“You are too qualified to fail in life.” This and more quotes were given to female journalists during the entrepreneurship skills training, as a way of empowering them with skills to overcome sexual harrassment.
As Uganda joins the rest of the world to celebrate the international Women’s day, Uganda Media women’s Association UMWA, has empowered women with entrepreneurship skills to enable them come up with business ideas so that they get an income outside the little salaries that they get from their media houses.
UMWA, after doing thorough research about challenges faced by female journalists in the country, it found out that different issues such as online gender based violence, low payments, lack of gadgets, long time probations, sexual harassments among others challenge women at their places of work.
According to research by UMWA, many female journalists fall into the traps of being sexually harassed by their bosses and workmates for the sake of maintaining their jobs to earn some money however little it is. So they submit to them thinking that they would return the favour. But do they gain anything? The answer is NO.
After being sexually harassed, dumped and in most cases dismissed from work, such a female journalist gets traumatised for losing the job after all the full hopes that she had after submitting to the boss’s conditions, and then the depression she gets every time she thinks of the fact that she was used.
Umwa, based in Kisaasi under its director Margret Sentamu, has on several occasions trained journalists on different topics to keep safe both online and off line, media and law, and how to keep themselves safe from sexual harassments through giving them tactics on how to escape the boss’ conditions.
According to Margret, they found out that many female journalists depend on the little money they get from the field and the little salaries which is not enough to sustain them.
She stressed that they came up with an idea of training women with entrepreneurship skills so that they can start up small business to earn some money with full hopes that female journalists with enough money to sustain themselves can never be sexually harrassed for the sake of the little money from their bosses.
During a 2 days entrepreneurship training on 6th and 7th March 2024 at UMWA premises in Kisaasi, surprisingly journalists had good business ideas but they could not put them into practice apart from a few who started and are running some small businesses, yes, a few out of the many that attended the training. They shared different experiences of which many of them were spotted to be their hinderances towards starting up businesses and only depend on salaries from media houses, a thing that has made them live a poor and miserable life.
One of the facilitators Ambrose Kibuuka Mukiibi from Career Streams, stressed that everyone can start a business at any time and at any cost then make it grow slowly. He challenged female journalists that their personality, aspirations, and value system determines their status and achievements in the society. ” Who you are determines what you are.” He emphasised.
Kibuuka discouraged female journalists from giving up and losing hope in life since they are too qualified to fail in life.
Another facilitator Gerald Businge challenged female journalists to use everything around them to earn money since whatever is needed for them to start is around them, only that their eyes are closed spiritually. He challenged them to go home, get water, bless it and wash their faces for them to start looking around and spot every opportunity around them.
When it came to the time of woman to woman interactions, Maureen Wagubi, the Executive Director institute for Social Transformation, gave women space to share their experiences about money, work and marriage. It was an interesting session.
She listened to all experiences and encouraged female journalists to be respectful and submissive to their husbands however much they get money. However, she challenged them not to disappear from their careers for the sake of marriage since they need both work and marriage.
Moureen expressed the need in working together as women to pull resources and funds to start up businesses since it requires a group to start a business, such as creating women SACCOs.
In line with marriage and work, Irene Abalo, Editor from Daily Monitor cautioned female journalists never to get into marriage because their family members are married since many have been trapped into Gender based violence relationships that ends their careers and end up losing it all.
Another participant, a female journalist working at Radio Sapientia Kezia Namutebi a.k.a Pretty K challenged fellow female journalists especially those who are not yet into marriage to set their goals and objectives and put them straight before their partners, so that even when they marry them, they will not destroy their carrier goals in the name of marriage. She appreciated Umwa for availing them with such opportunity to get entrepreneurship skills to better their lives.
This training was attended by female journalists from Print, Online, TV, Radio, PROs, consultants among others, under the theme: “My Sister Get Real.”
