'It’s wrong to tell women to bear hate speech'

Attendees of the round table

Henry Adenigba, Executive Director (Programs), Humanity Family Foundation for Peace and Development (HUFFPED), has said that “gender sensitive/sexist hate speech is often treated as a harmless and non-serious issue” and that it’s wrong for “women to be told to explicitly or implicitly bear with it.”

Adenigba made this remark during his goodwill message at a Media Round Table on the Role of the Media in Combating Gender-Related Hate Speech Online through Objective and Conflict Sensitive Reporting which held last week, precisely on August 29, 2018 in Lagos, Nigeria, and was jointly held by the International Press Centre (IPC) Lagos, the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) and HUFFPED with the funding support of Peace Tech Lab.

The round table was basically about how the media can project women in a positive manner for political offices and also shield them from the nasty hate speech aimed at them online.

Oseyiza Oogbodo Blog was one of the media mediums present at the round table and now brings you the full text of the HUFFPED goodwill message.

The Chairman, gentlemen of the fourth estate of the realm, kindly permit me to stand on existing protocols. It is with pleasure that I stand here today to deliver this goodwill message on behalf of Humanity Family Foundation for Peace and Development (HUFFPED).

Equality for all persons is the cornerstone of human rights. Hate speech and propaganda are present in all societies in varying degrees and intensity. Hate speech affects and undermines the right of the targeted person to equality and freedom from discrimination. When it is unchecked, hate speech can lead to disaster. It promotes prejudice and hate, which in time can undermine the roots of society, create a divide between societal groups and eventually lead to deep divides in the social cohesion. Nazi Germany is a striking example as well as former Yugoslavia, where media, ruled by opposing groups, spewed hatred against national minority groups which escalated the conflict and finally led to mass murder. The genocide in Rwanda is also a striking example of the effect and consequences of hate speech. In recent years, the number of hate sites (fora) has drastically increased and social media, such as Facebook and Twitter have further added to this evolution. Most people do not realise that a few words on Facebook or Twitter can sow a seed or an idea in the mind of someone who already has negative views or dangerous thoughts against specific groups or individuals.

The aforementioned and other similar events have led to international realisation of how powerful hate speech can be and the international consensus is on hate speech and hate propaganda to be prohibited by law.

Gender sensitive/sexist hate speech is often treated as a harmless and non-serious issue and women are explicitly or implicitly told to bear with it. However, not only does sexist hate speech undermine freedom of speech for women and girls, but its psychological, emotional and/or physical impacts are real and severe. The aim of sexist hate speech is to humiliate or objectify women, to undervalue their skills and opinions, to destroy their reputation, to make them feel vulnerable and fearful, and to control and punish them for not following a certain behaviour. Sexist hate speech has the effect of silencing women, obliging them to adapt their behaviour and limit their movements and participation in diverse human activities.

Sexist hate speech needs to be addressed by all stakeholders, including the media, the public, international organisations, law enforcement and other actors of the justice system, the private sector and civil society. In doing this, a balance must be found in providing a platform for free speech without tolerating sexist hate speech.

A checklist of indicators and actions to eliminate sexist hate speech may include:

•             The media should strengthen self-regulatory mechanisms and codes of conduct to condemn and combat sexist hate-speech and ensure more effective moderation of social media, including the setting of clear standards for the industry and putting in place mechanisms to monitor progress

•             Ensure the integration of a gender equality perspective in all aspects of education and media policies

•             Promote gender equality

•             Promote civil society initiatives in this area

•             Join the No Hate Speech Movement

Nevertheless, practitioners and professionals must integrate a conflict-sensitive “do no harm” approach that is professional and ethical. Regardless of time and resources, before beginning the process as well as throughout, one should always ask: What is my motivation? Why am I using particular words and pictures? Am I taking something out of context? Am I causing harm? Focusing on neutrality and facts is another way to achieve conflict-sensitive reporting. Misinformation and suppression are often associated with conflict; therefore, practitioners and professionals must verify facts to ensure they are delivering precise and reliable information. Media can and should act as educators for the public and must prioritize accuracy over agenda.

Thank you very much.

Henry Adenigba

Executive Director (Programs)

HUFFPED