News

UNESCO and partners offer open online course on safety of women journalists

Globally, journalists face harassment, violence and threats every day. Women journalists face additional risks to their profession due to their gender. From newsrooms to reporting from the field, this violence can take the form of sexual harassment, assault, torture, sexual violence and being killed.
漏 Boniface Okendo Otieno
22 April 2021
Last update:20 April 2023

Women journalists are also particularly targeted in the digital sphere. In a 2020 on online violence faced by women journalists, 73% of women respondents said they had experienced online violence in the course of their work.

UNESCO, the International Women鈥檚 Media Foundation (IWMF) and University of Texas at Austin's Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas are launching a joint Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) called 鈥淗ow to Report Safely: A Guide for Women Journalists and their Allies鈥. The course, which begins on World Press Freedom Day (May 3rd), aims to address the gender dimensions of safety of journalists both online and offline and offers women journalists specialised safety training.

Led by instructor Alison Baskerville, the course is divided into four weekly modules:

  1. Introduction to safety planning, including developing a risk assessment and a communication strategy
  2. Situational awareness and personal safety, including mitigating risk in the field
  3. Harassment and gender-based violence, including how to prepare for it and how to support those experiencing it
  4. Self-care and mental wellbeing, including creating a self-care plan and peer support networks
Fostering a safe environment for women journalists to do their work is central to protecting freedom of expression and access to information. This online course, which complements UNESCO鈥檚 existing work with Member States and media organizations, will be a great space for sharing of practical tools and advice tailored to women journalists on how to stay safe.
Guilherme Canela, Chief of Section for Freedom of Expression and the Safety of Journalists, UNESCO
Having a basic safety plan will not eliminate risk, but it will mitigate the impact of the risk.
Alison Baskerville, lead inclusive safety trainer for IWMF

The course will include video lectures and interviews with guest speakers, as well as readings and handouts. Students will also participate in discussion forums and take weekly quizzes.

This free course runs from May 3rd to May 30th. Participants from any time zone can join as the course can be followed asynchronously. More information on the MOOC, including registration information and the option to receive a certificate of completion, can be found .

 Registration for the MOOC is now open.

This project has been funded by the Swedish Postcode Foundation. This MOOC is part of UNESCO鈥檚 broader work in this area which besides capacity building, includes research and awareness-raising to tackle the different aspects of offline and online violence.

UNESCO will also be launching on 30 April a discussion paper on Global trends in online violence against women journalists, which will be discussed during a session at .

  • Register to follow the session at WPFD
  • Register for the MOOC.

Related items

More on this subject

Other recent news