Source: New Era
In what is seen as a male dominated industry, women in the media industry are often subject to the whims of their male counterparts who relegate them to minor roles. Some of the many challenges female scribes often encounter include sexual harassment, discrimination, under representation in management, exclusion and female stereotyping in content.

A former female journalist, Edinah Masanga, who was a practising journalist for over a decade, last Friday launched the Women Empowerment Foundation Scribes Africa (WEFSA) in Harare, Zimbabwe in a bid to amplify women's voices.

Speaking to New Era after the event, Masanga said women are still seen as a minority in journalism worldwide and that they all go through the same experiences.

"I have been to many countries, and women all over cry about the same problems. Unethical practices such as sexual harassment, discrimination and exclusion continue to be a challenge for women in this profession," she said.

The organisation was built on real life and personal experiences by female journalists in newsrooms to advocate for issues of women and media from outside the confines of the newsrooms, she said.

"WEFSA advocates for and promotes women's rights to speak out and have their issues reported in a media that is gender-balanced and sensitive. Our mission is to support and protect female journalists by ensuring that gender policies are put in place in newsrooms to ensure that their presence and views are represented in management and content. This will open communication channels for other ordinary women to speak in and through the media," said Masanga.

"Empowerment starts within yourself, therefore you should not allow things happening around you to affect you since you might end up developing a shell as time goes by which you might end up not breaking easily. Females in the media should stand up for themselves and believe that they can do it," she said.

"There are people who share the same experiences as mine, therefore we need an organisation like WEFSA that has the capacity to support women to deal with problems and challenges affecting female journalists," she stressed.