Gender and family sexual based violence is a global issue

​Gender Based Violence (GBV)/Family Sexual Violence (FSV) and Family Based Violence is a global issue.

In a country like PNG, it threatens or is a social hindrance to the development.

And with the power of the media, service providers such as the Family and Sexual Violence Action Committee under CIMC aim to address it.

A small group consisting of journalists in the media fraternity and partners and stakeholders in the area of GBV/FSV met on Thursday in a collaborative move towards this.

The media sensitisation workshop was to equip media personnel (journalists), with knowledge on;

  • What is deemed safe to be reported and what is not, to safeguard the interest of the GBV survivors;
  • Basic capacity building in language usage;
  • Conduct of interviews and approach to a case to help minimize re-victimizing survivors.

There were different speeches covering topics such as GBV/FSV Human Rights, GBV Laws and regulations whilst media also had the opportunity to highlight their challenges faced.

Another objective of the workshop was for a task team to be set up for the development of guidelines on reporting GBV and other sensitive issues.

This media sensitisation is one of an ongoing initiative by the committee which began in 2015.

Meanwhile, because journalists tend to move away from mainstream eventually, Henry Yamo, a Senior Communications Officer said it was essential for continued sensitising workshops to be held to ensure correct and consistent reporting was carried out on this vital issue.

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Author: 
Gloria Bauai