Giving up on the law? The disconnect of hate speech policy and female journalists’ experiences

Abstract

This paper addresses an under-researched aspect of hate speech attacks against female journalists, focusing on the Western Balkans: it juxtaposes the lived experiences of and acts countering hate speech against the backdrop of policy frameworks and their implementation. The article reveals how these factors further shape the experiences of female journalists. Gender-based discrimination not only subjects female journalists to increased personal and professional risks but also perpetuates a hostile environment that seeks to silence their voices. Although in recent years there is more information about the numbers of women affected by hate speech and other attacks, there is little about the ways in which women negotiate hate speech in relation to legal measures. The paper argues, there is a disconnect between policy frameworks and the realities they aim to address, a finding deriving from in-depth interviews with 44 women journalists from Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and the Republic of Serbia. The interviews were conducted in person or online, depending on logistical feasibility and the preferences of the participants. The article finds that women’s trust in existing laws, the legal system, and state authorities is ambivalent, noting, on the one hand, journalists’ commitment to the rule of law in principle, but on the other hand, sense of being let down and resignation when confronted with inadequate legal provisions and implementation.