Al-Hawyah Channel, a private television network based in Sana’a, has launched a smear campaign with gendered and sexualised attacks against women anchors working for Belqees TV and Yemen Shabab TV, two Yemeni news channels based in Türkiye. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Gender Council join the IFJ affiliate, the Yemeni Journalists’ Syndicate (YJS), in condemning the deplorable campaign, and call on the Yemeni authorities to take the necessary legal action. “Violence against women journalists is not part of the job,” states IFJ Gender Council Chair Maria Ángeles Samperio.

Al-Hawyah Channel broadcasted content targeting women anchors and hosts working for Belqees TV and Yemen Shabab TV and described their appearances as “pornographic”. 

The IFJ reiterates that media professionals must respect journalistic ethics in line with Article 9 of the IFJ’s Global Charter of Ethics: “Journalists shall ensure that the dissemination of information or opinion does not contribute to hatred or prejudice and shall do their utmost to avoid facilitating the spread of discrimination on grounds such as geographical, social or ethnic origin, race, gender, sexual orientation, language, religion, disability, political and other opinions”.

IFJ Gender Council Chair Maria Ángeles Samperio reaffirmed the unwavering support of the Gender Council’s members for Belqees TV and Yemen Shabab TV’s women anchors. “There must be no impunity for those who launch gendered and sexualised attacks against women media professionals. Violence against women journalists is not part of the job.”

Gender-based violence and harassment against women journalists are global issues, and Yemen is no exception. On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, the YJS published, in coordination with the IFJ, an extensive report highlighting alarming data on the scale of gender-based violence against media professionals in the country. 

According to the report, 60% of women journalists said that they are facing gender-based violence and online harassment in relation to their job. 63% of women journalists declared that they hide their identity when publishing online material. 93% of women respondents admitted that they are always worried about facing online harassment and gender-based violence. 

To combat this reality, the IFJ and YJS agreed to focus their project work in 2025 on the safety of women journalists. This will include establishing an internal safe and trusted complaint mechanism within the union to combat harassment and gender-based violence at work. 

IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: “The IFJ condemns, in the strongest terms, this vile campaign launched by Al-Hawyah Channel against women journalists, who are carrying out their work with professionalism and integrity. We stand in solidarity with our colleagues and demand that authorities take legal action against the perpetrators of the smear campaign.”