TOP EU MEDIA PRIZE GOES TO REPORT ON ABUSE OF ROHINGYA WOMEN

Sun 03 October 2021:

The Lorenzo Natali Media Prize has awarded the top prize to a compelling report that exposes forced marriages and sexual exploitation of Rohingya women.

The awards, which are organized by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA), honor journalists who have done outstanding work on subjects like democracy, human rights, inequality, and climate change.

For this year’s edition, the juries chose to reward Indian journalist Pari Saikia with the Grand Prize for her investigative article that follows the aftermath of the Myanmar military’s crackdown on Rohingya Muslims and the plight suffered by the women who fled the persecution.

Through harrowing testimonies, Saikia chronicles how Rohingya women were tricked by traffickers into marrying unknown, older men in Kashmir. The article relates the repeated abuse the brides endured at their hands of their spouses and their desperate search for being reunited with their families.

The jury described Saikia’s work as “illuminating reporting with the potential to bring the topic into policy-makers agenda and affect the necessary changes that protect vulnerable women”. The story was originally published by Vice Media India.

“It’s not a win for me but for the women who have been fighting every day of their lives for justice, dignity and freedom. In a way, this award will create more hope for them,” Saikia said in a video statement, expressing her gratitude for the award.

“These women trusted me enough to tell me their stories and I promised them to share their plight to the world,” she added, vowing to continue her investigation into human trafficking.

Congratulations to the 2021 #NataliPrize winners!

This year, the prize rewards the excellence of 3 brave women journalists reporting for a better world and giving a voice to those whose vital message is often overlooked.

Meet them!⬇️ @seekingsrishti @MariaAltimira @parisaikia02 pic.twitter.com/uzdjNhz2uH

— European Commission 🇪🇺 (@EU_Commission) September 30, 2021

India-based journalist Srishti Jaswal received the Best Emerging Prize for her report denouncing India’s “ignored” hunger crisis. According to Jaswal, the Indian government has not released any official data on starvation and poverty since 2012, making it impossible to truly assess the scope of malnutrition across the country.

Under the title “A Death By Hunger”, the story features testimonies from local population in the north-Indian city of Agra accompanied by striking black-and-white photographs of emaciated citizens taken by Jaswal herself.

“Hunger and starvation is one of the most ignored aspects of the COVID pandemic, despite the fact it has a direct correlation to it. The government refuses to accept that people are begging because of hunger on the streets of India,” she said.

Congratulations to the 2021 #NataliPrize winners 🏆🏆🏆

👏 @seekingsrishti in the Best Emerging Prize Category
👏 @MariaAltimira in the Europe Prize Category
👏 @parisaikia02 in the Grand Prize Category

Follow the thread ⬇️ to read about their winning pieces pic.twitter.com/scoZNUhbd7

— EU International Partnerships 🇪🇺 (@EU_Partnerships) September 30, 2021

The awards were selected by a five-person jury comprising international experts in media and development. The jury chose the winners from a final selection of entries reviewed by four journalism schools in Brussels, Lisbon, Pamplona and Beirut.

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