“Women’s voices are missing from the newsrooms!” declares Lisa Tenneh Diasay, Liberian journalist, feminist, human rights defender (HRD) and president of the Female Journalists Association of Liberia (FeJAL)
“Sexual exploitation and abuse in the media workplace, censorship and marginalisation of women based on cultural and societal norms are some of the issues that have held us back as women. As FeJAL, we focus on these issues as we try to ensure a sense of gender equality in the media landscape…and it is evident that things are different from the way they were ten years ago…but we still face so many hurdles.”
Lisa runs Women TV Liberia – an online television channel. For a long time, thoughts and fears of how to navigate the digital space that is fraught with dangers and threats, were constantly on her mind.
“Cyber security issues and incidents of digital hacking permeated the media world all around me, and I was genuinely concerned. To make matters worse, Women TV Liberia had run a story which ruffled a few feathers across the political field, resulting in our Facebook page and website being hacked. I even felt like I was being watched and followed. At one point, I went into hiding, fearing for my life.”
It was around this time that a colleague shared a link to a call for applications for DefendDefenders’ Safe Sisters Fellowship. The programme offers digital safety and security training to women human rights defenders (WHRDs), journalists and media workers. It could not have come at a better time!
In April 2023, Lisa traveled to Uganda for the Safe Sisters training.
“It was wonderful, sharing the experiences of other journalists and WHRDs from other countries. What interested me the most is that I quickly gained knowledge on how to combat some of the challenges I had encountered as a journalist in Liberia. It boosted my capacity so much that I could come back home and train and support others. It was a real bridge for me in my professional journey.”
“After the training, I came back and with the support of Safe Sisters and DefendDefenders, I was able to roll out this training to other women journalists, other WHRDs…and much more beyond that. I have now moved to high schools, where I am training young women and girls so that, as they transition into the adult world, they know how to navigate the internet, they know how to keep their information safe; how to deal with cyber bullying and data breaches. Some of these young women could go on to be the next WHRDs, and to work in different sectors, so I want to make sure I help them NOW to understand some of these things.”
“There was an online follow-up training session a few months after the Uganda training. We were trained in Risk Analysis. Before that training, I didn’t know about anything about risk analysis, I just did my work, not knowing about the risks and threats I might encounter as a journalist. The training exposed me to a whole new understanding, and I learnt that, as journalists, we need to assess the risk of where we are going before an assignment and what to do to ensure that we are safe in any situation. I really needed this training, because of the experience I recently had where I was receiving threats because of a story I had reported on. Since the training, I can ensure that I am safe – both physically and online.”
“I want to thank DefendDefenders and the Safe Sisters fellowship. I’m sure that, without the training and support, Women TV Liberia would be history! I’m sure hackers would have infiltrated and taken all my information. So, the knowledge and experience were good. Thank you.”