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Sexual Harassment of Female Journalists: Breaking an Iranian Taboo

August 16, 2020
Ashkan Khosropour
7 min read
Sexual harassment in the workplace is nothing new. But a long-standing taboo prevents it from being fully addressed in the Iranian media
Sexual harassment in the workplace is nothing new. But a long-standing taboo prevents it from being fully addressed in the Iranian media
"When I wore a chador, I actually endured more vulgar looks... as if everyone was keen to know what sort of a body was hidden beneath that black covering"
"When I wore a chador, I actually endured more vulgar looks... as if everyone was keen to know what sort of a body was hidden beneath that black covering"

"The senior manager of one of my projects sent me a message around three in the morning. It said, We’re having a meeting right now. You need to come here. I asked him, what was the rush? He didn’t answer, but just said, It’s just the two of us and the meeting is being held at my house. This is an absolutely vital, urgent issue. When I resisted, he told me, If you don’t come, you’ll lose the project."

Sexual harassment in the workplace is nothing new. But a long-standing taboo prevents it from being fully addressed in the Iranian media. When newspaper reports appear, they simply recount the details of an offence in the incidents pages. This article attempts to specifically deal with the issue of sexual harassment of Iranian women journalists in editorial offices both inside and outside the country.

In Iran, a man can coerce a female journalist into situations she is not comfortable with by telling her that if she does not do as he says, it will cost her her job. Abroad, these incidents in Iran are dismissed through allusions to cultural differences. This is a different country, the narrative goes. The same issues don’t exist here.

Even in the West, however, where many presume these problems have been resolved in wider society, the #MeToo movement suggests otherwise. Since late 2017 thousands of people have engaged in a campaign against sexual harassment of women all over the world, with many senior figures – particularly in cultural and political arenas – arrested, charged and in some cases imprisoned for sexual offences against their female colleagues. Some Iranian journalists working in foreign media have also been reprimanded and fired by their managers based on reports of sexual harassment.

Some time ago a group of journalists in Iran produced a documentary about workplace harassment, published on their own platform, Ravi Online. In the video, female journalists based both inside and outside Iran spoke about their experiences of physical and verbal abuse in the workplace – some with their backs to the camera.

For fear of losing their jobs, many said, they did not speak out and even lost sight of the correct response to an inappropriate advance at work. Some said their abuser threatened them into keeping silent. One woman, who wrote for websites focused on the arts, said the manager of one of the publications tried to befriend her and insisted that “becoming his friend” would improve her working life.

“He said, ‘If you become my friend, you can be the special reporter for such-and-such, and for celebrities’. When I refused, he was upset and for a long time, used various pretexts to block me from doing my job. So I quit.”

Another of the women, a veteran Iranian journalist, recalled: “Early on in my career, when I was in my twenties, the deputy head of one of the country's most important organizations called me to his room. I thought we were going to do an interview, but he closed the door and said, ‘Let's be friends’."

His words, she said, shocked and confused her to the extent that she simply left the room without responding. Later she changed jobs so as to not have to see that person’s face again.

 

An Unwritten Rule: Good-Looking Women Keep Their Jobs

Being judged on the basis of one’s appearance is a perennial indignity that afflicts the vast majority of women, including female journalists.

Azin, who has worked on public relations projects with several media outlets, told IranWire’s sister project Journalism is Not a Crime: "Although I was never in front of the camera, I knew I was always being judged for my body and based on the tastes of others. I’ll get the project, but not based on my abilities. Whenever I do something positive or important, many people attribute that to my appearance and attractiveness, not to my abilities. This attitude is frustrating."

Another female journalist, who also has a focus on the arts, said: "Some of our colleagues got started knowing they could secure a good position with a little flirting and makeup. Good conditions are handed to them. It cannot be said that the problem is only on the male side.”

The journalist Maliheh Lotfi stresses that these subtler forms of harassment are present in other working environments too. "This is not only about the journalistic profession," she wrote on Twitter. "Unfortunately, in all jobs where women are independent and bold, the same is true.

“But there is another point to make here. Let's be honest with ourselves. Unfortunately, many of our own sex make use of these desires to get the most out of their work.”

An Iranian journalist living in Europe notes that she has suffered harassment outside of Iran as well. “I’d always heard that such harassment may occur in the workplace,” she said, “and if people propositioned me or behaved inappropriately, I thought I’d just reject their request and then everything would be over. But this wasn’t the case.

"Sexual propositions are mostly indirect – in the form of sexual insults or behaviors that do not directly and clearly convey the purpose. In this manner, the speaker shrugs off any responsibility. When I protest, they say we’re not living in Iran and these issues can be dealt with here. I’m asked, why do I take it so badly?”

 

Colleagues and Peers Have the Most to Answer For

Recounting her own experience of sexual harassment at work, the Iranian journalist Aysan Zarfam wrote on Twitter: "During my seven years as a journalist, I have been repeatedly asked if government officials have ever attacked me. My answer is no. What about my superiors, editors, editor-in-chief? No. But my fellow reporters: yes.

"Four years ago, I was climbing the stairs to the editorial department. No-one else was there but one of my male colleagues, who I also happened to be friendly with, who was coming up behind me. Suddenly he said that the back of my mantle was dusty, and started brushing off the dust without waiting for my answer. He used this pretext to touch me.”

Reporter Shadi Maki has also used Twitter to narrate a different sort of harassment. "You dive into the crowd to ask questions of the person in charge. In that crowd, you realize that...

“You cannot interrupt the person who is answering your questions. And because of the crowd, you cannot even turn around to see who it was."

In editorial offices, some journalists report being the unwilling subject of advances from older colleagues. "Some people say ‘You're like my daughter and that’s why I'm comfortable with you,’" said one reporter. "With this justification, they repeatedly put their hands on my legs or touch my back."

Others have used social media to take a stand against their colleagues and warn them off any further inappropriate behavior. The journalist Elham Nadaf wrote on Twitter: "I will name and describe in detail, if I have to, the person who was a member of Hamshahri magazine for many years and harassed many women. Despite our revelations about him, he still appears as a researcher and cultural figure in various television networks, and talks about ethics and humanity!"

Of course, not all female reporters have experienced harassment at work. "I was not harassed by anyone in the office," said a veteran journalist who worked mainly with younger colleagues. "We were all like brothers and sisters.” But she added, “Of course, I treated many people harshly, and on the practical side I kept my distance from others."

Verbal or physical abuse is not limited to journalists. Those working in the technical departments of media outlets sometimes also experience the same. Samaneh, for instance, who holds a technical role at a journalistic outlet in Iran, wrote: “I still remember the days when a reporter would come and sit next to me for a page layout and put his chair so close to my seat that I had to bend my back from side to side to avoid being touched by him, but to no avail. I got up from my seat several times to correct my position.”

 

Does the Hijab Grant Immunity?

In recent years, the Iranian regime has tried to instill the idea in society that wearing a headscarf is somehow a protective method against rape and sexual harassment. The government has gone so far as to promote slogans such as the outrageously simple-minded “Hijab is immunity, not restriction."

"When I wore a chador, I actually endured more vulgar looks," said one reporter, who now wears a mantle instead. "It was as if everyone was keen to know what sort of a body was hidden beneath that black covering. When I put on a mantle, the look-overs dropped off."

Fahimeh Tabatabai has also noted that many forms of harassment occur whether or not one is wearing a veil. "I mean that inequality and harassment of women are everywhere and in every situation, and will not leave us alone," she wrote. "Every one, in one way or another. Do you see any male reporters enduring this kind of suffering?"

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