manner and there are similar stories in other parts of Africa, as well.

The report has Cameroon journalists Rosine Nkonla Azanmene and Agnes Taile talking about their horrifying experiences and says that sexual harassment and molestation is nothing new in the country.

In Afghanistan, women “are excluded from television…The few women working as journalists in Afghanistan are regarded as worthless sluts,” said Anne Nivat, a French war correspondent.

In countries such as Cameroon, Rwanda, Eritrea, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan Iran, China, Vietnam, and Thailand which are still under dictatorial regime are the most difficult environment for female reporters to survive.

The journalists who thrive here have horrendous stories to say of not just physical torture , but also of prison sentences and assault in the hands of the law and lawmakers for having reported genuinely.

Challenges of reporting and campaigning

“Journalism and social activism often go hand in hand,” the report said.

When women journalists openly express their contempt and aggression towards the treatment given to them and the discrimination that they face, and request for press freedom, they are immediately branded as rebels by dictatorial governments.

This is evident in stories shared by women reporters in Iran, Cuba, and Tunisia.

In the Philippines, however, being a woman journalist does have its share of advantages, as Newsbreak board chairperson Marites Dañguilan Vitug reveals.

“I would say that as a woman I have a certain facility for doing this job. People trust me more readily, I get information more easily than I think my male colleagues do,” she said in the report.

This may be a one odd case, and an indication that there is hope for the female journalist fraternity in the future. But in most countries across the globe, though, many women journalists are requesting for protection and calling for rights, there is so much fear in their minds that many are maltreated , arrested and even forced to go into exile or flee from their homelands just for having spoken the truth.

Reporters Without Borders have on the basis of the report chalked out their priorities. They have been listed as follows:

• determining a safe and protected shelter for journalists who have been physically threatened
• sensitizing authorities and making them more aware of problems that female journalists face, and
• asking for more employment opportunities for women in media.

Safe shelter

A Residence for Women Journalists is in the pipeline and will soon be set up in Dijon in Burgundy, France to provide a shelter for protection of women refugee journalists.

Reporters Without Borders also calls upon for focused programs for the protection of women journalists, more synergy between women’s rights organizations and press freedom organizations, homes and shelters for women journalists, financial and physical aid for organizations giving journalism training especially for women, and creation of women journalists’ associations.