18
Botswana Guardian
female investigative
journalist Yvonne
Mooka
CREDIT: YVONNE
MOOKA via TWITTER

take advantage of their female employees due
to their privileged power positions. In August
2019, MISA Lesotho partnered with the Lesotho
National Insurance Group to launch Women
in Media Awards to recognize outstanding
female journalists and motivate them to remain
professional in their quest to challenge the status
quo of male-dominated leadership in the media.
According to the World Association of News
Publishers, gender representation in newsrooms
in Botswana has hardly improved in the past
decade. From the editorial leadership of nine
mainstream newspapers, only two women —
the editor of The Voice and managing editor of
Weekend Post — are in positions of power and
influence. The work environment is generally
not conducive for women, accentuated by low
salaries and misconceptions of labeling women
as “lazy” and unable to take on certain tasks.

in some newsrooms. Women journalists are also
prone to attacks as shown by the “manhandling”
of two female journalists, Charmaine Ngatjiheue
and Jemima Beukes by the police. These realities
are reflected in the 2020 Global Gender Gap
Report which states that “there is still a 31.4%
average gender gap that remains to be closed
globally”.
In Lesotho, the rise of sexual harassment cases
in the newsroom has been attributed to meagre
remuneration. With no minimum wage standards
for journalists, salary rates are often determined
on the strength of negotiations with the employer.
One of the female journalists interviewed for this
report stated that “women find themselves easily
sexually harassed, including by sources, because
their employers inadequately remunerate them”.
Sources often promise them stories at “private
meetings” and because of the pressures to
deliver in a male-dominated industry, they end
up in places where they can easily be harassed.
Majirata Latela, a female journalist working with
The Reporter, stated that a source once asked
her what she would “give in exchange for the
information”, but the story was later dropped after
she told her editor. Others argue that some of the
female journalists succumb to sexual advances to
“retain information channels”, while some simply
want to put food on their table, given the poor
pay of media workers.
Anna Shale, the Board Chairperson of Mose-HoSeaka community radio said some male managers

This has relegated female journalists to
entertainment reporting, while their male
colleagues are assigned politics and investigative
segments. Female journalists who disregard these
stereotypes and attempt to thrive in the maledominated sectors are more often castigated
than their male counterparts. Yvonne Mooka, a
female investigative journalist with the Botswana
Guardian was trolled and harassed online for her
expose of a “prophet”. The absence of gender
policies in media houses has further normalized
these stereotypes.

ASSESSMENT
Principle 3 of the Declaration of Principles
on Freedom of Expression and Access to
Information in Africa provides for nondiscrimination, wherein everyone has the
rights to exercise freedom of expression and
access to information without distinction
of any kind, on one or more grounds,
including race, ethnic group, colour, sex,
language, religion, political or any other
opinion, political association, national
and social origin, birth, age, class, level of
education, occupation, disability, sexual
orientation, gender identity or any other
status. Principle 7 further calls on States
to take specific measures to address the
needs of marginalised groups in a manner
that guarantees the full enjoyment of their
rights to freedom of expression and access
to information on an equal basis with
others. Marginalised groups include women
and sexual or gender minorities.
It is also incumbent upon States, as
prescribed under Principle 20, to guarantee
the safety of journalists and other media

Select target paragraph3