WUNRN
Global
Alliance on Media & Gender Calls for STRONG Global Agenda on Gender, Media,
ICT
The
Global Alliance on Media and Gender (GAMAG) has called on UN member states to
include strong provisions on gender, media and ICTs in the post- 2015
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“We cannot talk about equality, good governance, freedom of expression and
sustainability when women are effectively silenced in and through the media,
and where new technologies are used to undermine the human rights of women and
women journalists,” noted the International Steering Committee (ISC) of GAMAG,
a network of 500 media and media development, unions and civil society
organisations across the globe.
The GAMAG-ISC, which held its first meeting in Geneva from 4-5 November
2014 under the auspices of UNESCO, said the right to communicate; access to
information, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is integral to
sustainable development. Currently, GAMAG said, “this issue is glaringly
missing from the seventeen SDG’s and the 169 targets that will replace the
Millennium Development Goals next year.”
Research conducted by the World Association for Christian Communication
(WACC) shows that women constitute a mere 24% of news sources. A global study
by the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) shows that women
constitute 36% of reporters and a quarter of media decision-makers. A range of
studies shows a growing gender gap in access to, and ownership of ICTs. New
media is also fuelling new forms of violence against women and girls ranging
from stalking and trolling to human trafficking.
Threats and violence against media workers in general are well-documented,
especially with regard to deadly attacks, by organisations like the World
Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), the International
Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and
Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF). But there is no group collecting data on
security threats to women journalists globally. Attacks against female media
workers are only reported anecdotally, if at all, by international media
support organisations.
Provisions that GAMAG wants included in the SDG’s include:
· Women’s equal and effective participation and freedom
from violence in all areas of media decision-making and practice.
· Women’s equal access to media ICTs and their benefits.
· The right to safety and bodily integrity in the digitally
mediated public sphere.
· Fair and balanced gender portrayal and occupational
representation of women in the media.
· Sensitive, fair and rights-based coverage of violence
against women and girls.
· Mainstreaming of gender in media and ICT policy and
training curricula.
· Gender, media and information literacy training,
education and campaigns.
Launched after a watershed UNESCO and ISESCO -led conference on gender and
the media in Bangkok in December 2013, GAMAG seeks to harness new
opportunities, and address new challenges, for gender equality and women's
empowerment in and through media in an information society context which has
radically transformed media architectures.
The GAMAG-ISC is concerned that progress towards media that support gender
equality and women’s rights objectives remains painfully slow. GAMAG will
amplify and give visibility to existing key regional and global initiatives on
gender and media to hasten the pace of change. Further, GAMAG will take action
to ensure that women’s communication rights gain prominence in on-going
Beijing+20 review events, the post-2015 debates and the World Summit for the
Information Society (WSIS)+10.
Priority actions identified by GAMAG include:
· Advocacy on women’s empowerment and gender equality in
the media and through media to ensure better representation of women in the
board rooms and behind editors’ desks.
· Acting to better protect women journalists on and offline
and on the frontline from violence and abuse. This will include gathering a
solid foundation of data on violence against women in the media.
· Developing and curating research, policies and best
practices, as well as reporting guidelines for promoting gender responsive and
aware media content and practice.
· Gathering and sharing policies, content and good
practices that advance gender equality in and through the media and ICTs.
· Furthering research on women in the media.
The
ISC agreed on working mechanisms, including regional and theme sub-committees
on Youth; Research; Capacity Building and Training; Advocacy, Communications,
Campaigning and Outreach; Media, ICT Policies, Content and Practice.