Women war reporters’ resistance and silence in the face of sexism and sexual violence

Abstract

Women began reporting on war in the mid-nineteenth century, covering, among other wars, Europeans revolutions and the US Civil War. The numbers of women reporting on war increased over the twentieth century with the First and Second World Wars and especially the Vietnam War. This increased again more recently, when many news organizations needed journalists in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Nonetheless, war reporting remains widely regarded as men’s domain. It remains a highly sexist domain. Women war reporters continue to face condescension, pseudo-protectionism, disdain, lewdness, and hostility from their bosses, rivals, military brass, and the public. They also experience sexual violence, although they are discouraged from complaining about assaults, so that they can keep working. This research focuses on the sexism and sexual harassment facing contemporary women war reporters, with particular attention to Lara Logan, whose career demonstrates many of these highly gendered tensions.