30.06.06 - Act for Stronger European Legislation on the Protection of Gender Equality in Television Content!
EWL is launching a lobbying action on the revision of the directive "Television Without Frontiers". This directive deals with common rules in relation to television content, advertising, pluralism etc.The proposal, which will be discussed by the European Parliament in the coming months is very weak concerning human dignity and the protection of fundamental rights, espacially the respect of women's rights, anti-discrimination and violence against women and the girld child. The EWL action focuses on the protection of minors, of women’s rights and of human dignity.
Please use the letter hereunder and send it to members of the European Parliament from your countries.
The proposal for the directive can be downloaded by clicking here.
Thank you very much in advance for your action!
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Model letter to be send to members of the European Parliament:
To the members of the European Parliament
Comments and amendments of the European Women’s Lobby on the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and the Council amending Council Directive 89/552/EEC on the coordination of provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities (Television without Frontiers Directive)
Dear Madam,
Dear Sir,
Re: Revision of the Television without Frontiers Directive
I am writing to you in support of the European Women’s Lobby (EWL) caction concerning the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and the Council amending Council Directive 89/552/EEC on the coordination of provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities.
EWL welcomes the proposed revision of the Television without Frontiers Directive which, by considering the non-linear services, meets the demand in the changing audiovisual marketplace. EWL welcomes the fact that in its proposal the Commission “ stresses that regulatory policy in the sector has to safeguard certain public interests, such as cultural diversity, the right to information, the protection of minors and consumer protection, now and in the future”
.(Preamble paragraph 6). EWL welcomes the consultation with the Commission on Women’s Rights of the European Parliament during the revision process and wishes to reiterate the increasing importance of the issue of media for women’s organisations.EWL recalls that the promotion of equality between men and women is one of the objectives of the EU as defined in Article 2 of the EC Treaty and that the fight against all forms of discrimination is one of the basic principles of the EU. EWL is concerned, therefore, about the watering-down of some rules relating to audiovisual media services and audiovisual commercial communications which run the risk of jeopardising the protection of human dignity, women, minors and vulnerable people.
EWL would like to propose a number of improvements to the Commission’s proposal with a view to the protection of human rights and consumer rights. Indeed, and as recalled in
byPreamble paragraph 29, “because of the specific nature of audiovisual services, especially the impact of these services on the way people form their opinions, it is essential that these services as well as television advertising should respect, guarantee and promote basic human rights such as are recognised by the EC Treaty, the European Charter of Human Rights and other international legal instruments ratified by the Member States (in particular, the UN Convention of the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women).EWL recalls the commitments made by the Commission in its Road map for Equality between Women and Men 2006-2010[1] which in point 5.3 aims to eliminate gender stereotypes in the media: “The media have a crucial role to play in combating gender stereotypes. It can contribute to presenting a realistic picture of the skills and potential of women and men in modern society and avoid depicting them in a degrading and offensive manner”. As recent studies on the portrayal of women in the media have shown[2], the perceptions of politicians and the public in general are mainly forged by the media which more often than not maintain, reinforce and perpetuate gender stereotypes in our society.
In addition, EWL wishes to stress the correlation between the image of women sometimes portrayed by the media and violence against women and would like the Directive to reiterate the overriding importance of fundamental human rights, respect for human dignity and physical and mental integrity of all persons as mentioned in Articles 1 and 3 of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Finally, EWL deplores the fact that Member States who have not yet established a national regulatory authority, whose role is to protect fundamental human rights, are under no obligation to do so. EWL would also like to note that the proposal does not include provision for complaints by the public, penalties for broadcasting or advertising companies who are in breach of this Directive, or a duty to inform the consumer of these possibilities. It is, however, crucial that the consumer whose rights have been infringed should be aware of and able to avail of the appropriate redress procedures at national level.
In light of the above, the EWL would like to suggest the following amendments:
1) Preamble (32) :
EWL suggests the following amendments:
“ In the measures taken to protect minors and human dignity, a adquate balance must be established between on the one hand the respect of the fundamental rights of minors including young children, women and groups faced with discrimination and on the other hand, the fundamental right to freedom of expression as laid down in the Charter on Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The aim of these measures should thus be to ensure an adequate level of protection of the rights of minors, women and groups facing discrimination especially with regard to non-linear services”,
but not to ban adult content as such."Reasoning:
Considering the important role played by the media in the way people form their opinions, and the de facto power it has on the public, it is essential that a balance should be found between the fundamental right to freedom of expression and respect for human rights as recognised by the EU and its Member States.
The South African Code of Conduct for broadcasters, for example, states in its preamble that “rights of free expression will have to be weighed up against many other rights, including the rights to equality, dignity, privacy (…) and most significantly the rights of children and women”.
2) Article 3(d):
EWL suggests the following amendments:
“Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure that audiovisual media services and audiovisual commercial communications under their jurisdiction are not made available in such a way that might
seriouslyimpair the physical, mental or moral development of minors, in particular through programmes containing scenes of pornography, gratuitous violence, incitation to violence against women and girls or to intolerance.”Reasoning :
In order to resolve the inconsistency in the proposed Directive concerning the protection of minors, Article 3(d) must be strengthened and must include provisions similar to those existing for the linear services mentioned in Article 22. It must cover both audiovisual media services and audiovisual commercial communications, as described in Article 3(e).
3) Article 3(e):
EWL suggests the following amendments:
“Member States shall ensure by appropriate means that audiovisual media services and audiovisual commercial communications provided by providers under their jurisdiction guarantee respect for human dignity and the integrity of the person and are neither directly nor indirectly discriminatory nor contain any incitement to hatred based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, and shall not broadcast material which, judged in its context, sanctions, promotes or glamorises violence against women[3]”.
Reasoning:
As the deletion of Article 12 results in the deletion of the reference to human dignity, EWL supports the working paper of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs[4] and requests that respect for human dignity, integrity of the person and the prohibition of all forms of direct and indirect discrimination (in accordance with existing directives on anti-discrimination and gender equality) and measures against the incitement to violence against women be added to Article 3(e).
EWL is using the South African Code of Conduct for Broadcaster, drawing on a provision relating to violence against women contained in point 15 of the Code.[5]
.4) Article 3g:
EWL suggests the following amendments:
“(…)
(c) Audiovisual commercial communications must not:
NEW: undermine respect for human dignity;
(i) Be in breach of fundamental rights as defined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights or include any discrimination on grounds of sex, race or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age, sexual orientation or nationality. The advertiser or any person who creates advertising shall ensure that their advertisement is not in conflict with the inherent equality between women and men and that it does not exploit the body of either sex nor imply any offensive or derogatory judgment of woman and man;[6]
(ii) be offensive to religious or political beliefs;
(iii) encourage behaviour prejudicial to health, to physical or mental integrity, or to safety;
(iv) encourage behaviour prejudicial to the protection of the environment.
(d) All forms of audiovisual commercial communications and teleshopping for cigarettes and other tobacco products shall be prohibited;
NEW: Pornography shall be prohibited in all forms of audiovisual commercial communications and teleshopping;
(e) Audiovisual commercial communications for alcoholic beverages must not be
aimed at minors and may not encourage immoderate consumption of such
beverages;
(f) Audiovisual commercial communications must not cause moral or physical detriment to minors. Therefore they shall not directly or indirectly encourage minors to buy a product or a service,
by exploiting their inexperience or credulity; directly or indirectly encourage minors to persuade their parents or others to buy the products or services being advertised; exploit the special trust minors place in parents, teachers or other persons, or unreasonably show minors in dangerous situations.”Reasoning :
EWL supports the conclusion of the Working Paper of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs that the list in Article 3(g) (i) is incomplete and does not follow the order laid down in Article 13 of the EC Treaty. The suggested amendment relating to gender equality in point (i) is based on the current legislation in Norway[7].
Furthermore, the reference to respect for human dignity present in Article 12 of the 1997 Directive must be reinserted into the new Article 3(g).
Article 3(g) must, moreover, be expanded in point (c)(iii) to guarantee the right to the integrity of the person as defined in Article 3 of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Based on the revised European Convention on Transfrontier Television of the Council of Europe, in particular its Article 7, pornography must be added to the list of banned audiovisual commercial communications in point (d). Article 7 of the Convention states that:
“ All items of programme services, as concerns their presentation and content, shall respect the dignity of the human being and the fundamental rights of others. In particular, they shall not:
5) Introduction of a new Article 3(i):
EWL suggests the following amendment:
NEW: “Member States shall take steps to improve access to the audiovisual media services for people with disabilities, and present a report to the Commission every two years”.
Reasoning:
Here again, EWL supports the proposal made in the Working Paper of the Committee on Civil Liberties which obliges the Member States to promote access to audiovisual media services for all, in particular for people with disabilities.
6) Article 22
EWL suggests the following amendment:
“1. Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure that television broadcasts by broadcasters under their jurisdiction do not include programmes that might
seriouslyimpair the physical, mental or moral development of minors, including young children, in particular programmes that involve pornography or gratuitous violence, encourage acts of paedophilia or contain incitement to violence against women or girls, or to intolerance.”Reasoning:
Children are mentioned explicitly in many United Nations human rights instruments and in the European Charter on Fundamental Rights.
Article 22 must be strengthened so as to guarantee respect for the human rights of women and girls and to combat all forms of violence against them as well as paedophilia.
7) Article 23(b):
EWL proposes the following amendment:
“1. Member States shall take appropriate measures to establish national regulatory authorities, to guarantee the independence of these authorities, to ensure that women and men are represented equally in them and to ensure that they exercise their powers impartially and transparently.”(…)
3. NEW: “Member States shall ensure that both linear and non-linear services are subject to control either by existing national regulatory authorities or by newly established national authorities; that pluralism is respected; that consumers are informed about procedures for redress and for bringing a case with the national regulatory authority or the relevant authority, in order to vindicate rights infringed as a result of non-compliance with the provisions of this Directive.”
Reasoning :
Article 23 must be amended to comply with the Union’s commitments to equal access for women and men in all areas of life, considering the crucial role played by the media in the way people’s ideas are formed, and in order to ensure that women and men are represented equally in decision-making bodies. Furthermore, it is essential that the consumer should be well informed and able to avail of redress procedures at national level, in order to vindicate their rights.
In addition, EWL supports the position of the European Consumers’ Organisation and the European Federation of Journalists as expressed in their comments relating to advertising, product placement, the principle of country of origin and pluralism. EWL sees the meeting of consumer’s needs, the guarantee of pluralism and diversity in the media as an investment for society at large.
I very much hope that you will be able to address the amendments suggested by the EWL in your discussions in the European Parliament and to support them during the vote.
Yours sincerely,
[1] COM(2006) 92 final
[2] The 2005 Global Media Monitoring Project, in “Portraying politics – A toolkit on gender and television”: http://www.globalmediamonitoring.org/
[3] “Broadcasters shall not broadcast material which, judged within context, sanctions, promotes or glamorises any aspect of violence against women”, Revised Code of Conduct for Broadcasters, South Africa: www.icasa.org.za/manager/ClientFiles/Documents/CODEGAZETTE.pdf
[4] DT\618393FR.doc
[5] cf. note 3
[6] Norwegian Marketing Control Act, Chapter 1, section 1: “The advertiser and any person who creates advertising shall ensure that the advertisement is not in conflict with the inherent equality of the sexes and that it does not exploit the body of either sex or imply any offensive or derogatory judgement of man or woman”.
[7] See note 6.