1
Women On The Frontline marieclaire.co.uk <#R#> L YNSEY ADDARIO IS AN AWARD-WINNING PHOTO journalist for The New York Times. So when she was asked to report on the conflict between Libyan government and rebel forces earlier this year, she thought she knew what to expect. But nothing could have prepared her for the reality. As pro-Gaddafi soldiers detained her car at a checkpoint near the eastern city of Ajdabiya, Addario, 37, was stunned to find herself being wrenched from her vehicle and thrown onto the tarmac, where a mob of men set upon her, restraining her and punching her in the face. As an experienced journalist, she thought she knew exactly how to protect herself when she went abroad to report on a story: dress in a uniform of baggy trousers and oversized jacket, keep hair tied back, and stay close to her male peers. But all precautions failed. ‘They tied my arms behind my back and punched me in the face,’ she says. ‘Then I was thrown in a truck and blindfolded. I started to cry as hands began to touch me – first my breasts, and then every inch of my body. I pleaded for them to stop, convinced that I was about to be dragged away and raped.’ During a terrifying six-day detainment, Addario endured repeated sexual assaults and was beaten and threatened with decapitation. ‘I have ten years of experience covering con- flicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Congo,’ says Addario. ‘But I was terrified during those days in captivity. To them I was just a prisoner, a woman.’ Journalism has never been a more dangerous occupation. According to a recent report, the number of correspondents killed on assignment has increased by a staggering 244 per cent in the last five years. Women are no exception: seven female reporters were killed in 2009 alone. But the one area where they differ from their male counterparts is sexual harassment, assault and rape. Female reporters are targets in dangerous environ- ments where violence is rife, but they rarely tell their stories for fear of damaging gender equality, or being passed over for assignments. Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Jour- nalists (CPJ), admits that it is a problem. ‘We know it is happening, and we know it is more widespread than we’re able to document,’ he says. ‘The problem is we don’t have the data to back it up, as people are so reluctant to talk. When women have shared their stories, they usually request privacy or anonymity.’ Addario can relate to this feeling. ‘I didn’t want to talk to anyone about what happened,’ she says. ‘I’ve been groped numerous times in the past and never once called to complain to my editor as I recognised that this was part of the job – western women are often seen as ‘easy’ in the Muslim world. I didn’t want them to stop sending me on dangerous assignments because I’m a woman. Either I am fit to do a job because of my abilities, or I am not. Period. After my release, I turned to family and colleagues for support, and talked openly to my husband about what happened. It’s only now, three months on, that I’m just beginning to feel normal again.’ In February this year, CBS News correspondent Lara Logan became one of the highest-profile women to break this code of silence. The 40-year- old made headlines when she was assaulted while covering the fall of Egypt’s Mubarak regime from Cairo’s Tahrir Square. On the night that it happened, Logan was reporting live from the centre of Cairo and appeared calm, fearless and intrepid – exactly what we would expect from a television presenter. But shortly after the cameras stopped rolling, the 5ft 6in blonde was separated from her colleagues and armed security team by a hostile mob. During the next 40 minutes, she was stripped naked, molested and whipped with flag poles in front of a jeering crowd of more than 200 men. ‘For an extended period of time they raped me with their hands,’ she says. ‘What struck me was how merciless they were. They enjoyed my pain and suffering. It incited them to more violence.’ Since her assault was made public, several media commentators have suggested that Logan, a married mother-of-two, was somehow to blame: her clothes were too sexy; {continued} ‘they tied my arms and punched me in the face’ KATE HOLT Freelance journalist Helmand Province, Afghanistan ORLA GUERIN BBC News Frontline, Libya LARA LOGAN CBS News Baghdad, Iraq
