CJID Trains Campus Journalists On GBV Reporting
3 min read
Edith CHUKU
In a bid to checkmate the escalating rate of sexual exploitations being suffered by girls and women in educational institutions in Nigeria, Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development CJID, has held a two-day online training on Gender Based Violence for Campus Journalists.
The training, titled, “Empowering Campus Voices: A GBV Reporting Workshop for Campus Journalists” aimed to further develop the skills of campus reporters in contributing to a safer and more equal campus environment.
It was organized to enlighten, educate and encourage campus journalists on their commitment to raising awareness and pushing for GBV reporting on campus.
The training which was held Thursday and Friday, had over 30 students from various institutions who participated. Among them were, Helen Okechukwu, Abbas Badmus, Aisha Kabiru Mohammed, Arome David, Busola Ajibola, Grace Omoniyi, Henry Igwebuike, Izuchukwu Ezeokoli, Roselyn Yusuf, among others.
Project Officer, Media in Gender, CJID, Osaruonamen Ibizugbe, who was also the online training host described the participants commitment to raising awareness on GBV cases in educational institutions as laudable.
Ibizugbe spoke on the sexual harassment bill awaiting presidential ascent and need for proper implementation. She also emphasized on the various forms of violence and laws that seems to protect women and girls.
Speaking on Reporting GBV, one of the resource persons, Emmanuela Azu, advised the participants to, “be sensitive, mind your language, maintain anonymity of victim and perpetrator, avoid biasness, avoid risk of defamatory suit, stay out of harm way.”
Azu urged them to, “respect and preserve the right of the victim, profile perpetrators without mentioning names, report in a way where you also prefer solution and identify issues.”
Also, Mr. Kabir Adejumo, one of the instructors spoke on how to sensitively interview victim/survivors of GBV.
Adejumo stressed on what Journalists must know about victims/survivors. “Survivors of GBV often battle self-blame, stigmatization, lack of trust in getting justice and fear of suffering further attacks from perpetrators if they speak out.
“Journalist must prioritize the safety of their interviewees and even allow them to choose time and place of interview, and lastly, show empathy. Never ask questions that suggest you doubt their sincerity, instead give them reassurance, explain everything you tend to do before kick-starting interview, do not interrupt them but revert later when you need clarification.
“While empathy is very important, do not cry and refrain from making them victims. Ask follow up questions but do not pester them when they say they do not remember some details because its normal. Avoid questions like why did you not shout or why did you not run? Ask them how they would prefer you to tell their stories.”
Another speaker, Mr. Adenike Aloba, taught participants how to frame GBV narratives with data.
Speaking onbehalf of the campus journalists, one of the participants, Helen Okechukwu of the University of Port Harcourt, appreciated the organizer of the training.
She explained that, “the training was quite an insightful lecture for me as a campus journalist. I learnt a lot and I will say that I have learnt the terminology that a campus journalist should be using while reporting on GBV cases, and how to go about and respect the views of the survivor or victim.
“As it was taught, we should be careful how we report GBV cases and focus more on protecting the victim and ourselves, not just telling the story.
“Lastly, I will say that I learnt the several laws that guide the GBV cases while writing a compelling story and the procedures to follow as a reporter which using data was encouraged.”
