Some Buea based journalists have been trained on reporting Sexual and Gender-Based Violence ( SGBV) Saturday, 16 December.
The advocacy move is carried out by the Hope for a Better Tomorrow (HOBET) a Non-governmental Organization. In it’s second edition, the project seeks to reduce the stigmatization of survivors and perpetuators of SGBV. According to the international group, UN Women, one in every women has suffered from SGBV.
Tembeng Eli-Anne Anwi, founder and coordinator of HOBET highlighted that, “with the coming of the socio-political crisis in the Northwest and South West, we noticed that generally reporting of cases of violence against women by some community media platforms are not survivor centered. But rather give out vital information about survivors. From this same project last year we saw a very great different in the way of reporting SGBV related stories.”
Amongst the attendants of this edition was the Editor in Chief at the University of Buea campus radio, The Chariot, Ngwe Angel. She explained from what she had learnt that in reporting SGBV, “I shouldn’t jeopardize the intergrity of the victim or members of her family. I should make use of credible sources for my stories.” On her part, Mercy Kere, a journalist at Dash Radio Buea noted that “with the presence of citizen journalists we have been taught on how to report SGBV ethically.”
The journalists trained are expected to craft at least an SGBV sensitive production with the skills they have learnt for their media organs.