Curb sexual harassment in media houses,  says Nabakooba

The Minister for Information and Communications Technology, Ms Judith Nabakooba has urged media houses to put in place strict policies against sexual harassment to protect female journalists.

Speaking to the media during celebrations to mark the World Press Freedom Day on Thursday, Ms Nabakooba urged media owners to take this as an urgent matter.

“With policies [on sexual harassment] journalists will know that at least there are regulations in place to protect them. For us as partners from government, we are committed to work with the media industry and we have seen the launch of the Uganda Media Sector Working Group for the media houses to work together and ensure that the Media Council is vibrant,” Ms Nabakooba said.

She added: “We have heard that journalist are sexually harassed online and offline, meaning that we need to have strategies in place to address those challenges before the situation worsens.” 

Ms Emily Marathi, the vice chairperson of Uganda Media Women’s Association (UMWA), said this year’s celebration aims to tackle sexual harassment in the media fraternity

“We have launched this Mission 2025 with the aim of removing the monster from Uganda’s media because safety and security threats and attacks against female journalists are the main issues which have stopped female journalist from doing their duty,” she said.

Ms Marathi added that female journalists lack security and a voice in the mainstream of media.