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Indian Women Journalists’ Responses to Sexism and Sexual Harassment

Institution of author: Northwestern University, University of Maryland, Towson University

"This research examines the everyday sexism and workplace sex discrimination experienced by women journalists in India. Nearly all of the popular and scholarly attention to the experiences of Indian women journalists has focused on high profile instances of rape and sexual assault. But this focus on highly egregious, dramatic stories deflects attention from ongoing global structural problems as well as ongoing sexism and gender discrimination in journalism. Interviews with Indian women journalists indicate a concern with everyday sexism and discriminatory practices at the hands of sources, colleagues, and editors. Additionally, women journalists are not confident that newsrooms will become less toxic for women any time soon. They describe legal guidelines designed to protect women as ineffective and rarely implemented. We ground our understanding of sexual harassment in theories about the politics and power of women but also connect the persistence of these sexist practices--and women's powerlessness to prevent them--to the growing casualization of the journalism workforce in India. The precarity of the journalism industry leaves women vulnerable but reluctant to complain." (Abstract)