Turkey was a leading country in the violation of women journalists’ rights in June, according to a monthly reportreleased by the Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ).
A total of 77 female journalists around the world experienced rights violations in June, with 36 of those cases recorded in Turkey, the CFWIJ report revealed.
“Turkey is one of the most dangerous countries with the cases of legal harassment and intimidation by the state,” the report said, adding that “25 women journalists appeared [in] to defend themselves in June.”
The report included violations such as murder, abduction, detention and physical assault against women journalists.
In Turkey several women journalists were beaten by police while covering women’s protests in Ankara and İstanbul as well as LGBTI+ Pride. “At least five women journalists were impeded in the field following LGBTİ+ Pride in İstanbul. Journalists were also beaten by the [police] force,” the CFWIJ said.
According to the June report, the number of legal harassment cases against women journalists increased by 471.4 percent and the number of assaults increased by 83.3 percent compared to the previous month.
A reporter for Ariana News, Mina Khairi was murdered on June 3 in Kabul. Khairi died alongside her mother in an IED blast. She was the fourth Afghan journalist killed in 2021.
Turkey is ranked 153rd among 180 countries in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in April.
According to the Stockholm Center for Freedom’s “Jailed and Wanted Journalists in Turkey” database, 172 journalists are behind bars in Turkey and 167 are wanted and either in exile or at large.
