PRESS RELEASE
Media urged to influence national commitment to equal work opportunities for women
Saturday 12 March, 2011- ISLAMABAD- Portrayal of Women and Work in Media; a consultation with senior media personnel was attended by 25 participants from mainstream print and electronic and social media. The event was organized by UKS and ILO on 12th March 2011 here in Islamabad. Some renowned media experts shared their views on the role of media in promoting rights of women for a gender equal society; these included Amir Mateen- the News, Fahad Hussain, Director News- Duniya TV, Huma Amir- Express TV, Asma Shirazi- SAMAA TV, Rana Jawaad, Bureau Chief - GEO TV, Hasan Khan, Director News and Current Affairs- Khyber TV and Badar Alam, Editor at Herald.
Amidst widespread concern about the slow recovery in employment during the current economic recession, the International Labour Organization (ILO) Pakistan urged the Media to influence the commitment of the state to the equal employment opportunities and decent work for women which is diminishing given the current state of affairs in the country.
"Despite many successful interventions in empowering women, numerous issues still exist in all areas of life, ranging from the cultural, political to the economic. For example, women often work more than men, yet are paid less; gender discrimination affects girls and women throughout their lifetime; and women and girls are often are the ones that suffer the most poverty", said Tasneem Ahmar, CEO, UKS.
There is a massive disconnection of factual on ground realities and the policy makers, because of this communication gap, affirmative action and policy reforms are delayed and the efforts of many women who are contributing towards the economy go unrewarded and unrecognised. Woefully enough, women's issues appear to have little coverage in mainstream media and are classed as soft beat. As a result media is not emerging as a potent instrument of doing justice to true role of women in society.
It is imperative that development sector partners with media for research and development of gender sensitive news reports. This is the underlining objective of the ILO-UKS-Media collaboration.
At the event, UKS presented the findings of the 2 months media content analysis of the popular print, electronic media. The findings suggest media's representation of reality normalizes the exclusion of girls and women; they remain at the periphery of news despite the fact that for several decades now women have inserted themselves into public spaces that were once exclusively male domains. For instance, the flexibilization of labour led women to waged employment outside the home in addition to their unpaid work in the home. Public spaces are where events that make the news happen. Another startling finding is that 46% of stories reinforce gender stereotypes, almost eight times higher than stories that challenge such stereotypes (6%). The fact remains that both Print and Electronic Media continue to portray stereotypical images of women. Such as show-casing of women as a wife or a mother or for that matter a coy, submissive, suffering woman or so to speak someone meant exclusively for the home and in certain cases as another woman's enemy.
A unanimous recommendation was reached by participants that media should ethically report to fight gender stereotypes, to combat aggressive behaviour, harassment, inequality in promotion, training and pay, and to stand up for dignity of women in the world of work which includes women journalists and media professionals.
Glass ceiling and glass walls exist in the world of work but Pakistani women have successfully have broken these barriers. Said Rashid Rehman, Editor Daily Times, and further shared that there is 80% female representation in the mentioned Newspaper, it is only by affirmative action that women can get equal rights in the media.
"It is time that Media takes a stance and uses the tool and forum of communication they have to influence policies on gender equality, raise awareness on rights, achievements and challenges faced by women in the world of work. We have tried to build the capacity of junior media reporters by giving them hands on training on media content analysis through gender lens; thus identifying which news is gender sensitive or gender biased and identifying missing opportunities that could have been analysed using a gender lens", said Tasneem Ahmar, CEO, UKS. (#)
I. If you want to receive individual emails
II. Receive one mail with all activity in it
III. Do not want to receive any mail at all
Regards,
Tariq Khattak, Group Manager,
GSM = 0300-9599007 and 0333-9599007
+92-300-9599007 and +92-333-9599007
Tariqgulkhattak@gmail.com
Tariqgulkhattak@hotmail.com
REQUESTS:
1)Please directly contact sender for personal/individual correspondence.
2)Try to discuss issues that will catch attention of many readers.
3)Please avoid sending messages in any language other than English
4)Avoid sending messages addressed to many recipients.
5)Do not send messages aimed at personal publicity.
6)Please do not send personal/other links unless necessary.
7)The Group is not obliged to publish printed news,
very short/long comments and objectionable material.
8)Every mail cannot be published; it will overload Mailboxes
of our valued members.
9)Try to Disagree Without Being Disagreeable, Unsympathetic and/or Unpleasant.
x==x==x==x==x==x
Please note that,
It is a common platform for journalists and all others who are interested in knowing about the issues that are sometimes not reported. This group favours philosophy of progress, reform and the protection of civil liberties. Please share and educate others. The owners and managers of this site do not necessarily agree with any of the information. It is an open forum; everyone is allowed to share anything. Mails sent by members and non-members are subject to approval. However, we are not responsible in any way for the contents of mails / opinion sent by members. We do not guarantee that the information will be completely accurate. (Nor can print and electronic media). If you find content on this site which you feel is inappropriate or inaccurate, incomplete, or useless you are most welcome to report it or contradict it.
Thanks a lot.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Gujranwalafun@Aol.com
Gujranwala@windiowslive.com