Cyprus’ first female journalist, Maroula Violari-Iacovides, called on male and female colleagues to practice the profession with courage and ethics and be vigilant as they monitor the other three estates, while President of the House of Representatives, Anita Dimitriou, said that the women should be “respected and honoured”.
At the same time, she referred to the bullying and discrimination that exist in male-dominated areas.
Demetriou was addressing an event in Nicosia, organized by the Union of Cyprus Journalists which honoured 12 women – longstanding members of its organization. The Union’s President, George Frangos, called on the female journalists to continue in the collective struggle for the profession and freedom of the press.
Demetriou said the journalists must be respected and honoured because ‘you are role models for us and inspire encouragement and strength for all that we are facing.’
Honouring Women’s Day, Demetriou said that these 12 women, with their voices and pens, forged paths and confronted the status quo, choosing to serve what they love, journalism. Disregarding working hours, consequences or personal cost and at the same time sacrificing what is obvious.
Demetriou spoke about the discrimination that women face, even in the field of journalism, which aims to limit their efficiency. She talked about inadequate working conditions, sexist remarks, misogyny, femicides, being dangers that should not be ignored.
She said that the House of Representatives supports freedom of expression as an inalienable human right, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The House supports the media in their mission, which is nothing more than the effective and immediate information of citizens, the control of power, based on foresight and the Code of Journalistic Ethics. “By extension, we condemn any attempt at censorship, malicious restriction of speech under conditions of fear, hatred, as well as deliberate misinformation of the public’, she added.
The House President further said that the journalists’ role is ‘more important than mine. Your pen is more powerful than our role’ and added that no one can psychologically blackmail any person or condemn a woman or a person for their gender, sexual orientation, or anything else that does not fit their role and mission.
She expressed confidence that “you will continue to serve the truth, freedom of the press, and anything that really sets us back.” “And I am very proud of you,’ she added.
In her remarks, Maroula Violari-Iacovides said that with everything that is happening around us, the fourth estate must be fully alert today, controlling the other three, which unfortunately often commit crimes at a heavy cost paid by the citizens.
Speaking on behalf of the women honoured on Wednesday, Violari-Iakovides addressed her colleagues, men and women.
‘The journey has not been and will never be easy for us. But that is precisely the charm. Continue to serve the truth, society and our homeland, holding the flag of journalism high, with courage and ethics, above all with ethics, so that we do not experience fake news and many other things. We owe it to our country and our children,’ she added.
Source: Cyprus News Agency