Gender-based online violence normalised in Western Balkans
Stronger legal protection and a fundamental shift in how hate speech is perceived and prosecuted are needed to protect women journalists in the Western Balkans against hate speech and ensure that justice mechanisms actively work to protect journalists rather than merely exist as nominal safeguards. These are conclusions in a study of threats against women journalists in six states: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia.
“The persistent gap between legal frameworks and the reality of female journalists’ experiences underscores a profound policy disconnect. Law enforcement remains inconsistent, selective, and at times, entirely absent.”
“This discrepancy fosters an environment where hate speech and gender-based online violence are normalised, leaving journalists with little faith in institutional protection. Many interviewees expressed frustration over legal ambiguities, the lack of prosecutorial follow-through, and the implicit tolerance of hate speech, especially when instigated by political actors”, the study says.
“In that respect, a chain of responsibility and wall of protection should be built and sustained involving employers and media organisations, journalists unions, police, state authorities, and judiciary, as well as the broader ecosystem of civil society, media, and media platforms”, the study says.
The authors of the study are Katharine Sarikakis, professor of communication science at university of Vienna, Oleksandra Gudkova, senior researcher at university of Vienna, journalist Nevena Buvač, independent researcher Aleksandra Marinkovic and Guldana Ametova who works in communication with international organisations.
The report says that Western Balkans is characterised by political fragility, navigating a challenging path towards stability, democracy, and European integration, having witnessed political transitions, territorial disputes, ethnic tensions, and the scars of past armed conflicts between 1991 and 2001.
“Ongoing political tensions and “culture wars” have migrated from the physical world to the digital space, creating a fertile ground for the proliferation of hate speech, amplifying social divisions and obstacles to the region’s political and social progress.”
“Gender-based discrimination not only subjects female journalists to increased personal and professional risks but also perpetuates a hostile environment that seeks to silence their voices.”
The paper argues, there is a disconnect between policy frameworks and the realities they aim to address.
“Interviewees highlighted that women are often targeted for voicing questions of a political nature that challenge rampant aggressive nationalism: journalists, academics, and public figures who criticise the ruling party, opposition parties, religious figures, or write critically about crime, especially war crimes, face significant harassment.”
“This targeting includes the public dissemination of lists of “traitors” in newspapers aligned with authorities, which creates targets of public hostility and creates an intimidating environment for public debate and journalism.”
Hostilities reported include death threats, threats for sexual assault and rape against the journalists’ children.
Those who reported threats said the police was either unable to do anything about the threats or in a few cases, their complaints were dismissed. The remaining interviewees said that they do not have any trust in receiving any support by the police due to the history of how institutions treat violence against women and violence against journalists.
“Only in very few cases, was there any action taken. This left women in their vast majority with a sense of frustration and distrust in the system.”
The study says that all respondents recognise that they are the targets of hate speech and hate comments due to the topics they report on: corruption, war crimes, dealing with the past, political responsibility for all of the events that took place in the 1990s, organised crime, gender equality and on the grounds that they are women and of various ethnic and religious backgrounds.
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