Women reporting in conflict zones need preparation, not exclusion

Tina Susman reported from Iraq from 2007 until 2009. Before that, she spent 11 years in sub-Saharan Africa, covering the fall of the apartheid in South Africa, the Rwandan genocide, the Somali famine and war and conflicts in Liberia, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Angola. There’s no reason why women should be stopped from reporting in conflict zones -- they just need tips on how to protect themselves, she writes.

‘War reporter: prepare us, rather than caution us’ is part of No woman's land: on the frontlines with female reporters, an anthology of essays edited by Hannah Storm and Helena Williams. It is reprinted on Women's eNews, June 3, 2012.