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Fungai Lupande-Mashonaland Central Bureau

Journalists should adopt humanitarian principles and help survivors of gender-based violence by directing them to the growing services set up to assist those who have been assaulted after getting the story.

During a sensitisation workshop recently, technical advisor for advocacy, communication and social mobilisation Ms Shamiso Yikoniko of the Zimbabwe Association of Church Related Hospitals (ZACH) said journalists needed their story, but also needed to be responsible.

“Do not write things that you do not understand or use discriminatory terms. Seek clarity from experts on areas that you don’t understand,” she said. “Give the survivor a voice and remove your emotions from the story. The objective of this sensitisation meeting is to give journalists more information on the support phase of the SASA model.”

Start Awareness Support Action (SASA) is an approach developed to raise voices in preventing violence against women. 

Ms Yikoniko said the sensitisation workshop was to equip journalists with facts on unbalanced power relations and SASA strategies in combating gender-based violence.

SASA projects manager Mr Maxwell Hombiro said there is a need for journalists, gender activists, pastors, law enforcement agents and chiefs to synchronise their messages to the people.

He said the chiefs subjects are the same people who go to church and are addressed by gender activists at the same time consuming media messages.

“We need to speak in one voice so that what gender activists say are preventative measures are not demonised in church. We need to communicate the same message for HIV programming to be effective,” he said.

“When journalists write, there is a need to identify the person that we are supporting and in this case they are largely young women and adolescent girls. There is a danger of endorsing behaviour which increases the risk of violence against women.

“In order to support young women and adolescent girls, we need to be slow in blaming them and slow to conclude. The root cause of violence against women is power over women and community silence about it.

“Violence is an option and the only way to address the issue of abuse of power is by holding men accountable.”