Scholars at Risk Speaker Series: Farai Gonzo

Journalists are often society’s most powerful means of “speaking truth to power.” Independent journalists serve the public as investigators, historians, fact-checkers, and writers, giving civilians the power to make informed decisions and hold their political leadership accountable. In many places around the world, this also makes journalists among the most targeted individuals in less-than democratic states, where accountability is avoided at all costs. Vulnerable to violence, detention, and worse, journalists sometimes put their lives on the line to report. And in many cases around the world, being a woman journalist makes on e especially vulnerable to retribution.

Dr. Farai Gonzo earned her MA in International Relations and National Security Studies at the University of Zimbabwe and her PhD in Social Justice Education at the University of Toronto. She worked as a journalist in Zimbabwe until her safety was no longer assured. Thanks to SAR, she is now relocated to Canada where she teaches courses on global citizenship, human rights, and political development.