ZBC director for radio services Robson Mhandu is set to be
hauled before a disciplinary hearing this week for allegedly demanding to be
intimate with a female employee before he could sanction her transfer from
Bulawayo to Harare.
Media Alliance of Zimbabwe programmes manager Nigel
Nyamutumbu said there was need to take issues of sexual harassment seriously to
stop the vice.
“Reports of sexual harassment in the media are concerning
and there's need for thorough investigations on all reported cases,” Nyamutumbu
said.
“Studies show that it is rampant yet there seems to be a
culture of impunity.
“The media should be a safe space for all and it's time that
perpetrators are held accountable.”
Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) secretary-general
Perfect Hlongwane said the ZBC case was a tip of the iceberg.
“ZUJ notes with a heavy heart reports alleging sexual
harassment at the public broadcaster, ZBC wherein a senior management official
is implicated,” Hlongwane said.
“The nature of allegations appear to dovetail with
observations from a 2014 gender discrimination survey by the union, which among
others, noted that some cadet/junior journalists and media practitioners were
susceptible to abuse by their counterparts, who were willing to cover for their
shortcomings in exchange for sexual favours.”
He said ZUJ took such matters seriously as is evidenced by
their campaigns to end sexual harassment in the media industry.
“It is against this background that the union has been and
is involved in various campaigns mostly through its gender mainstreaming
committee, to weed out this vice or at least mitigate against it,” said
Hlongwane.
“ZUJ’s campaigns against sexual harassment also aim to
raise awareness on sexual harassment in the newsrooms and from news sources.
“Further, ZUJ
reiterates its calls to stakeholders to put in place sexual harassment
policies, which ensure prevention, reporting and investigation of such cases to
create a safe and dignified work environment for women media workers.”
The Gender and Media Connect (GMC) called on the national
broadcaster to conduct thorough investigations into the sexual harassment
allegations.
“Over the years, we have heard of incidents of abuse and
harassment in various newsrooms by senior members of staff who have used their
positions and authority to threaten members of staff,” GMC said.
“However, these incidents have then been either dismissed
or swept under the carpet.
“In this instance, it will be difficult to do so as audio
recordings and screenshots of explicit conversations have already gone out into
the public domain.”
GMC called on the Zimbabwe Media Commission to promote good
practices and ethics in the media while seeing that the complainant mechanism
and process is instituted justly. Standard
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