On May 28, the NGO “Women in Media,” in partnership with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy (MCIP), the Ukrainian Women Lawyers Association “JurFem,” and the National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (Suspilne), held an online training session titled “Gender Sensitivity in the Print Media from Deoccupied and Frontline Areas.”
This training was intended for print media from the Kherson, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, and Dnipropetrovsk regions, although all interested media professionals, regardless of media type or region, were welcome to join.
Hanna Krasnostup, Director of the Department of Information Policy and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy (MCIP), welcomed the participants of the training and emphasized the importance of press work in deoccupied and frontline areas. She also shared information about the newspapers currently published under the patronage of MCIP: Hryvnia for the Kherson region, Slobidsky Krai for the Kharkiv region, MYH for the Zaporizhzhia region, Mykolaiv News for the Mykolaiv region, and Visti Prydniprov’ya for the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Kristyna Kit, a lawyer and head of the NGO “Ukrainian Women Lawyers Association ‘YurFem,'” spoke about covering crimes of gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). She emphasized that victims of sexual violence suffer the most from its psychological impact. When commenting on their traumatic experiences, victims often mention feelings of shame and guilt, anxiety, low self-esteem, and fear of future violence against themselves or their loved ones.
“When preparing a report, the key question should be ‘why.’ The published material should bring benefits, not create a ‘hype’ around the topic or increase media coverage,” Kristyna Kit stressed.
Nastya Ivantsiv, a reporter for Suspilne, shared her own experience of working with sensitive topics. She advised participants to read and watch quality, accurate materials from their colleagues to learn from them. She specifically mentioned an article by Mariya Semenchenko from November 24, 2021, which won the “Honor of the Profession” competition in the “Women in Media” category – “He said I was hitting myself.” How the Holy Olga Shelter helps women and children affected by domestic violence, as well as the article “‘Fear Still Remains’: Ukraine Finds Sexual Crimes Where Russian Troops Ruled” from the New York Times.
Liza Kuzmenko, head of the NGO “Women in Media” and a member of the Commission on Journalistic Ethics, spoke about the Global Code of Conduct for those gathering and using information about systematic sexual violence in conflict settings, known as the Murad Code. She also discussed the NGO “SEMA Ukraine,” a community of women who, after experiencing sexual and gender-based violence in the Russian-Ukrainian war, transformed their traumatic experiences into post-traumatic growth.
Participants received certificates of participation and materials needed to prepare content related to sexual and gender-based violence in conflict settings.
“Thank you for the training and materials. Very informative. Although it’s daunting to tackle such topics in hyperlocal media,” – Tetiana Lohvyna, Visti Zmiivshchyny newspaper, Kharkiv region.
“I want to thank you again for the very important topic, the comprehensive program, and the friendly atmosphere at the training!” – Halyna Vasenok, National Network of Hyperlocal Media Raion.in.ua.
“Thank you! It’s very difficult to write on this topic, the training is extremely relevant!” – Tetiana Kaushan, Putilivski Vedomosti newspaper, Sumy region.
This activity was made possible by the New Democracy Fund (NDF) and International Media Support (IMS) as part of the project “Breaking Barriers Together: Uniting NGOs, Media, and State Authorities to Achieve Gender Equality in Ukraine’s Media Space,” implemented by the NGO “Women in Media.” Any opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NDF or IMS.