5. Media and information ecosystem
● Adopt a unified, gender‑sensitive code of conduct for media coverage of women in politics at
federal and KRI levels, prohibiting honour‑shaming, sexualised insinuations, and unverified
personal attacks in both Kurdish‑ and Arabic‑language content.
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Media institutions and journalists should maintain rigorous fact-checking and verification
processes before publishing or amplifying information, particularly during sensitive periods
such as elections, in order to prevent the spread of misinformation and ensure accurate and
responsible reporting.
Provide mandatory training for journalists, talk‑show hosts, and party media teams on ethical
reporting and moderation of debates involving women candidates, including how to avoid
amplifying misogynistic hashtags or legitimizing hate speech as “normal criticism.”
● Support independent monitoring initiatives to track hate speech and gendered disinformation
against women candidates across television, online outlets, and social media, and require
regulators to issue periodic public reports and corrective directives.
● Actively feature women, as experts and list‑leaders on core policy issues (economy, security,
governance) to counter stereotypes that frame them primarily through family or “honour”
narratives that can be weaponised online.
6. Candidates and public figures
● Build collective response protocols among women candidates (joint statements, shared legal
complaints, coordinated media responses) to avoid isolation and signal that attacks on one
woman are political attacks on all women in public life.
● Proactively integrate clear messaging on digital violence and women’s rights into campaign
narratives, explicitly linking personal attacks to wider questions of governance, rule of law,
and electoral integrity to frame harassment as a systemic issue.
● Encourage alliances between women and supportive male candidates who publicly challenge
sexist or honour‑based attacks, increasing the political cost of targeting women and shifting
the burden away from individual victims.
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