Sarajevo, 28 September 2017– “End Violence – The Media Fighting Violence against Women”” project was presented in Sarajevo today. This project is implemented by the Association of BH Journalists, with the support of the UN Women Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).
David Saunders, the UN Women Representative, spoke about the programme and activities of this organization in the field of gender-based violence.
David Saunders stated that “violence has, for a long time, been regarded as a private issue deeply rooted in patriarchal societies”, adding that UN Women supported projects of this kind as “media professionals play a crucial role in raising awareness of the negative consequences of violence against women. Poor journalism can increase stigmatization, while quality journalism can teach us how to avoid stereotypes.”
This project has, among other things, envisaged workshops in BH towns intended for journalists, students, and bloggers with the aim to expand reporting capacities of media professionals in the field of reporting on gender-based violence and publishing investigative journalism stories whose starting point would be a promotion of the rights and interests victims of violence.
“This project should assist media experts and bloggers to cooperate more efficiently and exchange information with public institutions and the civil sector working in the field of protection of violence victims, implementation of relevant laws and creating relevant policies”, said Borka Rudić, the Secretary General of the Association of BH Journalists. She also added that one of the expected outcomes of this project was the establishment of a network of journalists and bloggers who are to specialize in and further explore the topic of gender-based violence.
The executive director of the Association XY, Emina Osmanagić, announced that there would be a journalist award for best media content on gender-based violence. The award is a mutual, UN Women-sponsored project of the Association XY and the Association of BH Journalists.
“Our intent is to draw the public’s attention to the ever-growing issue of gender-based violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, said Osmanagić and invited all the journalists with an inclination to write about gender-based violence to apply for the award and contribute to the prevention of this problem in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The call for applications is due to be published on 1st October 2017 on the Association XY and Association of BH Journalists websites. The awards will be presented in the categories of printed, electronic and online media.