FAQ

This course has been developed by Free Press Unlimited and has been designed by trainers for trainers. It has built off work previously done by Internews with their Saferjourno and Level Up curriculum as well as the excellent work done by IREX with their SAFE Basic Training Curriculum. 

Women journalists face the same threats as their male colleagues but there are also specific risks they face because they are women, including sexual harassment, sexual assault, and gender-based online harassment. Most traditional security training for journalists does not cover these topics or provide a safe space for women journalists to discuss them. To address this need, Free Press Unlimited has created a training curriculum specifically for women journalists. Run over four days, our workshops take a holistic approach to security by combining on a daily basis physical and digital security guidance with well-being support.

Running over four days, this training curriculum is designed to address the needs of women journalists from a physical, digital and well-being standpoint. The course tackles physical, digital, and well-being issues each day rather than designating a single day to one issue. This ensures that participants are thinking holistically about their security. Journalists who take the course will learn how to plan for risk in different scenarios and will come away from training with a completed risk assessment and communications plan. The curriculum is designed to facilitate interaction between learners and to encourage journalists to share their own knowledge about safety and security in the regions that they live and work.

Yes, we welcome safety trainers to use our curriculum when training women journalists. The curriculum is designed to be adapted by local trainers using real-life and contextual examples that women journalists can relate to. This allows trainers to adjust and customize case-studies, discussion topics, and resources based on the local context. We would be happy to provide you with more information about the training and how to adapt it to your context, email us at safety@freepressunlimited.org.

Send an email to safety@freepressunlimited.org and we will tell you all about the options.

To help reporters under threat, Free Press Unlimited has launched Reporters Respond. This international emergency fund provides direct assistance to journalists and media outlets, enabling them to resume work as quickly as possible when faced with a crisis situation. Please find more information and the application form here.