On International Women’s Day, which falls on March 8 of each year, Al-Hurra channel devoted a full hour of its broadcast to talking with four of its female correspondents working in different regions. They talked about their experiences in the field and the difficulties they face, especially in conflict areas, as well as about the role of women in conservative societies. .
The beginning was with the Al-Hurra correspondent in Ramallah in the West Bank, Tharwat Shaqra, who pointed out that women have no choice on this International Day but to be “strong, whether in difficult or easy circumstances.”
Chakra adds that the decision for women to be strong in Arab societies is not easy, “because there are great challenges on the social and economic levels.”
However, she believes that women should always think that “they are capable of being an independent and strong entity.”
Chakra also spoke about many factors that contribute to a woman’s strength, the first of which is “the small environment from which she emerges, which is the family,” indicating that her parents and her male brothers had “a fundamental role in strengthening her role in society, which in turn must contain her and provide her with psychological support.” “.
Not far from Ramallah, specifically in Gaza, whose residents are going through difficult humanitarian conditions since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas last October, Al-Hurra’s correspondent in the city, Wissam Yassin, talks about the difficult conditions facing women in the besieged Strip in general, and as she is a journalist and the mother of a family on Private level.
Wissam says, “Life is very difficult in Gaza, not only for her but certainly for all women in the Strip.”
Wissam adds: “As a journalist, I have a family, and I am also a citizen living in this difficult time during the war, there are many responsibilities that have multiplied beyond description.”
Wissam describes how she often becomes tired as a result of the continuous coverage of the war, but she continues to work tirelessly.
Wissam says that her hopes are many, but with regard to women, she hopes that the Palestinian woman will have better days and be able to determine her destiny, choose how she will live, and have her own independent personality.”
Wissam mentioned painful numbers about the number of women killed in the war, most of whom were mothers and housewives, as the victims reached about nine thousand women out of more than 30 thousand Palestinians killed in Gaza, according to figures from the Hamas Ministry of Health.
Wissam says, “There are about 60,000 pregnant women suffering from malnutrition and dehydration, and five thousand give birth every day in dire circumstances. Some women give birth in tents or in the streets, and some do not find milk for the children.”
According to the United Nations, about 614 million women and girls live in conflict-affected areas, from Gaza to Ukraine, Haiti, Sudan and Afghanistan.
The United Nations indicates that Gaza has become a protection crisis for women, with nearly a million women and girls displaced, and two mothers killed every hour since the beginning of the crisis.
In neighboring Lebanon, Al-Hurra correspondent Rodin Abi Khalil talks about her experience in field work in conflict areas from Ukraine to her home country, which was affected by the events in Gaza.
Rodin says that the challenges facing women journalists are greater compared to their male colleagues, especially in some societies or places where there is a stereotypical view of women and that they are incapable and not as strong as men.
Rodin spoke about the great challenges she faced while covering the war in Ukraine, the most important of which was the language barrier and how she was able to overcome it.
From Ukraine to the southern border of Lebanon, Rodin points out that there are daily difficulties facing reporters covering the events, the first of which is “security challenges, in addition to psychological and physical challenges.”
As for Al-Hurra’s correspondent in Nouakchott, Taiba Al-Ghouth, she points out that the nature of conservative society in Mauritania poses a major challenge for women journalists.
In addition, Taiba, a mother of two children, talks about another challenge, which is reconciling her work with her role as a mother who is trying to adhere to her family and social duties.
“When there is a family and children, the time taken up by the journalistic tasks will be much greater than the time left for the family and children.”
She adds: “We live in an open Mauritanian society in which you must always be present at home and at family meetings, but we do not know when we might be assigned to a field mission, where you are forced to leave the house even if you have guests at home, and this is a strange thing in Mauritanian society.”
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