Female journos ‘more at risk’

This week the sexual assault of a South African journalist in Cairo sent shock waves through the media world. But it also raised the issue of the risks that journalists, especially women, face in the field. On 17 February CBS reporter Lara Logan, who hails from Durban, was assaulted by a group of men while she was covering a protest in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Although the details of the assault are unclear, it has been confirmed that she had to spend a few days in hospital upon returning to her family, who are based in the United States. Although journalists have always been in a dangerous profession – with 44 recorded deaths among journalists in the field in 2010 – Logan’s attack has brought to light the issue of attacks on female journalists, something that is rarely given much attention.