Welcome to Part 2 of our May 2024 Inspirational Interview with Fatou Warkha Sambe, journalist and founder of Warkha TV in Senegal.
Fatou is a passionate Senegalese feminist journalist dedicated to using her profession as a powerful tool in the fight against inequality and gender-based violence in Senegal. She has been elected municipal councillor in the commune of Pikine Nord. In 2023 she won the Ouagadougou Partnership Women Leadership Accelerator (OWLA) programme and the third Francophone prize for gender equality 2023.
In this part of the interview, Fatou shares her advice for other journalists seeking greater media coverage of violence against women and her plans for the next five years.
Part one of Fatou’s interview was published on 5 May 2024.
All photos are courtest of Fatou Warkha Sambe.
6. What would your advice be to the anti-VAW activists working in the media as journalists, editors, and producers in other parts of the world who wish to push for the media in their country or region to report about VAW in an accurate and informed way?
That they can change things, because the media are a powerful tool, accessible to everyone. That they must be able to use media to denounce the injustices and violence that women suffer, because there is nothing more noble than this cause and this fight allows us to change lives and influence generations and generations for a fairer, more equitable and violence-free future.
7. Tell us about your plans for the future. What campaigns, programmes or projects are you planning for the next five years?
We’ve just finished our “16 minutes of activism against violence against women” campaign, which we have been running every year for the past 5 years as part of the international Orange the World UNITE TO END VIOLENCE campaign.
We are currently working on a new campaign to call on our decision-makers to apply Article 14 of the Maputo Protocol to authorise medical abortion in cases of rape and incest and when the mother’s health is in danger.
We offer a range of educational content on women’s leadership and sexual and reproductive health, among other topics.
We are also working to obtain a licence that would allow us to have an over-the-air broadcast channel.
8.How can The Pixel Project’s supporters engage with and support your efforts and the Dafadoy Collective’s efforts to stop VAW?
By following us on all our platforms and sharing our messages to reach more people and have more impact: WarkhaTV and Dafadoy Collective.
9.In your considered opinion, how can we end VAW for good?
Make everyone understand that violence must not be committed or tolerated, no matter where it comes from.
