The Hidden Burden of Female Journalists in Upcountry Uganda

By Nankwanga Eunice Kasirye

A Growing Crisis for Women in Upcountry Newsrooms

Sexual harassment remains one of the biggest challenges facing female journalists like Susan Achola. Many struggle to build their careers in upcountry newsrooms where harassment is frequent and often ignored.

At the same time, unpaid labour has become normalised. Several media owners refuse to pay radio workers, and women suffer the most. For many, motherhood comes at a cost, as employers openly deny maternity leave.

Persistence in the Face of Exploitation

Despite these conditions, many women continue working. They hope that persistence will eventually lead to better opportunities as they gain experience.
However, media jobs in upcountry Uganda are extremely limited, allowing employers to exploit workers with impunity.

Limited Data and Poor Documentation

Available statistics show very little reporting on unpaid labour, denied maternity leave, or workplace harassment in regional media houses. Most research focuses on:

• sexual harassment
• violence
• cyber-bullying
• gender representation

But there is far less information about employment contracts, wages, maternity rights, or working conditions, especially in rural radio stations.

Relevant research:

• Sexual harassment in African newsrooms: https://acme-ug.org/2023/02/15/sexual-harassment-driving-women-out-of-the-newsroom/
• Online violence against women journalists: https://www.mediadefence.org/ereader/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Modules-on-Online-Violence-against-Journalists-in-Africa-2024.pdf
• Journalists’ safety in East Africa (UNESCO): https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/unesco-indicators-unveil-gendered-realities-journalists-safety-east-africa

The Risk of Speaking Out

Susan Achola’s decision to speak publicly is an act of bravery. Many journalists fear reprisals, resentment, or being sidelined by management if they report abuse.

As a result, exploitation, whether through unpaid labour or denied maternity leave, remains poorly documented, even though Susan’s story shows the issue is widespread.

A Systemic Issue Across East Africa

UNESCO and regional studies confirm that sexual harassment and gender-based threats are systemic, not isolated. These challenges affect women in Uganda and across East Africa.

Furthermore, high levels of online harassment and cyber-bullying put female journalists at risk even when they work remotely. This makes journalism a particularly dangerous profession for women, both offline and online.

Related evidence:

Regional report on violence against women journalists (2025): https://rfkhumanrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2025-GBV-Against-Women-Journalists-in-East-and-West-Africa-Report.pdf

UNESCO report on gendered threats: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/unesco-indicators-unveil-gendered-realities-journalists-safety-east-africa

When you tune in to a morning news bulletin, you rarely imagine the realities behind the voice you hear, her fears, her struggles, or the silent battles she fights to keep the news flowing. For countless female journalists in Uganda, the radio studio is not merely a workplace.
It is a battlefield. Behind the strong voices advocating for citizens’ rights lies a painful irony-many female journalists are denied the very rights they defend.

A Dream That Quickly Turned Dark

When Susan Achola secured her first newsroom job at a leading radio station in Lira City, she walked in with excitement and hope. However, as time passed, the reality of working as the only woman in a male-dominated newsroom gradually became clear, and this quickly dimmed her dream

Sexual Harassment in the Newsroom

“In a newsroom of 14 male reporters, I was the only woman,” Susan recalls.
“During meetings, every male colleague volunteered to accompany me to the field. I assumed it was support-but it was a trap.”

Her male colleagues routinely delayed field assignments so they could return late, cornering her into uncomfortable situations and pressuring her for sexual favors.

However, when she rejected these advances, she immediately faced consequences. They pulled her off field assignments, crucial for building a journalist’s career and instead restricted her to desk work. But the harassment did not end there. It came from colleagues, supervisors, and even news sources.

In 2022, while interviewing for a News Editor role in Pader, a radio manager told her plainly:
“However, he told me outright, ‘If you spend the night with me, I will secure your employment.“
Susan walked away, despite being qualified for the job.

Eight Years of Work With No Pay

“My passion was to give rural communities a voice,” she says.
“But that passion made me vulnerable to exploitation.”

Across several radio stations in Northern Uganda, she worked without written contracts, making her vulnerable to abuse and unpaid labour.

At one station in Kitgum, she worked for 23 months without pay, the manager had only paid her during the first month and later insisted she find advertisers if she wanted a salary.

This pattern repeated across five radio stations, none paid her consistently beyond three months.

Hypothetically,  in upcountry  uganda Radio stations, verbal salary promise for a radio anchor doubling as a news editor rarely exceeds UGX 300,000 (under $100) per month.
Reporters often earn UGX 500–7,000 per story, and even then, many stations still fail to pay them consistently

Denied Maternity Leave

Uganda’s laws are clear:

• Article 40 of the Constitution guarantees fair and safe working conditions.
• Section 56 of the Employment Act, 2006 grants every woman 60 working days (90 calendar days) of fully paid maternity leave.

For Susan, maternity leave has never been a reality.

“In 2014, after I delivered my first baby, the radio station management called me back to work barely a month later, even though I still needed time to recover I had to quit,” she recalls.

In 2019, after she had her second child, she requested maternity leave- however, two weeks later, the station informed her that she would receive only half pay and must return immediately. With no alternative, she took her newborn to the studio every day, laying the baby under the table as she read news bulletins and hosted shows.

Even after a C-section in 2024, the radio station called her from the hospital demanding she return to work.

She admits:
“I have never enjoyed a full maternity leave in my entire career.”

A System Designed to Push Women Out

The cycle of harassment, unpaid labour, and denial of rights forces many women to abandon journalism.
Some postpone motherhood. Others quit the profession entirely.

Even though she qualifies for leadership roles, Susan says newsroom managers routinely sideline her, giving those positions to male colleagues with less experience.

A Call for Urgent Intervention

Susan’s story is far from unique. Across Uganda, particularly in rural and semi-urban radio stations, systemic abuse and labour violations continue unchecked.

It is time for:

• Media owners follow the Employment Act and issue formal contracts.
• Government regulators to enforce labour protections for journalists.
• Parliament and policymakers to monitor compliance and strengthen protections.
• Civil society and media associations to create safe reporting channels for sexual harassment and labour abuses.