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Women journalists in conflict zones face rising online abuse, Maria Ressa tells UN

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Women journalists reporting from crisis zones face growing online abuse, gender-based attacks and impunity, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa told a high-level event at the United Nations this week, UN News reported on 28 October 2026.

women journalists: A woman broadcasts from a radio studio
A woman broadcasts from a radio studio Photo: © UN Women/Sayed Habib Bidell via UN News (editorial use with credit).

Maria Ressa on attacks against women journalists

“Every woman journalist driven out of a conflict zone is a peace process that loses its witness,” said Ressa, co-founder of the Philippine news organisation Rappler. She urged governments to move beyond promises and act to protect women media workers. “When the messenger is a woman, it is sexualized, it’s dehumanizing, and it is relentless,” she said, adding that at the height of the attacks against her she received 90 hate messages an hour. The event, held during Women, Peace and Security Week, was organised by Greece’s Permanent Mission, UN Women and UNESCO, 26 years after Security Council resolution 1325. She recalled how Georgian journalist Mzia Amaglobeli, who remains imprisoned, held up a copy of How to Stand Up to a Dictator in court. “Kill the messenger to kill the message,” Ressa said.

Key Facts

  • Speaker: Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace laureate
  • Online violence: 75% of women journalists surveyed
  • Offline link: 42% (up from 20% in 2020)
  • Afghanistan: about 2,800 to fewer than 700 women journalists
  • Resolution 1325: adopted 26 years ago

“Every woman journalist driven out of a conflict zone is a peace process that loses its witness.”

— Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize laureate

UN Women and UNESCO data on online violence

Artificial intelligence is adding to the threat, enabling deepfakes, fabricated sexual images and cloned voices, UN News said. According to UN Women, nearly one in four women human rights defenders, activists and journalists reported AI-enabled abuse. A recent UN Women and UNESCO study found that 75 per cent of women journalists surveyed had experienced online violence, and 42 per cent linked online attacks to abuse or assault in the physical world, up from 20 per cent in 2020. Ressa called for stronger accountability for perpetrators and the tech companies that amplify abuse, and for funding for women-led journalism. Recent research shows online attacks once dismissed as “virtual” problems are now spilling offline, UN News said.

Afghanistan: fewer women in newsrooms

Afghan journalist Hamida Aman, who launched Radio Begum in March 2021, said that, citing International Federation of Journalists figures, the number of women journalists in Afghanistan fell from about 2,800 before the Taliban takeover to fewer than 700. “Being allowed to operate doesn’t mean being free to operate,” she said, adding that the station had been threatened and temporarily shut. UN Women Deputy Executive Director Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda said that when women journalists are silenced, the women whose stories they tell are silenced too. When she launched Radio Begum, her aim was to create a space where Afghan women could share their experiences and access information. Some colleagues have been jailed for more than six months, she said.

Why It Matters: When women reporters are driven out, coverage of how wars affect women and families shrinks, which weakens public understanding and accountability.

Also on TrendDesh: Women and girls in conflict: share of civilian war deaths doubles since 2021, UN report says · Domestic workers: four in five lack formal job protection worldwide, ILO report finds

Source: UN News: Protecting the storytellers · UN Women · UNESCO: Safety of journalists

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