To celebrate UN World Press Freedom Day, the European Endowment for Democracy together with the other organising partners announce Difference Day 2021!

We welcome you on 2 & 3 May for an event packed with insightful debates and speeches! 

This 7th edition of Difference Day focuses on "Women Breaking the News".

In spite of the progress made over the last 25 years—and there are more women in media and more female executives than ever before—media still churn out female stereotypes that limit the power of women in society. According to one global survey, if we continue at the current rate of progress it will take another 75 years to achieve gender equality in media.

Women are far less likely than men to be seen in the media. As subjects of stories, women only appear in a quarter of television, radio, and print news. In a 2015 report, women made up a mere 19% of experts featured in news stories and 37% of reporters telling stories globally.

The women journalists surveyed by ICFJ and UNESCO said they had been subjected to a wide range of online violence, including threats of sexual assault and physical violence, abusive language, harassing private messages, threats to damage their professional or personal reputations, digital security attacks, misrepresentation via manipulated images, and financial threats.

They are also increasingly networked and associated with orchestrated attacks fuelled by disinformation tactics designed to silence journalists.

Around the world, female journalists are not unusual. Yet in some countries they face exceptional dangers in the course of their work. Because they are journalists, but also because they are women. Difference Day aims to draw attention to this and give them the platform they deserve. 

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Check out the programme HERE