Women Taboos Radio, South Africa

Project name: Women Taboos Radio

Project location: South Africa

Website: http://www.wtr.org.za/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Women-Taboos-Radio-943372225764955/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/taboosradio

Project description:

Women Taboos Radio is Africa´s first ever digital, nonprofit, media channel that trains vulnerable women (ages of 18 to 35) with Digital Journalism skills to write, discuss, film, publish or broadcast exclusively on their sensitive gender Taboos health, income or culture topics.

Women Taboos Radio goal is to break sensitive gender taboos practices that hurt gender equality progress especially for women, refugees, sexual minorities, asylum seekers or the disabled. Young men, too, are part of our gender taboos media focus.

Women Taboos Radio was founded in June 2016 in South Africa but its broadcasting output reaches into neighbor countries of Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Zambia, Lesotho etc.

Women Taboos Radio leadership team is made of six women and four men, all under 35, from four different African countries. Their skills include award winning investigative journalists, a medical doctor, a chartered finance analyst, gender activists, sex workers, refugees, ordinary men and women. Its participants have been honored by UN Secretary General for their gender media excellence.

Women Taboos Radio is aggressively producing groundbreaking gender, investigative journalism that shines a spotlight on sensitive taboos that impact refugees, sexual minorities, sex workers or the disabled.

The Radio´s founders have produced UN award winning reporting on important topics like transgender rights, forced prostitution or sex workers murders.

The media output of WTR is distributed to global publications like One Campaign Magazine.
Taboos are such difficult gender topics that the media and society avoid.
Examples of gender Taboos are:

Why some poor, guardian Southern African mothers insert crude objects into vaginas of orphaned young daughters to break their virginity and push them into early sex trade to earn money

OR

Why lesbian women activists in South Africa who campaign for women to have the right to live in men-only colonial era hostels are sometimes brutally murdered

Goal and purpose of the project:

The key goal of Women Taboos Radio is to commission Africa´s first ever Taboos Stories Reporting Series by web, print, mobile audio and video on sensitive gender taboos topics.

Goal is to commission and publish Taboo Stories from citizen Taboos Reporters who use pen, camera and smartphones to document taboo gender topics that adversely affect women, sexual minorities, or refugees.

Goal is to print Africa´s first ever Taboos Booklet Series and share with police, schools, faith groups, clinics, communities.

Goal is to recruit young men to participate in the gender equality debate by creating Africa first Men Gender Taboo Channel.

Motivation of the applicant / applicant team:

We are Women Taboos Radio. Women Taboos Radio is Africa´s first ever digital, nonprofit, media channel that trains vulnerable women (ages of 18 to 35) with Digital Journalism skills to write, discuss, film, publish or broadcast exclusively on their sensitive gender Taboos health, income or culture topics.

We would benefit from this prize money because it will empower us to create Africa´s first ever Women Taboos Festival, Women Gender Taboos Reporting Series, Men Gender Taboos Radio Channel and print Africa´s first ever Taboos Gender Booklet.

Our work is positively fulfilling the UN 2030 SGD of “Gender Equality.”
 

Use of prize money:

Commissioning Africa´s first ever Taboos Stories Reporting Series by web, print, mobile audio and video on sensitive gender taboos topics. Euro 6000.

Train the first 10 Citizen Community Taboos Reporters who use pen, camera and smartphones to document taboo gender topics that adversely affect women, sexual minorities, or refugees. 3000 Euros

Print Africa´s first ever Taboos Booklet Series and share with police, schools, faith groups, clinics, communities. 2000 Euro

Create and broadcast by mobile, audio, video Africa first digital Men Gender Taboo Channel. 4000 Euro.