‘Heartbreaking but always inspiring’: Lisa LaFlamme’s docu-series looks at women’s rights in Africa

In partnership with Journalists for Human Rights, veteran Canadian journalist Lisa LaFlamme is out with a new docu-series that examines gender-based violence and discrimination against women in Africa.

The award-winning broadcaster, and Rachel Pulfer, executive director of Journalists for Human Rights, appeared on Breakfast Television on Tuesday to talk about the four mini-documentaries highlighting the fight for women’s rights in Kenya and Tunisia, particularly in media, politics, and in their personal lives.

The series was launched on the Canadian organization’s YouTube channel on March 17.

One of the episodes delves into a morning show in Kenya and the challenges the women faced being in the newsroom.

“How has journalism changed lives? How does it promote democracy, promote human rights, and protect human rights? This was an opportunity to see from the ground up what the relationship between journalism and civil society is,” LaFlamme explained.

She also said it was through Journalists for Human Rights that the newsroom devised a policy to “tackle issues of sexual harassment against women in newsrooms, where they are seeing women leave in droves in that country because of the harassment the women face.”

In particular, one journalist in Kenya wanted to get her story approved, but the editor said ‘yes’ only if she slept with him.

“Our insight was we need to work with Kenyan newsrooms, journalists, management, on a sexual harassment policy that could protect women and ensure they could do their work without fear,” Pulfer said.

“These pieces for me were at times heartbreaking but always inspiring,” LaFlamme added.

LaFlamme was previously a longtime CTV National News anchor until she was let go by Bell Media last summer.

Shortly after, Rogers-owned CityNews announced LaFlamme would be a special correspondent, covering the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

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