United Kingdom: CFWIJ condemns the sexist remarks against journalist Fiona Irving

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October 7, 2021, Brighton - BBC journalist Fiona Irving was interrupted by seven men during her live broadcast. The men ran across the camera screaming sexist remarks against the journalist before the transmission had to be abruptly halted. Fiona took to her social media to register her protest against the incident, calling out the misogynistic culture that enables this behaviour. This comes at a time when the United Kingdom is dealing with the question of categorizing misogyny as a hate crime.

While covering the Brighton bin strikes on Tuesday for the BBC, Fiona Irving’s piece for the camera was interrupted by seven unidentified men who ran across the frame while screaming sexist comments. One of the men was hearing saying,  “F*** her right in the p****!”, while on live broadcast. The transmission had to be abandoned and the TV presenter in the studio, Chrissy Reid apologized for the disturbance.

In response, Fiona Irving took to her Twitter account to “call out” the harassment she faced. “It’s not funny. It’s misogynistic,” read her tweet, shedding light on the culture of misogyny that women reporters are particularly vulnerable to in the field.

The incident occurred shortly after justice secretary Dominic Raab backed prime minister Boris Johnson’s decision to not categorize misogyny as a hate crime. He denied the need for legislation on the matter and went on to say misogyny is “absolutely wrong whether it’s a man against a woman or a woman against a man”. This kind of ignorance among the leadership, regarding the very definition of the word misogyny is not only astonishing but shameful. 

The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns the sexual harassment that Fiona Irving had to face in the field for merely doing her work. Remarks like Johnson’s and Raab’s not only enable such behaviour, but a misogynistic culture where miscreants like those who interrupted Fiona believe that they can act with impunity. The seven men involved in Tuesday’s incident must be apprehended and brought to account in order to set an example and to assure women reporters around the country that they can depend on their state for provision of safety.