Online Desk: A fraternity of women journalists based out of Hyderabad released a joint statement demanding assurance of their safety at work, on Sunday, August 25. The statement comes on the backdrop of two women journalists getting manhandled and assaulted by Congress party workers in Kondareddypally village in Nagarkurnool District, on Thursday, August 22.

In the statement, 57 female journalists jointly condemned the violence that took place against their colleagues Akula Sarita Reddy and M Vijaya Reddy, who were reporting the loan waiver initiative in Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s native village of Kondareddy pally in Nagarkurnool district, where they were surrounded by local Congress party workers..

The journalists had to request for police protection to ensure their safety, even after leaving the village.

The journalists stressed on the importance of tolerance to criticism, and said it is undemocratic to attack journalists because they work for a news organisation, backed by an opposition party. The journalists said they welcome constructive criticism and calling out misinformation, but strongly oppose harassment on the field and cyberbullying at online spaces.

The statement listed out several incidents of undemocratic treatment of women media persons who are working on the ground. The hostile environment at work, which they say, leads many woman journalists to stop reporting and leave the line of work.

The women journalists reminded the Telangana government that it is their duty to ensure press freedom in the state. The statement called for the government to establish a rapid-response system to address the issues faced by women journalists and to introduce a policy to hold political parties responsible for the harassment and cyberbullying done by supporters and IT cell members of various parties, targeting journalists in the state.