THE WOMEN BREAKING THE WORLD NEWS
So far, 2016 has been marked by a churn of tumultuous, historic, and often violent events – and the stories are being told by an unprecedented number of frontline female reporters. Grazia brings you their take on the world around them
The woman leaning out of the van was wearing a crop top and tiny denim shorts, her tangled hair extensions fell all the way down to her diamanté belt. ‘Allahu Akhbar,’ she screamed as the van, which was covered in Turkish flags, sped down the street.
I’ve been stationed in Istanbul for six months now, working across the Middle East, and have quickly learned that nothing is ever what you’d expect. In the last fortnight, since a failed military coup took place in Turkey, it’s even stranger than usual. The country is deeply divided: government supporters are celebrating in the streets, while many liberals fear a state crackdown.
I’m always struck by how lucky I am to have been brought up in a culture where girls are valued, and where the idea of them thinking independently isn’t considered laughable.
When I interviewed an ISIS defector recently, I asked what his wife – who was 15 years old – thought about escaping
life in the caliphate. He looked at me like I had asked about his cat’s opinions on the move. ‘She just came with me,’ he said, perplexed.
Being female, it is easier to gain access to stories about women, which in conservative cultures are often out of bounds to male reporters. This May, I was working with a male photographer on a story about Syrian refugees in Istanbul. We were in a house with about five women, 20 children and one man.
I tried to interview them all, but the one man was the only person who would answer questions. I was used to talking to women alone – where they are as outspoken as any Westerner. But his presence had made them clam up.
No wonder women have been cut out of history. Thankfully, at least in journalism, this is changing. In Istanbul, all but one of the British correspondents are women. I look up to all of them for their even-handed coverage of this complicated, fascinating bit of the world.