Online harassment: experience of female journalists of Nepal
Abstract
This research is about the experience of online harassment of women journalists in Nepal. It aimed to find the forms of online harassment that women journalists have faced, and how it hampered them personally and professionally. Additionally, it also sheds light on the measures used by female journalists and media organizations to address online harassment in Nepal. To accomplish the research, in-depth interviews were taken with 15 people. Of which 10 were female journalists and 5 were owners of the media organization of Nepal. The findings reveal that women journalists witness a significant number of online harassment in various forms like online stalking, sexual and gender-based online violence, intimidation, and manipulation, privacy breaches, account hacking, etc. This harassment has led many victims to change their way of using social media and online platforms. As a result, women journalists have become unwantedly more cautious about writing and speaking about certain topics that trigger the harassers like equality, political issues, etc. Most of the interviewed women journalists replied they didn’t speak immediately after the incidents happened due to fear of victim blaming and chances of losing their jobs and reputations. However, two female journalists filed a case against harassers who encouraged everyone to speak out and share about the situation. Both media owners and women journalists say, that if they try to speak out against harassment, many positive helpful hands come to support them. Online harassment poses a significant challenge to women journalists in Nepal, impacting their freedom and safety online, the willingness to confront and discuss these issues openly has the potential to foster a supportive environment. However, there is a critical need for enhanced resources and education on digital safety and privacy to effectively combat online harassment.