Ivana Hrynkiw, an Alabama journalist was denied entrance to an execution because she was told that her skirt was too short. Hrynkiw, a reporter with AL.com, posted a statement on Twitter detailing the incident that took place at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Al. Hrynkiw was reporting on the execution of Joe Nathan James Jr. She was wearing a skirt that she had worn to several other executions. She was forced to wear fisherman waders offered by a photographer. She was also made to change out of her open-toed heels after she was told they were “too revealing.” Hrynkiw called the incident embarrassing and uncomfortable. “I sat down, tried to stop blushing, and did my work as women often have to do,” she said.
Kelly Ann Scott, Hrynkiw’s editor and vice president of Alabama Media Group, said the incident was “sexist and an egregious breach of professional conduct” that “should not happen to any other reporter again,” the Washington Post reports. AL.com filed a complaint against the Alabama Department of Corrections. According to Kelly Betts, the corrections spokesperson who confronted Hrynkiw, the new warden at Holman, Terry Raybon, was enforcing a dress code that was previously dormant. Betts called Hrynkiw to apologize and said she would send out reminders to reporters about the dress code in the future. Kim Chandler, an Associatedd Press reporter, said her clothing was also scrutinized when she arrived to cover the execution. “This was the first time I had to stand in the media room to have the length of my attire checked,” she said on Twitter.
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