Across Africa, media organisations have publicly expressed their commitment to gender equality for decades. From pledges to amplify women’s voices, to newsroom charters on safety and inclusion, to regional frameworks developed by bodies such as the African Union, the intent has never been in short supply. What is in short supply is implementation.
The gap between what is promised and what is practiced continues to place women journalists, women sources, and women audiences at risk. As we prepare for AWiM25 at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, our focus is clear. It is time to move beyond commitments and accelerate the adoption of gender-responsive policies that create truly gender-safe media environments.
A media ecosystem that is safe for all genders is not just a pipe dream. Whether or not women may completely, safely, and meaningfully engage in the media sector is determined by a practical, quantifiable fact. It establishes if editorial choices take gendered impact into account, whether women are fairly and truthfully represented, and whether harassment—online or offline—is addressed rather than accepted.
Policies meant to keep women safe in these places are often old, inadequate, or not even there at all. Many media houses operate without clear anti-harassment guidelines, without gender-sensitive editorial frameworks, and without accountability mechanisms when harm occurs. As a result, women continue to restrain themselves, leave the profession, or endure hostile workplaces that limit their contributions to journalism.
UNESCO and the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) found in their landmark 2021–2023 study that 73% of women journalists face online violence, yet only 25% of news organisations worldwide have any safety protocols specific to gendered threats. The UN Women and WAN-IFRA 2022 Gender in Newsrooms Report similarly showed that fewer than one in five African newsrooms have a formal gender policy or internal mechanism for addressing harassment.
Beyond policy, the gaps run deep. Less than 30% of journalists surveyed across Sub-Saharan Africa said they had received training on trauma-sensitive reporting, interviewing survivors, or covering gender-based violence ethically. Across AWiM’s editorial work this year, including our gender-focused project with Fojo Media Institute and the Violence Against Women and Girls reporting fellowship in partnership with AWDF and UNESCO, the pattern held. Not a single journalist we mentored encountered a newsroom framework that could support them through the emotional, ethical, and safety complexities of reporting these stories.
This year’s conference theme, “Beyond Commitments: Advancing Policies for Gender-Safe Media,” responds to this urgency. Africa does not lack the knowledge, evidence, or moral imperative to act. What we need now is accelerated policy adoption, alignment, and enforcement. Moving beyond commitments requires shifting from voluntary promises to institutional structures that guarantee safety, equity, and dignity for all.
Policy is one of the most powerful levers of change available to us. When a newsroom adopts a gender-sensitive stylebook, it reshapes the narratives that reach millions and allows for ethical representation in media content. When a regulatory body embeds gender-safe guidelines into its licensing standards, it sets industry-wide expectations. When governments enact legal protections for women journalists, it strengthens press freedom for everyone. And when organisations document, monitor, and report on gender-related risks, they build cultures where safety and respect are the norms rather than exceptions.
At AWiM, our work across the continent shows that effective change happens when policy, practice, and partnership intersect. This is why AWiM25 is designed to be a strategic platform bringing together policymakers, editors, academics, development partners, media owners, and journalists to align actionable pathways for reform. Our partnership with the African Union reinforces a continental commitment to creating environments where women can thrive and where media institutions contribute to gender justice, rather than perpetuating inequality.
To move the needle, we must also acknowledge the depth of structural and cultural barriers. Gender-based harassment in newsrooms remains alarmingly underreported. Online violence against women journalists is escalating, with severe mental health and professional consequences. In UNESCO’s The Chilling study, 26% of women journalists reported negative mental health impacts from online abuse, and 12% had sought medical or psychological help due to sustained harassment. Professionally, 11% missed work, 38% reduced their visibility (e.g., using pseudonyms or avoiding bylines), 4% quit assignments, and 2% left journalism altogether (UNESCO). In a report by African Women in Media in 2020 and 2021, the second-highest reason that constituted a barrier to entry for women journalists was this same sexual harassment, and this led 38% to leave/consider leaving an organization. 54% of respondents said sexual harassment negatively affected their career at entry, during the profession, or when seeking promotion. Some also mentioned this problem as a reason for poor pay, set to push women journalists desperate for a livelihood to accept advances from superiors.
Women experts remain underrepresented in media, both as sources and in decision-making, strengthening narratives that marginalise their expertise: globally, men occupy over 70% of board and top management roles, while in Africa, only 22% of news subjects are women (Global Report on the Status of Women in the News Media, 2011; GMMP, 2021). We’ve all read the 2024 report bythe Reuters Institute, which found that while women make up around 40% of journalists in 12 markets, only 24% of top editors are women, up slightly from 22% in 2023. However, when examining individual countries, the picture is more concerning. In Japan, women continue to hold 0% of top editorial positions between 2020 and 2024. Kenya experienced a sharp decline, dropping from 30% in 2020 to just 13% in 2024. Similarly, South Africa saw a decrease from 60% in 2020 to 29% in 2024, highlighting persistent and uneven gender gaps in newsroom leadership across the globe. And in many countries, such as Nigeria, India, Ghana, and Papua New Guinea, gender policies exist on paper but lack the leadership will or institutional capacity needed to enforce them. These statistics highlight that increasing the number of women in leadership is not enough on its own without systemic reforms and supportive policies.
This is why multi-stakeholder collaboration is non-negotiable. The media cannot achieve gender safety in isolation. Regulators, unions, technology companies, civil society organisations, and national governments all play critical roles. AWiM25 creates the space for these actors to collectively examine the policy gaps and identify concrete commitments, not rhetorical ones, that lead to structural change.
More important is the need to resist the bias that advancing gender-safe media is just a women’s issue. It is a media development issue, a governance issue, and a democracy issue. When women journalists are unsafe, stories go untold. When harmful gender stereotypes dominate reporting, public understanding is distorted. When only a narrow group shapes media narratives, society loses the pluralism that strengthens democracy.
A gender-safe media environment strengthens trust, accuracy, diversity, and public participation. Finland’s media, known for robust protections for women journalists, produces reporting that is widely trusted and inclusive. In Rwanda, the strong presence of women in politics and particularly newsrooms is supported by African Women in Media’s research on the barriers facing women journalists, which helped drive the formation of an anti-sexual harassment committee and national newsroom policy. These developments later informed AWiM23’s Conference in Kigali and ultimately shaped the Kigali Declaration on the Elimination of Gender Violence in and through Media, ensuring that media coverage increasingly reflects ethical, safe, diverse, and equitable perspectives. Even in Namibia, efforts to protect and promote women journalists have made the media more representative and responsive. These examples show that protecting women in media isn’t just about equity; it’s central to building credible, participatory journalism.
As we count down to the AWiM25 Conference, my message to our sector is simple: the time for promises has passed. The time for policy is now. Let us accelerate the adoption of gender-responsive frameworks that protect women, strengthen journalism, and reflect the Africa we are building, which is an Africa where the media not only reports change but embodies it.
At AWiM, we remain committed to supporting media organisations with tools, research, training, and resources to achieve this vision. But meaningful transformation requires leadership across the ecosystem. I call on media owners, policymakers, regulators, donors, and journalism associations to use this moment to formalise, implement, and monitor gender-safe policies. Let us move beyond commitments towards accountability, action, and lasting impact.
This is the work ahead of us. And this December in Addis Ababa, we take the next bold step together.
Yemisi Akinbobola is CEO of African Women in Media (AWiM)
