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CENTRAL AMERICA - COMMUNITY RADIO -
WHAT'S IN IT FOR WOMEN?
December 20, 2013 by Women's rights and the Media - By Louise Morris*
The women’s movement has been historically critical of mass media, blaming it for reinforcing discrimination against women in society and gender stereotypes.
This article aims to highlight how
alternative media can be used to provide a space for women’s voices, rights and
empowerment in
Members of the Honduran Women’s Collective, broadcasting from Radio Progreso.
Radio, in
The power of community radio to inform and
question state practices can be exemplified through governments’ and
corporations’ attempts to silence dissident voices. In
Women broadcasting from Honduran community radio station; picture by COPINH
But where is the space for women? While it
is true that women are often involved in community radio activities and many
small stations have dedicated programming for women, the stations are largely
run by men. Women are often only given a voice to present weekly “women’s
programs”, which are extremely valid for their focus on reproductive health
care, the prevention of domestic violence and women’s rights awareness.
However, women usually are not integrated throughout the station’s output or at
director level. However, since only 14% of women in Latin America and
There are two stations in particular that
made it their mission to focus exclusively on women: dedicated feminist
community stations Radio FIRE in
“We were a collective that took into account that there were many women doing local radio programs throughout the world. And instead of building a new network we would form part of them and invite them to send us their local radio programs for their local community and we would air them internationally. So our program became a forum for women who did local radio in any language.”
Radio Mujer was founded by journalist and
activist Ada Luz Monterrey in 1992 and aimed to counter the traditional
exclusivism in
Other organisations have made it part of
their key objectives to increase women’s participation in community radio
production and have made some improvements. Cultural
Survival who have been lobbying the Guatemalan government to give community
radio stations licenses so they can operate legally, have noticed the lack of
female contribution and are therefore encouraging increased involvement with
their training, mainly focussing on the largely rural Mayan population in
Guatemala. Mayan women are doubly marginalised by their status as female and
indigenous in
Despite these positive examples, and the existence of women’s features on many community stations, barriers remain in place to prevent gender equality in local broadcasting. Some of these stem from entrenched sexist attitudes about women’s place being in the home and out of the public sphere; the media, and radio presenting especially, is perceived to be a male domain. Furthermore, women are hampered by their workload, often working a day job but also being expected to raise children and complete domestic tasks, leaving little time free for radio volunteering. Unfortunately, safety is also an issue that tends to affect women more than men, limiting their involvement. Travelling to and from the radio stations, particularly if at night, in many countries is too dangerous and some women as a result will not be allowed to make this journey by their families, excluding them from broadcast representation.
Much more work needs to be achieved to
make community radio stations a safe and inclusive place for women to work and
greater awareness of the importance of gender equality in the media must be met
to keep women’s voices and issues on air. Community radio remains an essential
medium for information dissemination to some of the most under-represented and
least connected people in
*Louise Morris is a freelance journalist
and broadcaster who works for CAWN producing media content and interviewing
activists. She is also a fundraiser for Sound Women and is currently studying
for a Masters in Global Media and Postnational Communication at the