If it isn’t possible to lock the door of the hotel room, journalists should consider barricading it with luggage or furniture, but ensure they can escape the room in a hurry if they need to. A number of additional security measures can be used if required, including door wedges and door alarms to keep intruders from entering the room. Journalists should have a plan if someone does gain entry and consider having a legal form of self-defence near to them, such as a small can of hairspray. They should ensure they have thought about how they will use it and to what purpose. Always have a plan! Communications and Networks
Journalists should develop check-in protocols with someone they trust – be that a colleague, friend or family member. When a journalist is travelling, she should have an established time for checking in, with a clear contingency plan should she fail to make contact with her point person. She should write her contacts down (in case her phone or computer are stolen/damaged) and store them in multiple places, giving a copy to the person with whom she is going to keep contact. She should be careful of sharing contact details, plans and accommodation details with people she doesn’t know. She should also ensure that her online profile does not compromise her safety or that of those around her, and she should be especially careful with photographs, Facebook and Twitter updates and geo-locator facilities on phones and computers. A journalist should consider carrying a basic phone that nobody would want to steal and have it preprogrammed with emergency numbers on speed dial. Drivers, fixers and other team members should be vetted. Establishing passwords or security protocols is a good precaution when making initial contact with a driver or fixer, such as being picked up at the airport. Where possible, a journalist should cultivate relationships with local women and follow their lead. “If I am in a situation and there are no other women present, that’s usually a good sign for me that I need to be extra vigilant about my safety,” said one U.S.-based journalist. Health and First Aid
Journalists should travel with a first-aid kit at all times and know how to use it. In many high-risk environments, emergency services may be unavailable or ill equipped to handle serious injury. Journalists may be accountable for their own treatment and that of their colleagues. As well as first-aid kits, which should include items to treat trauma, journalists should also consider travelling with relevant medications, including antibiotics; personal hygiene products, such as sanitary towels or tampons and wet wipes; and other survival equipment, such as water purifying tablets, oral rehydration solution and extra bottled water.
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V I OLEN C E AND HARASSMENT AGA I NST WOMEN I N THE NEWS MED I A : A GLO B AL P I C TURE