IWMF: Breaking barriers for women and nonbinary journalists

This story is part of a series of profiles celebrating International Women's Day. Read about more organisations who are catalysing change for women and girls around the world here.

The International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) is a global organisation built to serve the needs of women and nonbinary journalists. The foundation supports journalists around the world with reporting opportunities, fellowships, grants, awards, safety training, and emergency aid. By unleashing the potential of women journalists and creating equal opportunity they aim to bolster press freedom worldwide.

In 2022, the IWMF provided more than $2.4 million in direct funding to more than 3,540 journalists in 67 countries. They gave crucial support to journalists working in exile as well as advocacy efforts to change the culture of safety in newsrooms through leadership of the Coalition Against Online Violence and publication of new resources to support journalists facing digital attacks.

“Women and diverse journalists are disproportionately targeted because of their identities. We hope our growing resources put abusers on notice and encourage news media at-large to address the culture of silence surrounding this issue,” said Elisa Lees Muñoz, Executive Director of the IWMF on the launch of their Mental Health Guide for Journalists Facing Online Violence.