This requires an interconnected holistic system that prioritizes physical, emotional, digital and legal security.
Global Press created an industry leading Duty of Care program to meet the specific needs of local women journalists, for whom extraction is not an option.
At Global Press, Duty of Care is implemented in three distinct ways: training (20%), day-to-day protocols (75%) and crisis response (5%).
Duty of Care is alive in our employee handbooks, editorial policies, communication tools and daily operations to keep reporters safe and healthy in a wide range of global circumstances. Our reporters live full-time in the communities they report on, which means they might face violent clashes among armed groups (Democratic Republic of Congo), runaway inflation that impoverishes them overnight (Zimbabwe) or a political situation that is a result of near-constant crisis (Haiti).
To meet these diverse and challenging demands, Global Press focuses on risk mitigation and provides training and services to our global team.
Physical security is a focal point of Duty of Care training, which is delivered in each of the six primary languages our reporters speak. Physical security training includes situational awareness, stress-based decision making, emergency first aid, surveillance detection and more. In-person training is supported by on-demand virtual training opportunities and a robust system of policies and protocols designed to ensure that reporters’ physical safety is prioritized constantly.
Did you know that journalists experience extremely high rates of trauma, stress and anxiety? Yet mental health conversations are still taboo in the news industry and mental health resources are limited in many Global Press coverage communities. To serve our team of reporters around the world, we built the Global Press Wellness Network, a team of licensed mental health practitioners who provide language-appropriate counseling for our team of reporters. Sessions are free and unlimited. Global Press is proud to partner with Talkspace, which provides every member of our global team with anindividual counselors and access to a library of more than 400 wellness resources, live courses and other support.
Online harassment is pervasive for women journalists. According to the International Women's Media Foundation, more than 70% of women in the field say they have experienced it. In fact, it's now considered a major driver for women leaving the field. Keeping our reporters digitally safe includes fighting back against online harassment. We also train our reporters on the link between physical and digital security, source protection, hacking and phishing and ensuring digital security in both high- and low-tech environments.
Global Press has both local and global counsel to ensure our team has ample representation. In training, reporters learn key laws, penal codes and strategies for navigating press freedom specific to their local community.
In 2020, Global Press received the Chester M. Pierce Human Rights Award from the American Psychiatric Association for its Duty of Care program and its “extraordinary efforts to prioritize the mental health of journalists around the world."
In 2021, Global Press was shortlisted for the SOS International Awards for the "remote resilience" of its Duty of Care program.
In 2022, Fast Company magazine named Duty of Care one of 2022’s World Changing Ideas in the “enduring impact” category.
