Reducing crime must be preceded by interrogating society’s views on the crime in question. Knowing what society considers acceptable behaviour may ex… - Lillian Tibatemwa-Ekirikubinza

When we talk about the need to protect journalists, both men and women must be protected. But there is no doubt that women journalists are more vulnerable to certain kinds of violations of rights which perhaps men are not as vulnerable to. It is important to recognize that, when discussing the protection of rights, the groups we talk about are not homogenous. This is the reason why we must talk about violence against women specifically when discussing violence against journalists. In other words actors interested in protecting the human rights of journalists must put on a gender lense and mainstream gender into their work.

One of the things I realised is that academic work, scholarly work or legal scholarship, is actually an advantage to a person because we are talking about discussing principles of law, especially when you are serving in the highest court, the court which has the last say in dispute resolution.

I think the African human rights regime has taken up this issue, which is illustrated in the way the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights has expounded on the right to access to information as a tool for socio-economic development. This will have a trickle-down effect as we are dealing with the issues at the regional level. However, it is also important to deal with these issues at the national level through institutions that we all ascribe to, such as the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights and the African Court on Human and People’s Rights, because that jurisprudence cannot be questioned by Member States. I also think that, the fact that social media today has thrived, really helps spreading the information on violations out there.