Media urged to avoid stigma in GBV, health reports
September 11, 2026 2:17 am
The Executive Director of the Initiative to Resist Institutional Slavery and Exploitation, Omodele Ejeh.
Journalists and media practitioners have been urged to stop using stigmatising language, images and narratives when reporting sexual and reproductive health issues and gender-based violence.
The Executive Director of the Initiative to Resist Institutional Slavery and Exploitation, Omodele Ejeh, made the call at a media roundtable organised by the organisation and held in Ago, Lagos State on Thursday.
Ejeh, who is also the country coordinator of One Billion Rising, a global movement against gender-based violence, said the meeting was organised as a follow-up to a media training on evidence-based and rights-based reporting held in February 2026.
She said IRISE recognised the important role of the media in shaping public opinion and influencing how society understood sensitive issues, particularly sexual and reproductive health and rights.
“The media are like prophets; they shape the narrative of ordinary people.
“We understand the importance of training media and partnering with media personnel to look at how data for reporting is sourced, and how evidence is continuously used to shape the reporting that is put out there,” she said.
She urged journalists to improve the quality of their reports and make their professional voices more visible on social media, particularly as the rise of citizen bloggers had increased the volume of information available to the public.
“We want to see more improved materials in the media space, and we want to see professionals’ judgments shaping the media space because of the content that we see on social media these days—everybody is a blogger now,” she said.
According to her, journalists should use social media platforms to provide accurate information and counter misleading narratives rather than leaving the space entirely to bloggers.
“We actually want to see media representatives that are more visible on the social media space rather than looking at bloggers doing blunders in our society,” she added.
Ejeh disclosed that IRISE conducted a baseline study involving 100 media houses before organising the February training to assess how sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender-based violence were being reported.
She said the organisation examined the tone of reports, sources of information and data, as well as whether the reports contained stigmatising language or images.
“We researched how 100 media houses are reporting sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender-based violence.
“We looked at the tone of reporting, sources of data, and we looked at stigma, if the reporting was stigmatising,” she said.
Ejeh said the research identified instances where the written content of a report might be accurate, but the accompanying visuals sent a contradictory and potentially harmful message.
Ejeh cited a report on contraceptives in which the accompanying photograph showed a heavily pregnant woman with the foetus visible.
“The writings were accurate, but the picture was stigmatising,” she said.
She added, “You are talking about contraceptives and you are putting a picture of a baby inside the womb. I think those are two contradictory messages. The visuals are contradicting the reports.”
According to her, such images could confuse readers and create negative perceptions about contraceptive use.
“You are telling women, ‘Do you use contraceptives to prevent unintended pregnancies?’ But you have a heavily pregnant person in the picture,” she said.
She warned that a reader without adequate knowledge of the subject could misinterpret the report because of the image used to illustrate it.
“Ordinarily, a layman could look at it and say, ‘Are you telling me to take these drugs to do this to this pregnancy?’ So, it sends a very, very negative message,” she said.
Ejeh also expressed concern about journalists publishing reports without sufficiently considering the implications of the language and narratives used.
She said journalists’ personal perspectives could sometimes influence the way they framed sensitive stories.
“Sometimes, most times when we write, it’s just the way we’re thinking. It puts our best thinking into our writings, and it reflects our morals,” she said.
The IRISE executive director also spoke against the culture of silence surrounding sexual abuse, particularly cases involving incest and the abuse of children by family members.
She described sexual abuse by fathers or other close relatives as both a societal and mental health concern, stressing that survivors needed to be supported rather than silenced.
“I think that’s a societal and a mental health issue,” she said.
According to her, the continued silence surrounding such cases allows perpetrators to operate without fear of consequences.
“Because society keeps silencing survivors and sweeping these cases under the carpet, it continues to happen,” she said.
She called for stronger efforts to punish perpetrators while ensuring that survivors were believed and supported when they reported abuse.
“Society should do good work in punishing perpetrators and supporting survivors, and believing survivors every time that they report such cases,” she said.
Ejeh said stigma and discrimination against survivors could discourage them from speaking out and allow perpetrators to continue abusing others.
“Stigma and discrimination against survivors actually make this industry thrive,” she said, referring to what she described as an “incest industry.”
She explained that perpetrators could exploit victims’ fear that they would not be believed if they spoke out.
“The perpetrators will tell you that nobody will believe you. That alone can kill your morale. That alone can make you not even talk about it and actually die in silence,” she said.
She, therefore, called for an end to the culture of silence, stigma and discrimination against survivors of gender-based violence.
She explained that the roundtable was aimed at reviewing how the media had reported sexual and reproductive health and rights since the February training and identifying areas that required improvement.
Ejeh said the organisation also expected stronger collaboration between RISE and media professionals to promote accurate and rights-based reporting.
“Our expectations are for a stronger partnership with media personnel. The media is working hard to put out messages that are accurate and rights-based, but we learn every day,” she noted.
Johnson Idowu is a journalist at Punch Newspapers with over four years of experience covering politics, education, metro, and environment. He specializes in producing insightful and well-researched reports that inform and engage readers. Johnson’s work reflects hands-on newsroom experience, editorial insight, and a dedication to accurate, audience-focused journalism.
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