SECOND SUCCESSFUL SUCCESSIVE COMPLAINT BY ENORB FOR ISLAMOPHOBIC IMAGES ON DH.BE

After the second complaint filed by GTTO partner ENORB in a couple of months, Belgian news site DH.be has retracted an inappropriate cover image in an article. 

In October 2019, ENORB wrote to the editor of DH.be on the subject of an article using an image of a woman in a niqab to illustrate 'hostility of Belgian residents to the wearing of head coverings'. The image was removed and replaced by a woman wearing a hijab - a much more common and representative item of clothing worn by Muslim women. 

In December, the same website published an article titled: 'Wearing the veil prohibited in two schools in Antwerp' also used a niqab as their display image. ENORB contacted DH.be again saying 'a mainstream media spreading this image misleads readers, it reinforces stereotypes and removes an understanding of the nuances and the diversity which exist within the Muslim community'. They voiced frustration that the same issue of misrepresentation had happened again, and that they expected the same correction to be made as in October.

The editor responded within half an hour, briefly stating that they changed the image in question following ENORB's request.

Though we appreciate the fast response and correction of the image used, it is very disappointing that such a mistake could happen so soon after the first. We encourage DH.be and other news sites, to consider these issues before they publish their articles, and to ensure these considerations become part of the natural publishing procedure.