Balkan Investigative Reporting Network and NGO Atina are launching a series of online training courses focusing on gender-sensitive reporting on human trafficking and violence against women.

Journalists and writers from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia are invited to register for a two-day online training course on practicing gender-responsive reporting on human trafficking and violence against women.

The main idea behind the training is to examine and expose worrying and increasing trends in the incidence and prevalence of gender-based violence, both in the offline and online sphere in the Balkan region, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The training will be led by experienced activists from NGO ATINA, an organisation that has been running a direct support programme for trafficking and gender-based survivors in Serbia for 18 years now.

Designed to offer a deep insight into ways to avoid the most common mistakes in reporting on human trafficking and violence against women, the training will also offer participants a chance to practice methods of communication with survivors of violence. They should also encourage journalists and writers to apply the methods and lessons learned in their everyday work, raising the quality of their journalism.

There are three available slots for this online training:

November 17th – 18th

December 8th – 9th

December 22nd – 23rd

Applicants must register for one of these three slots only. The number of participants per training day is limited, so time slots should be booked as soon as possible. Scroll down for registration.

The training will be held in the English language, from 10am to 2pm. Each training day will consist of two 1.5-hour-long sessions that will encompass interactive exercises, facilitated discussions, with an evidence-based approach to group work in practicing gender-responsive reporting on human trafficking and violence against women. At the beginning and at the end of the training course, there will be a questionnaire, and participants will be invited to keep a journalistic diary.

Agenda

Day I

10:00 – 10:30 Introduction of participants, topic and activities

10:30 – 12:00 Not victimhood reporting, but promotion of the agency of women

• Proactive role of journalists in understanding the context of human trafficking and violence against women (meaning of the phenomenon, why it happens, who are the perpetrators and who are the victims, what are the main trends and statistics, involvement of journalists in the process of identification, referral, assistance and court proceedings

12:00 – 12:30 Break

12:30 – 14:00 How to avoid the most common mistakes while reporting on human trafficking and violence against women

• Deconstruction of stereotypes and prejudices

Day II

10:00 – 10:30 Warm-up and recapitulation of the previous day

10:30 – 12:00 Why wording matters

• Communication with survivors and practicing preferred terminology for reporting

12:00 – 12:30 Break

12:30 – 14:00 Reporting on specific types of violence against women

• Understanding of violence and abuse in the digital sphere

For more information, contact: Jelena Hrnjak (jelena.hrnjak@atina.org.rs).

Please register here and select a preferred slot. Upon registration, you will receive an email confirmation, and a Zoom link will be sent to all participants a few days before the training course.

The training is being organised with support from the Balkan Trust for Democracy, a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Belgrade.