Alinea International Concludes Gender-Focused Journalism Training for Women in Maldives

MV+ News Desk | June 11, 2023

Yesterday, Alinea International successfully concluded a comprehensive, one-day journalism training programme for women in the Maldives, emphasising gender, media, and digital safety. 

The highlight of the programme was a two-hour lecture on digital safety for women journalists, delivered by Myra Abdallah, a renowned Lebanese journalist and activist. Myra shared valuable insights and practical advice to help participants navigate the digital landscape while ensuring their safety and security.

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“Training programmes tailored for women are important because women in the media industry don’t get a seat at the table. They are not fairly represented in decision-making positions, or news content, or even news in general as sources and experts,” says Myra, explaining the importance of women-centred journalism training programmes. 

Myra Abdallah, seasoned journalist, speaking at the training programme.

Myra further added saying that these programmes give women a competitive edge to fight the lack of fair representation in the media, and they also help them protect themselves from workplace abuse targeted directly at women such as sexual harassment and help them advocate for safer newsroom. 

“All of this falls in the scope of benefits for media organisations, because by representing women equally, they are catering for a larger audience and hence increasing their viewership and readership.”

Also speaking on the importance of training programmes tailored to women, Rae Munavvar, co-facilitator of the programme said, “training programmes tailored to women journalists help address the specific challenges that women face in the newsroom and in the field.”

In addition to Myra Abdallah’s lecture, five prominent civil society organisations in the Maldives contributed to the training programme. These organisations included the Public Interest Law Centre, Family Legal Clinic, Women in Tech, Hope for Women, and Transparency Maldives. Each organisation delivered a lecture addressing vital aspects of journalism, employment rights, media laws, harassment, and device and data protection.

The successful completion of this journalism training programme marks an important step forward in strengthening the skills and capacities of women journalists in the Maldives. 

A study published by Maldives Journalist Association in 2021, titled Chasing Justice, found that 29 per cent of women journalists have experienced gender specific-threats online and 21 per cent offline in the previous two years.

The initiative was part of the Maldives Strengthening Communications and Governance Project, funded by UK in Maldives, and received support from the Maldives Media Council and the Maldives Journalist Association.

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