Why Women Are Running Away From Kenyan Media Houses- Patience Nyange
Nyange noted that a majority of women have been found to be missing in media houses across the country...
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Association of Media Women in Kenya (AMWIK) Executive Director Patience Nyange on Wednesday, March 8 expressed worry regarding the increasing number of women moving away from newsrooms in Kenya.
Speaking in an interview on Hot 96, Nyange noted that a majority of women have been found to be missing in media houses across the country, with a section of them transitioning to the corporate sector.
The move, which she explained was for the purposes of finding their own fitting, has also affected the presence of women at decision-making tables in newsrooms, even as she pushes for more women to be retained in newsrooms.
“Most women move from media to the corporate sector to find a fitting. Our campaign right now is to see more women stay in the newsroom,” Nyange explained.
Patience Nyange during an interview with Hot 96 on March 8, 2023. /CITIZEN DIGITAL
Research conducted by Women in News in 2021, which analysed 192 media companies showed that the number of men in leadership positions is higher than that of women. It showed that in Kenya, 33 per cent of women have leadership positions in editorial divisions.
The transition of women away from newsrooms is likely to add to the mass firings that have swept nearly every media house in Kenya beginning in the last quarter of 2022.
Nyange, who stepped down from the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) on February 9, 2022, to contest the Taita Taveta county seat, which was eventually scooped up by Andrew Mwadime, who ran as an independent candidate, also poked holes in the failure for Kenyan media houses to create safe spaces for women working within the newsroom.
According to her, sexual harassment has been normalised in newsrooms, and there are no proper mechanisms to deal with the vice or to hold perpetrators liable, and to make it worse, women have failed to report the cases because they are not sure of how to go about it.
“I asked women who have stayed in the newsroom for 30-40 years whether anyone reports cases of sexual harassment and whether people have been convicted.
"They said they do not report, but negotiate it out. There is a need for us to prosecute that and create a more conducive environment for women to thrive within the newsrooms,” she advocated.
According to Nyange, AMWIK now aims at training people within newsrooms to understand what sexual harassment is.
“We have normalised hugging, let us hug each other in a decent manner," she went on.
The Women In News survey also showed that Central America and Africa recorded the highest cases of sexual harassment in the newsroom, 42 per cent and 40 per cent respectively. Out of the over 2,000 media professionals surveyed, 40 per cent of women said they had experienced sexual harassment in verbal/or physical form, with 12 per cent of men reporting the same.
The data also shows that the leading perpetrators of sexual harassment were fellow employees, supervisors, higher management and news sources respectively, and most of the cases were never reported. A large number of media professionals who reported the cases said no action was taken.
Section 23(1) of the Sexual Offences Act, No.3 of 2006, defines sexual harassment as “continuous unwelcome sexual advances, request for sexual favours, lewd verbal or physical gestures by someone in authority.”
Section 6(1) of the Kenyan Employment Act describes sexual harassment as any instance in which a superior or co-worker asks an employee for a sexual favour, such as having intercourse, signing a sexual contract, or engaging in any sexual activity in return for better growth opportunities or favouritism among other employees. Moreover, the use of improper, suggestive language, written or verbal, is also classified as sexual harassment according to the Kenyan employment act.
Sub-clause two of the same section mandates every company with 20 or more employees to make and implement a foolproof punishment plan for perpetrators of sexual harassment. Firms also are to clearly state the definition of sexual harassment as defined by Kenyan law in their bill in order to remove all ambiguities in case of an incident.
The law of Kenya decrees no less than three years of imprisonment or payment of Ksh100,000 or more as a fine for anyone declared a sexual offender. Be it a verbal or physical form of indecent behaviour by a person in authority; the act will be punishable if the alleged perpetrator is proven guilty.
Two men stalking a woman at work. /FOTOSEARCH
