Acknowledging the interdependence of fundamental human rights, ARTICLE 19´s report Pioneering Women’s Voices: A Celebration of Women’s Journalism Across the Globe, looks at freedom of expression and access to information as essential components of broader freedoms such as the right to political participation. The report, published to coincide with International Women´s Day on 8 March, looks at women and journalism, documenting how their work and identities are shaped by many, often competing issues –including age, class, religion and political affiliation. As the study illustrates, there is no one single story that speaks on behalf of all women.

Philippa Nicholson reports on the work of very different women

Bushra Yousif
With the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, Bushra Yousif was looking forward to a new era of free media in Iraq. Instead she found herself living in the world’s most dangerous country for journalists.  According to a report by Reporters Without Borders, more than sixty media workers were killed in Iraq in 2006 alone.  As editor of Noon magazine, Yousif often reported on women’s issues until the deteriorating security situation compelled her to narrow her field of interest. After receiving a series of threatening letters, she decided that the safety of her family required her to leave Iraq.

However, she continues to work for Noon from outside the country, campaigning to raise awareness of women’s rights and to ensure that the rights enjoyed by Iraqi women for decades are enshrined in the new constitution and laws. The endless violations of women’s rights as a result of continuous wars, economic and social deprivation and the recent rise in extremism have led Yousif to question the appropriateness of celebrating International Women’s Day ‘when women’s rights are abused daily?.

Jacqueline Ann Surin
More positive about the future of women’s rights is Jacqueline Ann Surin, assistant news editor of the Malaysian daily, the Sun .  Jacqueline discovered the power of the written word at a young age when she frequently wrote letters on behalf of her mother.  As she grew up her belief in the ‘e´empowering quality of journalism to bring about change? drew her to a career in journalism.

However, being a journalist in Malaysia is not an easy career path and Surin often finds her desire to bring about change inhibited by harsh legislation and policies.  She and the journalists she works with have often had to censor their work for fear of being shut down.  Topics such as race relations and the relationship between Islam and politics are particularly sensitive and handled with caution.  In a recent and courageous open letter to the Malaysian Prime Minister, Jacqueline asks, ‘By continuously telling Malaysians these issues are “sensitive” and “dangerous”, isn´t your administration really creating a self-fulfilling prophecy? Aren´t you in fact supporting the argument that these issues should not be discussed?? 

Surin´s worrying prognosis is supported by an ARTICLE 19 base-line report released in December 2005 which concludes that the lack of free expression in Malaysia is not only the result of restrictive legislation but also of the culture of passivity that such legislation has engendered.
“The vast majority of journalists, editors, commentators and politicians accept the existing conditions, even as they fall victim to their restrictions and absurdities. Well-paid journalists, having put up with a restrictive environment for decades, rarely rock the boat. Thus, the Malaysian media seldom make international headlines. Journalists are not murdered, and until recently, very few were attacked as a result of their professional activities. The everyday indignities they do suffer fail to make the headlines. All this has contributed to a culture where freedom of expression and information are devalued?

Nevertheless, Surin has noticed a gradual improvement in the situation of women journalists in Malaysia throughout her thirteen years of experience.  ‘Perhaps one of the key agents of change?, she says, ‘has been the fact that the media themselves highlight women’s issues more frequently, and women’s organisations are increasingly finding space to voice their concerns in the media?.  Jacqueline herself uses her bi-weekly column ‘Shape of a Pocket? to explore and debate Islam and race relations from a gender-perspective.

It is in this spirit of hope for the future of women’s freedom of expression that ARTICLE 19 chose to honour the work of Yousif, Surin and other inspiring female journalists and to join their voices in calling for greater respect of women’s rights and gender equality worldwide.

http://www.article19.org/pdfs/publications/2007-women-s-day.pdf
http://www.rsf.org/country-43.php3?id_mot=616&Valider=OK
http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=14290
http://www.suaram.net/FOE-Baseline-Study.pdf

To read some of Jacquline’s articles go to
http://www.sun2surf.com/section.cfm?id=389