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Somalia not having enough feminism is one of the main things keeping me up at night.
I feel like I’ve been waiting my whole life for this.
The first all-women media house in Somalia has been launched, creating a rare opportunity for female journalists in the country to research and publish stories they want to tell.
Led by one of the few female senior news producers in the country, the team of six will produce content for TV, radio and online media on issues such as gender-based violence, women in politics and female entrepreneurs.
Crucially, they will have the autonomy to make editorial decisions.
“We want to cover these issues and challenge societal beliefs that women should stay at home,” said the editor-in-chief, Nasrin Mohamed Ibrahim, who has worked as a journalist for 12 years and is a founding member of the Somali Women Journalist Organisation.
Nasrin Mohamed Ibrahim
Women working in the media in Somalia face multiple challenges, from being ignored and denied promotions to bullying and sexually harassment. “Men think you should come in, read the news and go home,” said Ibrahim, 27.
Bilan’s deputy editor, Fathi Mohamed Ahmed , 25, said sexual harassment was rife in the media sector and she has had to develop tactics to ward off advances from male colleagues. “The biggest challenge facing female journalists in Somalia is abuse, especially from male journalists,” she said. “They offer to help you but only if you give them something in return.”
Ahmed added: “Men have said things to me like, ‘you’re beautiful, I like your body’, and it was only when I said I was engaged that they stopped.”
Bilan, which means bright and clear in Somali, will be based in the capital, Mogadishu, at Dalsan Media Group, one of the country’s largest media organisations. It will publish news and features, and provide training and mentorship from established Somali and international journalists, including the BBC’s Lyse Doucet and Razia Iqbal, Channel 4’s Lyndsey Hilsum and Mohammed Adow at Al Jazeera. Six-month internships will be offered to the best final-year female journalism students at two universities in Mogadishu.
Where do these ideas even come from?
Funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the project is a year-long pilot, but Jocelyn Mason, UNDP’s resident representative in Mogadishu, is confident it will become a permanent set-up, and may also be extended into Somalia’s regions. “We hope this will be a gamechanger for the Somali media scene, opening up new opportunities for women journalists and shining a light on subjects that have been ignored, particularly those that are important for women,” said Mason.
Ah.
Yeah, okay. That makes sense.
These bitches better be careful.
Somalians aren’t really big on journalism.
They’re not quite as anti-journalism as the Ukrainians – but close.
