Chapter 15: Gendered Power Relations and Culture of Silence: An Exploration of Female Interns' Sexual Harassment Experiences in Nigerian Newsrooms

Feminist advocates and scholars have had to contend with the challenge of sexual harassment for over four decades now (Samuels, 2003). Sadly, women’s experiences of sexual harassment have not changed much despite changes in legislation against sexual harassment, especially in the workplace. Workplace sexual harassment (WSH) remains an endemic scourge that continues to undermine women’s authority and reinforce sexist stereotypes in the workplace through sexual objectification (McLaughlin et al., 2017). WSH affects women in various sectors of society globally. For instance, a 2016 study of 28 European Union countries reports that 55% of women have experienced some form of sexual harassment in their lifetime (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, 2014; Directorate-General for Communication, 2016). Similarly, Fitzgerald and Cortina (2018) estimated that half of the women working in the United Kingdom will experience at least one form of sexual harassment in the workplace during their lifetime. In the United States, 59% of women reported having experienced physical or verbal sexual harassment (Graf, 2018). Although sexual harassment is hard to define because its constituents are subjective and context-dependent, this chapter adopts the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO, 2020) definition for standardisation purposes. The ILO policy brief (p. 1) describes WSH as

While men can also be victims of sexual harassment, studies show that men experiences of WSH are less documented (Carstensen, 2016; Farkas et al., 2020). Despite ongoing advocacy for the eradication of gender inequality and sexism in the workplace, sexism still exists in various professions, including journalism. Indeed, because of the gendered nature of the journalistic profession, women in media still grapple with various challenges related to sexism, including low wages, violence, subversion, and sexual harassment (Harris et al., 2016). Research from 20 countries across three continents, namely Africa, Asia, and Europe, shows that 41% of women media professionals have experienced some form of sexual harassment in the workplace, and half of women media professionals from six African countries reported having experienced sexual harassment (Blumell & Mulupi, 2022b). In Nigeria, 38.1% of women media professionals have experienced sexual harassment (Blumell & Mulupi, 2021).

Sexual harassment most often occurs in a context of unequal power relations (International Labour Organisation, 2020). Moagi (2023, pp. 64–65) notes that WSH is ‘a prominent feature of unfair labour practises and a means for discrimination and gender inequality in many institutions globally. Sexual harassment in the media industry has severe implications for women’s careers, leading to career stagnation, reduced job satisfaction, and mental health issues, ultimately hindering their professional growth and advancement such that women leave the profession or feel isolated, marginalised, and excluded from opportunities (Akinbobola, 2020; Blumell et al., 2023). While there has been extensive research on sexual harassment (Karami et al., 2021), few studies have examined WSH in relation to the experiences of interns in media organisations. This chapter broadens the discussion on WSH to include a group that embodies an intersection of vulnerabilities because of their gender and status in the organisational and socioeconomic hierarchy. With a focus on female interns in media organisations in southwestern Nigeria,¹ the study seeks to answer the following questions: What are the sexual harassment experiences of female interns in Nigerian newsrooms? How do victims of sexual harassment handle harassment and seek redress? What organisational policies and internal regulatory mechanisms are available for victims of sexual harassment to report perpetrators and seek redress? The rationale for investigating the current state of sexual harassment in Nigerian newsrooms stemmed from my experience of sexual harassment as an intern about two decades ago, but recent studies indicate that sexual harassment remains a prevalent and persistent challenge for women journalists in Nigeria, hindering their career aspirations (Akinbobola, 2020; Blumell et al., 2023). Using the propositions of radical feminist theory and the concept of the culture of silence, I argue that sexual harassment is mostly driven by the need for control or domination rather than sexual gratification (Thompson, 2001). I also argue that prevailing sociocultural gender norms and the culture of victim-blaming or stigmatisation may prevent victims of sexual harassment from speaking up or seeking redress (Fernando & Prasad, 2018; Hershcovis et al., 2021).

Sexual harassment has been a subject of increasing academic attention since the early 1970s (see MacKinnon, 1979). The problematisation of sexual harassment gave women not only an avenue to identify a set of unacceptable behaviours against them in the workplace, but also an opportunity to lodge complaints and mobilise to seek redress and tackle the scourge (Bacchi & Jose, 1994). Despite concerted efforts to stem the tide of sexual harassment, it continues to constitute a menace to women all over the world, leading to increased advocacy and academic interest to understand and tackle it. In a systematic review of studies of sexual harassment across various contexts from 1977 to 2020, Karami et al. (2021) found that sexual harassment has been studied using such different variables as age, race or ethnicity, sexual orientation, geographical location, and whether it took place in social or professional spaces. They contend that WSH was the most researched theme in sexual harassment studies, and their review identified studies of sexual harassment in such various other social spaces as schools, homes, online spaces, hospitals, and the military and a focus on feminism, media, politics, and sexual harassment that constitutes a new trend in the 21st century. The findings of Karami et al. (2021) are not only indicative of the prevalence of sexual harassment in the workplace, but also confirm that sexual harassment is tied to sexism and the unequal gendered power dynamic of the workplace (see McLaughlin et al., 2012; Moagi, 2023). In other words, gender and sexism still play a pivotal role in mediating the experiences of women in media across the world.

Women journalists grapple with discrimination and sexual harassment not only from male colleagues but also in the field from news sources, often in positions of authority, who request sexual favours in exchange for interviews (Lachover, 2005). For instance, Kabah (2019) notes the male dominance in newsrooms in his investigation of the gendered experiences of female journalists in Tamale, the capital of the Northern Region of Ghana. The experiences of Ghanaian women journalists exemplify quid-pro-quo relationships; in other words, sexual favours are requested in exchange for material benefits (Anderson, 2006). Harris et al.’s (2016) study of the impact of gender on the risks female journalists face in conflict reportage notes that women are more susceptible to risks like targeted killings and sexual harassment than their male counterparts due to their gender. In a study of the lived experiences of women journalists in Sub-Saharan Africa, Akinbobola (2020) identified sexual harassment as a challenge that denigrates women in media and hinders women’s entrance into and progression in the journalistic profession. Indeed, Akinbobola (2020) reports that sexual harassment is the second-most-shared challenge confronting women journalists in countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, and some of the participants in the study narrated experiences of sexual harassment as a condition for work in their respective media organisations. A cross-continental study of the impact of sexual harassment on job satisfaction in the news industry across 16 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, southeast Asia, and North Africa and the middle east flagged the prevalence of both verbal and physical forms of sexual harassment in newsrooms and regional differences in the frequency of sexual harassment (Blumell et al., 2023): Sub-Saharan Africa reported the highest frequency of sexual harassment and the lowest level of job satisfaction. More importantly, Blumell et al. (2023) note that while sexual harassment has significant negative consequences on women journalists, few women report their harassers.

Blumell et al.’s (2023) findings echo arguments about the culture of silence and secrecy that permeates discussions about experiences of and the prevalence of sexual harassment in the workplace across the globe (Spiliopoulou & Witcomb, 2023). North (2016), for example, reports findings from a survey of the sexual harassment experiences of female journalists in Australia shows that not only that sexual harassment is an ongoing and systemic problem in the Australian media industry, but also that there is a lack of awareness of what behaviours constitute sexual harassment and how to lodge complaints. This research highlights the importance of arguments for the institution of legal rights and established processes to empower women and victims of sexual harassment to lodge complaints and seek redress (North, 2016).

Feminist scholarship views sexual harassment as a fallout of women’s disadvantaged position in society, which has not only marginalised them, but also made them subjected to domination and control (Uggen & Blackstone, 2004). In other words, feminist scholars view the phenomenon as a means through which men exercise power over women. Wilson and Thompson (2001, p. 61) describe WSH as ‘an inappropriate use of power that isolates, undermines, and degrades women’. Bacchi (1999) similarly conceptualised WSH as an intrusive male behaviour intended to denigrate and humiliate women. Thus, sexual harassment is considered an act rooted in power and control over an individual because of their gender.

Radical feminist scholars argue that sexual harassment is embedded in societal structures of oppression. They argue that gender and sex are social constructs by which men assert authority and dominate women. They also propose that patriarchy, also referred to as male supremacy or male dominance, is a central organising system of society such that women constitute an oppressed ‘sex class’ (Grosser & Tyler, 2021; Thompson, 2001). Thus, they perceive sexual harassment as an offshoot of patriarchy used to intimidate and silence women in various contexts, including the workplace, and view male domination and control as a social system that perpetuates gendered power imbalances (Thompson, 2001). Radical feminist scholars also argue that sexual harassment impedes women’s experiences of equal opportunity in employment and other sectors of society. Although radical feminists do not consider male dominance and women’s subjugation universal and unalterable, they take pride in identifying and naming domains or systems of male domination with a view to challenging the status quo and dismantling the existing order of domination.

Radical feminists further contend that sexuality is central to women’s suppression (Thompson, 2001). They argue that WSH is a form of gender discrimination experienced mostly by women (Holland & Cortina, 2016). Contrary to the general belief that sexual harassment is a result of attraction, studies have identified it as a behaviour motivated by a desire for control and domination rather than a desire for sex (Bargh et al., 1995; Wilson & Thompson, 2001). Hence both younger women, who are more likely to be in subordinate positions, and their older counterparts in positions of authority are prone to experiencing sexual harassment (McLaughlin et al., 2012; North, 2016). This argument is useful to this study because it encapsulates female journalist interns’ experiences of sexual harassment within feminist scholarship.

Paulo Freire (1970) first used the concept of a ‘culture of silence’ in his Pedagogy of the Oppressed to explain the dynamics of power and domination within oppressive cultures. In explaining the culture of silence, Freire posits that unequal social relations create a culture of silence whereby the subordinate or oppressed are unable to express their experiences and struggles openly. Freire argues further that a prevalent culture of silence may cause oppressed individuals to internalise their oppression, suppress their self-image, and develop feelings of powerlessness such that for the oppressed to break free from the culture of silence, they must develop critical consciousness by recognising the oppressive structures and actively seek liberation and social transformation. Although the culture of silence was originally conceptualised to describe impoverished and illiterate underclasses across the world, feminist scholars have employed it to generate insights into why sexual harassment still lingers in various contexts despite years of awareness, advocacy, and litigation (Fernando & Prasad, 2018; Ford et al., 2021).

Cultures of silence around WSH not only result from individual actions alone, but also exist within organisational structures and social networks. Fernando and Prasad (2018) identified line managers, HR personnel, and ordinary colleagues as examples of people complicit in perpetuating silence or secrecy on sexual harassment cases in the workplace. Morrison and Rothman (2009), in their examination of the interplay between power and silence in organisational contexts, note that employee silence results from a combination of psychological and behavioural effects relative to an individual’s position on the spectrum of power. In other words, employees’ judgement calls about when to keep silent and when to speak up are shaped and intensified by power differentials between managers and subordinates, and employees in positions of relatively low power are more likely to choose silence over speaking up, especially if the latter portends danger or amounts to futility. Similarly, in theorising silence in relation to WSH, Ford et al. (2021, p. 516) explicate that organisations that trivialise discourses around sexual harassment or consider it a ‘private matter’ or an ‘issue to be resolved through [complicated] bureaucratic processes’ encourage the perpetuation of sexual harassment and victims’ silence.

A study on the prevalence and reporting of sexual harassment in public spaces in the UK showed that 80% of victims of sexual harassment in the country do not lodge a formal complaint (UN Women UK, 2021). Some studies on sexual harassment explicate that sexual harassment thrives because victims seldom report violations and abuse due to the fear of stigmatisation or discouragement resulting from delayed or denied justice (McLaughlin et al., 2017; Spiliopoulou & Witcomb, 2023). Indeed, some studies have also shown that women who do report their abusers sometimes do not get redress as they were either avoided or asked to provide considerable evidence to substantiate the accusation (Fernando & Prasad, 2018, pp. 1574–1584). While a lot of people are complicit in perpetuating the culture of silence around WSH, Fernando and Prasad (2018) note that creating channels for victims to report harassment that ensure victims’ complaints are taken seriously and their concerns validated is crucial to ending the damages of sexual harassment. It is also important that perpetrators are held accountable to prevent reoccurrence.

This study focuses on the sexual harassment experiences of female interns from media organisations in southwestern Nigeria between 2018 and 2023. Data were collected using a self-administered online questionnaire, a method particularly suitable for data from widely distributed samples and research on sensitive matters because it offers respondents a measure of anonymity (Babbie, 2021). The sample consisted of 96 respondents, of whom 22 were excluded because they fell outside the gender (female), age (18–28), and temporal criteria of the study, leaving a total of 74 respondents, whose responses were analysed descriptively to get an overview of the interns’ experiences of sexual harassment. The average age of respondents was 22.

The results presented contain preliminary data collected through consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research: a 32-item checklist, a three-part online questionnaire comprising demographic questions, an adaptation of the Likert scale, and open-ended questions to elicit rich responses on the respondents’ experiences of sexual harassment. One of the open-ended questions was targeted at recruiting participants for in-depth interviews. None of the 74 respondents were keen on being interviewed. The questionnaire was developed using relevant literature to adequately define and identify the key indicators of sexual harassment (Benya et al., 2018; World Health Organization, 2007). Respondents were recruited through Facebook, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp using the snowball or referral technique, which is particularly useful for researching vulnerable or hard-to-reach groups (Babbie, 2021). The questionnaire was also distributed through the researcher’s personal and professional networks of friends, journalists, journalism educators, and students. Data analysis and presentation are descriptive because of the small sample size. The researcher does not attempt to generalise the findings of this exploratory study.

Sexual harassment is sensitive research because of its research focus and the target population. Researchers must be sensitive to how their investigations may pose psychological risks to respondents by triggering such distressing emotions as guilt, shame, and embarrassment (Liamputtong, 2007). Rhodes University’s Human Research Ethics Committee approved this study and its protocols for informed consent, data usage, and potential emotional impact. The consent form advised respondents who experienced adverse emotional reactions to discontinue and seek professional help. The researcher was also careful about question phrasing in the questionnaire, anonymisation, and prioritisation of respondents’ well-being over research outcomes in accordance with feminist research ethics.

This section provides an overview of the descriptive data collected from a 32-item e-questionnaire on female interns’ sexual harassment experiences in media organisations in Nigeria. The purpose of this research is not to examine the prevalence of sexual harassment in the Nigerian media industry but rather to draw attention to female interns’ experiences of sexual harassment and how such incidents are handled when they occur. The data are presented in tables and figures to highlight instances of behaviours that constitute sexual harassment as identified by previous research.

The foremost objective of the study was to describe the sexual harassment experiences of female interns in newsrooms. Nineteen statements containing different indicators of sexual harassment were designed on a Likert-type scale to elicit responses to answer the first research question (Table 15.1). Cumulatively, the survey responses showed that 64% of the respondents did not experience sexual harassment, whereas 36% had experienced it in various forms (Fig. 15.1). A little more than a third indicated that they had experienced a form of harassment at least once or twice during the period of their internship. A few of the respondents experienced some of the indicators three or more times, and even fewer noted that they had experienced sexual harassment more than five times. This finding is consistent with Akinbobola (2020) and Blumell and Mulupi (2021), who reported sexual harassment as one of the lingering challenges for women in Nigerian newsrooms. It is also indicative of gender and patriarchal norms as an organising system for power and dominance in Nigerian media.

The second objective of the study was to identify how interns handled their experiences of sexual harassment. Three questions were used to collect data to meet this objective, and they focussed on identifying the perpetrators, the action taken by the harassed intern, and the outcome, especially for those who experienced harassment and lodged a complaint. The perpetrators identified included administrators, male superiors/supervisors, male news sources, and male co-interns (see Table 15.2). Specifically, 17.5% of the respondents reported being sexually harassed by individuals above them in the organisational hierarchy, and this finding corroborates Brown and Flatow’s (1997) finding that WSH results from power differentials between men and women within an organisation such that talented younger women are susceptible to sexual harassment as a means of control by men. Seven of the 74 respondents reported being propositioned by male news sources, a finding that adds nuance to studies by Lachover (2005) and Kabah (2019) that also documented experiences of sexual harassment between female journalists and male news sources. In short, the pervasiveness of sexual harassment in the news industry has serious negative implications for the uptake of women journalists because it can constitute an entry barrier for young and aspiring female journalists or impede their career progression.

To further understand how the respondents handled their experiences of sexual harassment, those who reported the sexual harassment were asked to indicate the steps they took to seek help or redress. This question was followed by two open-ended questions asking the respondents their reasons for reporting or not. Only six of the 27 respondents who reported having experienced a form of sexual harassment took steps to report it, while 20 did not. Although the sample for this study is not large enough to make generalisations, the proportion of interns who failed to report their harassers supports the narrative about a prevailing culture of silence around WSH globally (see Alaggia & Wang, 2020; Blumell & Mulupi, 2021, 2022; North, 2016; Sadia Jamil, 2020).

Respondents who did not report their harassers were asked to state the reason(s) for their (in)action; three stated that they did not report because they were ashamed or afraid of putting the perpetrator in trouble. This finding is crucial to highlighting the culture of blaming and shaming victims of sexual harassment instead of holding their perpetrators accountable and corroborates Alaggia and Wang (2020), who also found that victims of sexual harassment do not report their experiences because they fear retribution, being disbelieved, shame, and self-blame. Blumell and Mulupi’s (2022) study of sexist behaviours in newsrooms in South Africa and Nigeria also established the prevalence of sociocultural and religious ideologies that encourage victim-blaming and slut-shaming victims of sexual harassment because of prevailing beliefs that place the responsibility for avoiding sexual harassment on women. A surprising finding was the respondents’ fears of retribution against the perpetrator – two of the respondents preferred to endure sexual harassment rather than report the perpetrator because they did not want him to run into trouble or lose his job. While one can surmise that such a reaction might result from sociocultural and religious conditioning, further exploration of the factors involved in this reaction is needed.

Responses to the question used to assess respondents’ awareness of policies or internal structures available for victims of sexual harassment in their organisations indicates a gross lack of awareness of any such entity: only 20 respondents answered in the affirmative (see Fig. 15.2). While many media organisations in Nigeria have a designated human resources department, the extent to which these personnel highlight sexual harassment in their organisational policy or resolve cases of sexual harassment is not clear. Respondents’ lack of awareness of policies for dealing with sexual harassment cases might be indicative of a lack of such policy or a lack of awareness about existing policies. These data corroborate the finding that there is also a significant lack of awareness about newsroom policies to combat sexual harassment among women in the Australian media industry (North, 2016). What is more, respondents’ lack of awareness of available policies for dealing with sexual harassment in their respective organisations clarifies why those who did report their harassers mostly chose to report to external entities like parents, friends, or the police.

This chapter explored the experiences of sexual harassment among female interns, vulnerable due to their gender and hierarchical positions, in Nigerian newsrooms. The study established the silence about sexual harassment against women in Nigerian newsrooms as evidence of patriarchy and gendered power imbalances in Nigerian newsrooms. Interns’ experiences of sexual harassment ranged from subtle forms, like sexually suggestive jokes and sexist remarks, to outright solicitation and coercion to have sex. Many of the respondents chose not to report their harassers, and the extant literature on WSH indicates that this might be because of prevailing sociocultural gender norms, the fear of victim-blaming stigmatisation, shame, or a lack of organisational policies (or awareness of them) for addressing sexual harassment.

Some methodological challenges arose due to the sensitive nature of the research. First, the use of solely online surveys and a small sample limits the study’s generalisability. Second, the high attrition rate and respondents’ reluctance to participate in follow-up interviews hindered the collection of more nuanced data. Nevertheless, the research provides a valuable reference point for discussions on sexual harassment in Nigerian media organisations. I recommend reviewing and developing methods for researching sexual harassment in conservative contexts like Nigeria to gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenon that is so crucial for effective policy formulation. While the scope of the current study was female interns in Nigerian newsrooms, studies show that males can also be victims of WSH (Berdahl et al., 1996; Farkas et al., 2020; Gerrity, 2000; Lee, 2000). Future studies on sexual harassment should expand their scope to include young men as part of the vulnerable group. This would help to create a further understanding of male experiences of sexual harassment, especially within conversational contexts and as interactions with toxic masculinity.