By Ntsoaki Masoto
MASERU
The World Food Programme (WFP) Representative to Lesotho Aurore Rusiga has acknowledged the role of the media in perpetuating and challenging social norms and behaviors that condone Gender Based Violence (GBV).
Rusinga was speaking on behalf of the United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator Amanda Mukwashi at the two day media capacity building workshop for journalists, news reporters and editors last week.
She said GBV raises difficult, norm driven questions of power, rights, and obligations. “We hosted this workshop as we believe that media can impact and contribute to the achievement of gender equality in Lesotho, because you have the power to inspire change in our communities. Media also has the power to determine whose voices are heard, when they are heard and also how they are heard,” she said.
Rusiga further informed that earlier this year, the UN stakeholders’ forum was held, where the Deputy Police Commissioner revealed harrowing statistics on GBV which again confirmed the need to urgently address GBV in Lesotho. She said the report revealed that as of January 2022, the percentage of sexual violence offenders in Lesotho prisons was 44% with some prisons like Mohale’s Hoek and Mafeteng accounting for 71% and 62% of sexual violence offenders.
She indicated that a recent Commonwealth study, which reports on The Economic Cost of Violence Against Women and Girls, has found that GBV costs Lesotho more than $113 million (about M1.9 billion) a year. She said the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the situation, with an extreme increase in domestic and sexual violence, child marriage, sexual exploitation and abuse due to economic stress, school closures and mobility restrictions. “The UN remains committed in assisting media professionals and other important stakeholders such as law enforcement authorities, the government, civil society organizations, youth groups and women in the fight against GBV,” she said.
An independent Physiotherapist Dr Paul Luanga Banda, who offers free counselling to female victims of GBV, said the survivors ought to use the media platform to share their stories and contribute in the global fight against GBV. He urged reporters to also abstain from the culture of victim blaming, which scares away many to come out.
“Telling the survivor’s story is crucial for accurate reporting and avoiding their account entirely happens too often in the media,” he said. Touching on the human rights aspects of GBV reporting, he insisted that survivors are entitled to anonymity when they are uncomfortable with revealing their identity.
Meanwhile, Lesotho Times and Sunday Express Newspaper Sub-Editor Silence Charumbira called for sensitive reporting and consent of survivors’ opinions during reporting, saying GBV involves emotional, mental and sometimes physical harm to the victims and survivors. He, therefore encouraged detailed selection of words that maintain dignity and respect for the survivors.
“It is very offensive to use the word “prostitute” when, per say, reporting about a sex worker who was harassed at work. It is our duty to also guide our subjects to use the right language in their opinions, least they degrade their dignity before the world,” he warned.
“I think a take home message is for us to go and make impactful reporting on GBV, to have more survivors boldly come out and to educate the perpetrators on the harm they course on humanity,” said Newsday Newspaper Journalist Ntsoaki Motaung in an exclusive interview with this reporter.