AJI AND PR2MEDIA HAVE LAUNCHED A GUIDE FOR PRESS COMPANIES TO CREATE SEX VIOLENCE SOP

With the support of International Media Support (IMS), AJI Indonesia and Regulation Monitoring and Media Regulator (PR2Media: Pemantau Regulasi dan Regulator Media) published a Guide to Developing SOPs for Press Companies to Handle Sexual Violence in the Workplace. This guidance is intended to make it simpler for news organizations to adopt standard operating procedures (SOPs) for dealing with sexual violence against female journalists.

The guide was developed based on the findings of the most recent survey conducted by AJI and PR2Media between September and October 2022 among 852 female journalists in 34 regions. According to the research, 57.2% of respondents indicated that their company does not yet have a standard operating procedure to address sexual violence against female journalists.

Picture 1: A Guidebook for Making SOPs for Press Companies to Overcome Sexual Violence in the World of Work

In the meanwhile, 42.8% of respondents reported that their office already had SOPs, including both particular SOPs for handling sexual assault and general SOPs, such as SOPs for the security of journalists, which include components of addressing sexual violence.

The SOP is necessary, according to as many as 15 of the journalists who participated in this study's interviews. Companies that do not currently have SOPs acknowledge that they require assistance in creating SOPs.

"Clear guidelines for the prevention and management of sexual violence cases in the workplace can at least give victims assurances that they can report their situations. This is due to the fact that this rule can guarantee that the press organization or the organization where the victim resides would handle the case,” according to Sasmito, chairperson of AJI Indonesia.

Sasmito added that the addressing of sexual violence situations in the workplace must be a shared responsibility, beginning with the corporation and extending to the government. A healthy working world of the press will be able to establish a reliable Indonesian press, which can produce quality information for a better democracy.

You can download the SOP Guidebook for Press Companies to Overcome Sexual Violence in the Workplace at the link: https://bit.ly/SOPGUIDELINE_KS