Anonymity of perpetrators, attacks across borders and a lack of police awareness and reaction are among the obstacles to properly tackle cyberbullying. The Council of Europe’s conference on gender equality “Are we there yet”  held in Tallinn, Estonia, on 30 June and 1 July was an occasion to hear from various experts on how best to tackle cyber-bullying alongside a range of other key topics, including better access to justice and leadership, stereotypes in the media, sexist hate speech and gender mainstreaming. Social media offer incredible opportunities for women to express themselves. But there is also a downside to it.…

To mark the International Women’s Day on 8 March, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) partners with the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) to launch a special Women’s Reporting Point to address the growing threat facing women journalists coming from online and offline world. The Women’s Reporting Point is hosted by the ECPMF to allow victims to report threats via encrypted messaging. The report will be handled with care and confidentiality by a female member of the staff. The reports made to the ECPMF will be collected in a database (with details of the woman’s identity removed)…

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic announced to replace the Minister of Defense, Bratislav Gasic, following an offensive remark he made on a female journalists  from  B92 Television during a conference on 6 December. Gasic sparked outrage after a journalist from B92 Television knelt down in front of him to avoid being in the way of cameras as he spoke to a group of reporters during a visit to a factory on Sunday. He commented: “I like these female journalists who kneel down so easily.” The EFJ affiates (UNS, NUNS and SINOS) in Serbia immediately reacted to Gasic’s remark and called for him to…

To mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has joined European trade unionists pledging to end violence against women at workplace and in society. According to the European Trade Union Congress (ETUC), the shocking facts are that One in three women have been a victim of physical and/or sexual violence. Just over 1 in 10 of those women were assaulted by someone from work – a supervisor, colleague or customer. Up to half of women in European Union countries experience unwanted sexual advances, physical contact or other forms…

“We must support our female colleagues, defend them and make their voices heard. Harassment and abuses targeting at female journalists shall not be tolerated,” said Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, the EFJ President after the OSCE meeting on online abuses of female journalists on 17 November in Vienna. The conference has gathered international experts in the field to help increase understanding and gravity of the issue  involved best practices and possible solutions to tackle the mounting number of online threats targeting female journalists. During the meeting, experts and journalists spoke about the gravity of the issue and called for urgent action to…

Marianne Thyssen, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility told a delegation of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) on 30 January that the European Commission is taking action to better prevent and deter undeclared work and bogus self-employment which contradicts EU labour standards. The EFJ raised concerns over the complete deregulation of economic and social labour relations in journalism leading to a new precarious workforce who cannot earn a living from journalism. To give concrete examples of the situation, the EFJ delegation gave copies of  recent EFJ reports on Confronting Austerity : Financial and Employment Models…

Read the Gender Pay Gap in Journalism report

(2014 / English and Arabic) Read the IFJ Safety Guidelines for Women Journalists Working in War Zones: – English version – Arabic version

(2014 / English and French versions) Read the EFJ Policy on Sexual Harassment: English version French version