Barriers to women journalists in Rwanda

THE PATTERNS OF gendered experiences that have led to barriers of entry and progression for respondents of the study in Rwanda, compared to an earlier study conducted by Fojo and AWiM across 17 African countries, further demonstrates how many of these experiences are shared irrespective of the country. In the case of Rwanda, a country that scores highly in the shares of seats in parliament and labour force participation within the global gender equality indices, the results are perhaps more surprising for that reason. The situation in Rwanda, when compared with data from sub-Saharan Africa, shows a similarity in barriers faced by women journalists, namely poor salaries, sexual harassment, and gendered roles at the workplace. Therefore, these findings, in some respects, highlight that the existence of written and well-defined gender policies does not result in their successful implementation because Rwanda is still a long way from gender equality.

The results of this study, on the one hand, speak for themselves; training and education on gender equality would go a long way in successfully addressing many of the experiences shared by study participants. On the other hand, socio-cultural tensions surrounding the role of women in society further complicate how male colleagues perceive women's rights and their importance. These tensions also highlight women’s rights and how society treats women journalists. Finally, this study outlines the extent to which women journalists in Rwanda themselves recognise gender discrimination and harassment when they experience them, because the data shows that whilst most women can identify when sexual harassment happens to them, there are few women who are unable to identify certain forms of sexual harassment.

This study, therefore, offers a clear starting point for organisations tasked with motivating and implementing change. It helps to identify the pain points from the perspective of the women journalists they seek to support. The recommendations presented by the study stems from their lived experiences, and it is through the conscious and reflective interrogation of this, that we can truly set the path towards change.