Protesters attack female journalist live on air

A female journalist has broken down in tears after being attacked live on air while reporting on protests in Spain.

Laila Jiménez works as a broadcast journalist for Spanish TV network Telecinco and was reporting from a march in Barcelona to commemorate the second anniversary of the Catalan independence referendum when she was attacked.

A can of Red Bull was thrown at her by a protester in the crowd before a group of men began shoving Jiménez and yelling at her.

She had been reporting from outside of a school when the Catalan separatists began attacking her, however others in the group attempted to help and protect the rattled reporter.

Breaking down in tears as her report continued, Jiménez was accused by some protesters of "provoking" them with her mere presence at the demonstration.

Though she is believed to have escaped the situation unscathed, Jiménez later described the incident as "humiliating" according to Informativos Telecinco.

The broadcast, which aired live, led to widespread outrage over Jiménez's treatment, with many Spaniards taking to the internet to shame the protesters for their vicious behaviour.

Politicians even slammed the incident, one calling it "disgusting".

"Doing this with a female worker with a microphone on the street is disgusting," wrote Gabriel Rufián, spokesman for the Republican Party of Catalonia.

The Spanish Committee to Protect Journalists is thought to be looking into investigating the attack, with program director Carlos Martinez de la Serna demanding that authorities "bring those responsible to justice".

"The harassment of journalists covering protests in Spain is far too common. Authorities must put an end to this trend and ensure that journalists can freely and safely cover demonstrations," he told Metro.

The demonstrations in Barcelona drew crowds of almost 18,000 people, however no other incidents of violence were reported, according to local police.

A report by the International Women's Media Foundation on the treatment of women in the industry found that more than one in four female journalists had been physically attacked because of their profession.

More than half of the women surveyed had been threatened or harassed in person, many of them experiencing threatening behaviour while reporting, and a massive 63 per cent had dealt with online abuse.

Threats of death and sexual violence were common against women both online and in person, while others had private details and information shared as a form of abuse.

"This hostile environment is a direct attack on freedom of expression worldwide with the intent to silence women's voices and the stories they tell," the report said.