This posting highlights a piece written by Tom Squitieri on the Foreign Policy Association Foreign Policy Blog . In “The Mean Streets of Reporting”, Squitieri documents the global rise in violence against journalists, with a specific focus on the steep increase in sexual assaults committed against female journalists.
http://foreignpolicyblogs.com/2011/12/04/mean-streets-of-reporting/
Sexual assault is not an act of violence that is restricted to women, but Tom Squitieri points out that its use as a tool of intimidation and retribution t has been on an analogous rise with the ascent of female correspondents’ reporting from danger zones around the world. Squitieri recounts that,
“…the 1980s wars in Central American were one of the breakout areas for female war correspondents for several reasons: bilingual skills, sheer opportunity and sharp journalism talent. A 1997 paper called The Marginal Majority: Women War Correspondents in the Salvadoran Press Corps Association (SPCA) underscore this historic impact.”
From natural disasters in Haiti to the violent conflicts of the Arab uprisings throughout the Middle East and North Africa, female journalists around the world have become a significant presence among field correspondents, and as a result, are increasingly targets for reprisal. Mean Streets points out, however, that neither journalist organizations nor the women who have been attacked are being quiet about the increase in violence. High profile assaults like the one against Lara Logan, a correspondent for the television news magazine 60 Minutes, are raising awareness of the violence against journalists as these women increasingly speak out. Also, various organizations like the Committee to Protect Journalists are seeking training and taking action to combat the violence.
As previously highlighted in past blog posting (Warrior Self Defense for Global Journalists), a new organization, Global Journalist Security (GJS), is working to provide journalists the training they need to avoid and protect themselves from various forms of violence and coercion; including sexual assault. Global Journalist Security gets away from the generic, “cookie-cutter” military-based training, and implements a holistic course plan that is designed to specifically address the needs of international journalists who work in danger zones around the world. GJS training includes topics such as combat hazards, emergency first aid, sexual assault avoidance, stress management and self-care, security management, situational responses, digital security, and more.
GJS has partnered with Luminous Warrior to address the self defense and personal protection needs of foreign correspondents. As an expert in self defense, krav maga, sexual assault avoidance, and integrated self-care and stress management methods, Sara Salam, Director and founder of Luminous Warrior, is leading training modules that address threats of sexual assault along with a host of other applicable topics. Sara will integrate Luminous Warrior’s unique blend of effective, practical and easy-to learn self defense training with integrated self-care methods that are at the cutting-edge of neuroscience, quantum physics and psychosomatic health into the GJS training curriculum.
Explore the Luminous Warrior website to find out more about the complete offerings of the self defense and self-care programs. Also, go to Global Journalist Security to learn more about the rest of the GJS team and the work that GJS and Luminous Warrior are doing to aid the personal protection and security needs of journalists around the world (www.globaljournalistsecurity.org).
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