it was her fault for standing in the middle of such a hostile crowd; as a wife and mother, she simply shouldn’t have been there. Even her former boss, a woman, suggested she should focus less on her career and more on her responsibilities. Nadene Ghouri, 39, who regularly reports from Afghanistan for the Daily Mail and has been kidnapped and assaulted herself, admits that Logan’s case has thrown up uncomfortable questions about female reporters and the part they should or shouldn’t play in conflict reporting. ‘Despite the presence of more female correspondents in war zones, the backlash against Lara – and in particular her looks and role as a mother – revealed the deeply entrenched sexism women still face,’ says Ghouri. ‘Let’s not forget that the night Lara was attacked there were male correspondents being beaten up all over Cairo, many with wives and children at home, yet nobody mentioned their responsibilities as fathers or suggested that they should stop doing their job. It just doesn’t happen.’ The truth is, women like Logan are trapped between the tensions of working in deeply conservative cultures where women are expected to look and act a certain way, and the glossy image they have to project on camera. ‘When I’m working in Afghanistan, for instance, I cover my head and wear baggy clothes to make myself as anonymous as possible,’ continues Ghouri. ‘But there is a new breed of superstar TV reporters who don’t follow the same cultural codes. The reality is that many viewers still expect their presenters to look glamorous, with long hair and lipstick, which feeds the idea that foreign women are promiscuous, disrespectful <#L#>
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and deserve to be punished. When something happens, it’s the journalist who is blamed for being too sexy. It’s no wonder these women are reluctant to be upfront.’ Judith Matloff, who teaches war reporting at Columbia University’s esteemed school of journalism, believes that, as a result of this silence, news organisations are failing Moments after to prepare women for the this, CBS News dangers of sexual violence. correspondent She says women would be Lara Logan better informed, and was assaulted supervisors more sympain Cairo while thetic, if things were laid covering Mubarak’s out on the table. ‘I’m resignation amazed there are no in February sections on sexual harassment and assault in the leading handbooks on journalistic safety,’ she says, although the CPJ has recently confirmed it is currently updating the guide to include this. ‘No one tells women that deodorant can work as well as mace when sprayed in the eyes, for example, or that you can obtain doorknob alarms, or that, in some cultures, you can ward off rapists by claiming that you’re menstruating. Even hostile-environment training courses rarely touch upon rape prevention.’ Joanie de Rijke, 43, is a successful freelance journalist from Holland. During our conversation, she regularly cuts off mid sentence to stop herself from crying. Her reasons are clear. In November 2008, de Rijke was sent on an assignment to Afghanistan with just a local translator for support. Her job was to interview a group of Taliban insurgents who had recently ambushed and killed ten French soldiers, but within minutes of arriving the pair were taken hostage. The following night, her translator was sent back to Kabul with a message for her editor, demanding a ransom of $2million. It was during that second night that de Rijke was raped. ‘I was taken to the side of a ravine and forced to sleep just metres from the edge,’ she recalls. ‘On one side there were 12 armed men, on the other a sheer drop of hundreds of metres. As soon as the Taliban commander appeared beside me, I started to cry. I pleaded with him to stop, but he just climbed on top of me and
started tearing at my clothes. With a gun jammed against my head and his hands closing around my throat, it was impossible to scream. There was nothing I could do to stop him. ‘My passion for my work has always made the sacrifices seem worth it, but that night all I could think about was my two young children and why I’d taken such huge risks. I hoped he’d leave me alone after that, but he came back and I was repeatedly raped until my release nine days later.’ Her rapist was never caught. As a Taliban terrorist, he is effectively living outside the law, so punishment is rare and going to the police is futile. He raped her because he could. Since then, de Rijke has made the surprising decision to return to Afghanistan and continue her work as a conflict reporter, despite refusing to see a counsellor to deal with her ordeal. ‘Friends thought I was crazy for going back, but luckily my family understood,’ she says. ‘I’m a strong woman and won’t be terrorised into giving up my job. By doing that I felt they would have won. I know that I have a responsibility to my children, but I also have a duty to tell the stories I feel so passionate about.’ A year after her release, de Rijke wrote a book about her experience as a way of trying to make sense of what happened. The reaction in her native Holland when it was published shocked her. ‘My book unleashed a wave of hatred,’ she says. ‘People didn’t want to deal with the fact that this had happened. It was almost as though they thought it was shameful I’d make something like this public.’ So what compels women to take such risks? ‘Without female journalists, the stories of millions of women and children would go untold,’ says Lynsey Addario, who has pledged to return to work after her ordeal. Female reporters cover stories in the most powerful of ways, often because victims – of rape or female genital mutilation for example – find it easier to open up to other women. These stories are just as important as the ones on the battleground. ‘Journalists make enormous sacrifices to do their jobs,’ says Addario. ‘The majority of my life has been dedicated to working in conflict zones, and I’m pleased with what I’ve achieved. I do, however, have a lot of inner debate about how to navigate the personal toll these wars take on us, particularly now that I’m married. Two months ago, fellow journalists Chris Hondros and Tim Hetherington paid the ultimate price to bring the reality on the ground in Libya to people around the world. Is it worth it? I hope so.’
‘i pleaded with him to stop, but he just climbed on me and tore at my clothes’
Photographs by Eyevine, Getty Images, News International, Kris Pannecoucke, PA Photos
Women On The Frontline