Journalists in many African countries continue to operate in precarious and unpleasant circumstances. They are regularly underpaid, refused contracts, denied social rights and exposed to workplace risks with no safety or health assurances. This catastrophe is structural and purposeful, rather than incidental.
Women journalists face even more severe abuse. They are disproportionately targeted with harassment, discrimination and sexual assault, both online and offline. Their concerns are often ignored and go unreported, their safety is neglected and their rights are violated with total impunity.
Many media outlets deliberately misuse freelancing and internship arrangements, keeping journalists on for extended periods of time without providing full employment status. These journalists do the same work as full-time employees, but they are denied fair pay, job security and the full range of labour rights. This conduct amounts to exploitation and must be handled immediately.
FAJ is deeply concerned about the continuous denial of journalists’ rights to organise and freely associate. Journalists in Africa who want to create or join unions of their choice suffer harassment, unfair dismissal, or legal threats. These are flagrant breaches of international labour standards and basic human rights, as recently witnessed in Namibia and Mauritania where journalists, especially women journalists are facing grave human and labour rights violations.
FAJ supports the most recent African Union Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls, acknowledging it as a significant step forward in efforts to safeguard female journalists from gender-based violence. FAJ encourages all African governments and the media community to achieve full implementation of this convention. Furthermore, FAJ advocates for the effective incorporation of ILO Convention No. 190 on sexual harassment and violence in the workplace into collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) across media institutions to ensure female journalists’ safety and dignity at work
One of the most troubling cases in terms of the violation of journalists rights and their right to organise, happened recently in Burkina Faso, where IFJ/FAJ’s affiliate, L’ association des Journalistes du Burkina (AJB), was illegally dissolved after its congress. In an unprecedented step, the AJB’s leadership was imprisoned and forcefully recruited into the military. This flagrant misuse of authority is a serious assault on press freedom and the right to free association, which has never been seen before in the history of African media.
“On this International Labour Day, our demand is not for recognition, but for the respect and protection of journalists’ rights. Journalism is a noble profession and like other professions, it must be protected by international labour standards, a safe working environment, fair pay and workplace respect” said Omar Faruk Osman, President of FAJ, who expressed solidarity with African journalists who defy persecution, speak out against injustice and demand full labour rights.
FAJ urges media owners, governments and other stakeholders to put an end to impunity in the workplace, protect journalists’ labour rights and provide good, secure and fair working conditions for all journalists. Now is the moment to put a stop to exploitation and repression in African newsrooms.
