Women in media
Women in media face the same difficulties and threats as men, and additionally experience gender inequalities, safety issues, or under-representation.
The gender-imbalanced perspective of society has the potential to promote and perpetuate harmful gender stereotypes, as behavioral scientists study the underrepresentation of women in the workforce.
This large gender gap is likely partly the result of the persistent under-representation of women reporting from war zones or insurgencies or on topics such as politics and crime.
[11] The September 2017 report of the United Nations Secretary-General outlines a way forward for a gender-sensitive approach to strengthening the safety of women journalists.
The harassment women journalists face, whether online or offline, threatens their right to freedom of expression and limits the diversity of opinion in the media.
[16]An analysis of more than two million Tweets performed by the think tank Demos found that women journalists experienced approximately three times as many abusive comments as their male counterparts on Twitter.
[18] The INSI and IWMF survey found that more than 25 per cent of ‘verbal, written and/or physical intimidation including threats to family and friends’ took place online.
[19] Countering online abuse is a significant challenge, and few legislative and policy frameworks exist on the international or national level to protect journalists from digital harassment.
These are all issues that can be fully understood only by considering their gender equality dimensions as they often overlap, and they have been compounded by the growing complexity of the digital sphere.
[23] A related challenge has been the absence of women's voices as an issue in media freedom, including in internet governance policy-making more generally.
[24] In organizations, such as the Internet Association for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), senior leadership positions remain largely dominated by men.
[27] A number of States, including some that have introduced new laws since 2010, notably censor voices from and content related to the LGBTQI community, posing serious consequences to access to information about sexual orientation and gender identity.
Women journalists face unique concerns, such as personal safety when dealing with confidential sources, which can restrict their freedom of expression and add challenges that can hamper their ability to carry.
Countering the proliferation of such abuse has proved a serious challenge for policy-makers wanting to minimize the harm directed towards vulnerable groups.
To mark International Women's Day in 2017, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression noted the challenges for governments, corporate bodies and civil society organizations to address such abuses while remaining attentive to international human rights law.
[34] The opportunities afforded to ‘ordinary’ citizens by the creation of alternative online news platforms has meant, however, that women's voices and perspectives are finding expression via these informal media channels.
[34] The Step it Up for Gender Equality Media Compact comprises a coalition of media outlets from around the globe and from diverse sectors who have committed themselves to focusing on gender equality in three main ways: in their reporting routines, by disrupting stereotypes and biases; by increasing the number of women in their organizations, including in leadership and decision-making roles; and in developing gender-sensitive corporate practices.
[41] Stories about politics and crime see the fewest women reporters across all regions with the exception of Asia and Latin America.
The GMMP’s latest findings suggest that women's visibility as both citizens and media professionals in online news sites and Twitter feeds was 26 per cent, only two percentage points higher than for television, radio and print.
The situation behind the scenes at large internet companies, which hold influence over which news content is presented most visibly and are responsible for moderation of discussion and comments, has been equally dire.
Elsewhere, women comprised only about a fifth of governance positions and held less than 10 per cent of top management jobs in Asia and the Pacific region.
[46] In spite of the rapid increase in the number of women working in the media in the whole world today, studies show that the upper most jobs that include producers, executives, editors-in-chief, and publishers are still heavily dominated by men according to earlier research done.
This case is rampant the African continent , where beliefs and stereotypes, still prevent women from pursuing the position of a journalist for instance traveling outside the home, working at night , and discussing topics such as politics and sports, which are considered part of the male sphere.
According to the research done by Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP), the feminine journalists have a higher chance of covering "easier" topics .
This is why many actors continue to encourage all media workers to become more gender-sensitive through training and internal policies that monitor coverage and promote greater awareness of gender issues.
In a 2016 study of board members’ views in North America and Western Europe on the introduction of quotas, for example, individuals whose organizations (and countries) were committed to actions to increase women's representation were enthusiastic about the effects; but in contrast, individuals working in contexts without such commitments were rarely keen to embrace such strategies.
The campaign is taking a multi-disciplinary approach and uses a variety of different tools to promote awareness, including a gender scorecard against which media organizations are measured.
In addition, a number of national organizations work locally to redress the disparity in women's representation and participation in the media.
TAM works with local women to promote their increased representation in the media and to foster an environment where they are able to effectively communicate and advocate for their rights.
TAM provides training for women on how to access and use various media platforms, in addition to promoting community awareness and advocacy initiatives.
