Ahead of International Day for the elimination of violence against women, the IFJ has called on affiliates to adopt clear strategies to eradicate online abuse and support their female members when they are targeted.
The IFJ webinar held on 24 November was a response to this call and an opportunity for IFJ trade union representatives to upgrade their skills on how to intervene when members face online abuse.
According to the IFJ, which launched in 2019 its Campaign #YouAreNotAlone to fight online abuse, women have been particularly targeted online and the most targeted are those who identify as LGBTQIA+, and/or are members of religious or ethnic minorities. One of the main aspects of these attacks is that they are gendered and sexualised.
During the webinar, Jennifer Moreau identified 6 steps for unions to address online abuse: provide emotional support to the victim, document the abuse, assess the threat and what it involves, provide a response to the person abused, report the threat (to the employer, to the police), use digital security (also as a preventive tool) and, follow up the case and self care of the union member.
“Online abuse is a health and safety issue and must be treated as such by the media industry,” said Moreau, pointing at the International Labor Organisations’ Convention C 190 on violence and harassment at work, which identified online abuse as violence occurring in the workplace.
The IFJ also highlighted the role online platforms should play in tackling abuse. While X (former Twitter) has dramatically reduced its moderating team and appears to be incapable of handling online abuse, other platforms also have work to do. The IFJ warns against platforms’ inaction against abuse in languages other than English with algorithms and bots firstly designed for English speakers, thus depriving other languages from the same level of protection.
“Fighting online abuse is a collective work. This is why unions must do their share together with media and journalists peers. The idea is that the person abused should never feel isolated and that all abuse should be assessed and dealt with,” said IFJ Gender Council chair Maria-Angeles Samperio.
According to an IFJ survey conducted in 2018, only half of the victims of online abuse (53%) reported the attacks to their media management, union or the police, and in two-thirds of the cases nothing was done.
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