15Towards a safer haven: Advancing safety of journalists amidst rising threats in the Netherlands
Women journalists
Throughout the mission, several interlocutors underlined the trend that in general women journalists face more
harassment based on their gender, while male journalists are usually targeted for their publications. In particular
in the online sphere, sexism and also racism are frequent. This is no different in the Netherlands. According to
a survey conducted in 2019 by Dr. Odekerken, half of women journalists in the Netherlands had faced threats,
intimidation or attacks.
Over the past years, the Netherlands has seen a public discussion about the online harassment of women
politicians, academics and journalists. The discussion was sparked by several striking cases such as Sigrid Kaag,
party leader of the second-biggest national political party D66, receiving thousands of sexist and threatening
comments on social media. In 2018, journalist Clarice Gargard received over 7,600 comments while she was live
reporting on a Kick Out Black Pete demonstration. In this case, 24 people were sentenced to community service
and fines, most for inciting violence and some for encouraging discrimination.
However, although there are some public examples, during the mission it proved difficult to get an accurate
overview of the scope and intensity of (online) harassment that women journalists face. Few numbers are
available that give insight into violence against women journalists in particular, not necessarily because it does
not happen, but because the data is missing or scarce. During the fact-finding mission it was confirmed that
currently there is no monitoring system in place that specifically tracks violence against women journalists. As
noted in the previous chapter, also PersVeilig does not monitor the gender aspect of violence against journalists,
and there is no other mechanism in place to monitor the threats. The MFRR is concerned about the implications
that this lack of monitoring may have on the understanding of the safety problems that women journalists
face and on developing solutions to address them. For some interlocutors, we were concerned to hear this
blindspot in data-gathering led to the presumptuous conclusion that there is no particular safety issue for women
journalists in the Netherlands. The MFRR is concerned that the lack of data available may impact the policies in
place to address the safety of women journalists.
The European Commission’s Recommendation includes a number of specific standards that aim to empower
women journalists and those belonging to minority groups or reporting on equality. Among other things,
“Member States are encouraged to take measures to improve transparency in reporting and data collection
on attacks and discrimination against female journalists” (Rec. 28). In light of the mission’s findings, the MFRR
considers specific gender-based policies are needed. Their development should start from a more proactive
approach by the Dutch government to research the scope of attacks and harassment of women journalists, to
ensure that any policy solutions adequately address the specific challenges at hand. One possible approach in
this regard could be to take gender into consideration in PersVeilig’s data-collection when reports are filed.
Another safety issue that may be extra challenging for women media workers is the issue of sexual harassment
in the workplace. During the course of the mission, a sexual harassment scandal broke regarding the television
entertainment show “The Voice”. It put the spotlight on the fact that sexual intimidation, harassment and
violence remain a prevalent problem on the work floor also in the Netherlands. Dr. Odekerken shared with the
delegation that women journalists may experience the work floor as an unsafe environment. She explained this
as partially the consequence of the idea that threats are ‘part of the job’ and the lack of a support system for
women journalists, which feeds the perception that it is “not done” to speak out about these issues.
Therefore, the MFRR delegation is concerned that only very few cases of sexual misconduct on the work floor
are reported externally. Sexual intimidation happens across all genders and sexes. However, women journalists
most prominently fall victim to offenses of such nature. In particular for freelancers, it may be difficult to flag
abuses, given the sometimes precarious nature of their employment. In light of these findings, the MFRR
considers that also regarding the issue of sexual misconduct in the professional context, more needs to be done
to ensure the adequate implementation of the European Commission’s Recommendations, which provide that
“Member States should promote and support action to foster equality and inclusion in the media industry and
in newsrooms” (Rec. 29).