Role Of Women In Media High Visibility Media Essay

Published Date: 23 Mar 2015

Pakistan is another minefield of challenges for journalists, especially female journalists. The problem prevails mostly in electronic media scenario as women are making more appearances on screen with the boom of private TV channels. They are considered less prominent. Female journalists working in developed countries are also facing such problems but Pakistani female journalists are in the initial stages towards progress

In Pakistan, with the advent of increasing number of private TV channels, female journalists quite often appear on our television screens.  Anchor women, foreign correspondents, and special correspondents are omnipresent in the main broadcast news shows and in current affairs programs. They are considered beautiful and successful women, as well as trend-setters with respect to clothes, make-up and hairstyles.  Print journalism, where the physical image is replaced by the reporter's name, this phenomenon is much less prominent than electronic media.

In spite of the large entrance of female personnel into the professional work of information, women on top of editorial staff are still a scanty minority: this is, however, no different to Western countries. Thanks to television, female journalists have acquired great visibility.  

Recently The International Women's Media Foundation announced that Rabia Mehmood, a journalist from the Lahore bureau of Express 24/7 Television has acquired an extra ordinary achievement by recieving 2010-11 Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship. Rabia Mehmood is the sixth one who has received this annual fellowship, which gives opportunity to woman journalist working in print, broadcast or online media to focus exclusively on the issues of human rights and social justice. Throughout her career, Rabiya Mehmood has reported on topics such as women's rights, freedom of speech and political unrest. She has covered many important and crucial issues such as the survivors and victims of terrorist attacks, suicide bombings and hostage sieges carried out by militants in Lahore. She has also reported on internally displaced people (IDPs) who left Northwest Pakistan as a result of insurgency by terrorists and military.

But this is not the case of every female journalist. Most of them are assigned to cover social, cultural, soft stories, day's events, or light events. But male journalists get the preference to get a significant assignment, stories which might be lead stories. With the evolution of time and in order to follow the west, Pakistani media is giving important posts to female journalists but infact the power still lies in the hands of dominant males. Editorial Boards mostly consist of male members.

Gender discrimination in journalism is very distinct and they are not given the same benefits as to their male colleagues.  

Gender discrimination against women is greatly responsible for reducing the available talent in any country, which in turn has many negative consequences including economic loss. There are many discriminatory practices which are considered either religious or cultural in nature with deep historical roots and thus they eliminate women out of the country's progress. These practices forbid women to show their abilities and talents.

Theoretical Framework

Gender Inequality & Theories of Patriarchy

Gender inequalities in the domestic and occupational settings are best understood with reference to the concept of patriarchy.

Western female thought through the centuries has identified the relationship between patriarchy and gender as crucial to the women's subordinate position. For two hundred years, patriarchy prohibited women from having any identity and they were living the life of slavery. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, their efforts come to fruition and they succeeded in securing some legal and political rights for women in the UK. By the middle of the 20th century, the emphasis had shifted from rights and identity to socio-economic equality and thus the women's movement that started during the 1960s began to argue that women were oppressed by patriarchal structures.  Now in the 21st century it is usually claimed that women are enjoying equal status as those of men, yet there are contradictions and women still face the male dominance. (Patriarchy).

Gender Role Theories:

Gender roles are "socially and culturally defined prescriptions and beliefs about the behavior and emotions of men and women" (Anselmi and Law 1998, p. 195). Many theorists believe that perceived gender roles form the bases for the development of gender identity. Prominent psychological theories of gender role and gender identity development include evolutionary theory, object-relations theory, gender schema theory and social role theory.

Evolutionary theories of gender development are grounded in genetic bases for differences between men and women. Functionalists (e.g., Shields 1975) propose that "men and women have evolved differently to fulfill their different and complementary functions, which are necessary for survival." Similarly, sociobiologists (e.g., Buss 1995) suggest that "behavioral differences between men and women stem from different sexual and reproductive strategies that have evolved to ensure that men and women are able to efficiently reproduce and effectively pass on their genes."

In contrast, object-relations theorists focus on the effects of socialization on gender development. For example, Nancy Chodorow (1989) emphasizes the role of women as primary caregivers in the development of sex differences. Chodorow asserts that "the early bond between mother and child affects boys and girls differently. Whereas boys must separate from their mothers to form their identities as males, girls do not have to endure this separation to define their identities as females." Chodorow (1989) explains that "the devalued role of women is a product of the painful process men undergoes to separate them from the female role."

Gender schema theory (Bem 1981) focuses on the role of cognitive organization in addition to socialization. This theory proposes that children learn how their cultures and/or societies define the roles of men and women and then internalize this knowledge as a gender schema, or unchallenged core belief. Children's perceptions of men and women are thus an interaction between their gender schemas and their experiences. Eventually, children will incorporate their own self-concepts into their gender schema and will assume the traits and behaviors that they deem suitable for their gender.

Alice Eagly (1987) offers yet another explanation of gender development that is based on socialization. Eagly's social role theory suggests that "the sexual division of labor and societal expectations based on stereotypes produce gender roles". Eagly (1987) distinguishes between the communal and agentic dimensions of gender-stereotyped characteristics. The communal role is characterized by attributes, such as nurturance and emotional expressiveness, commonly associated with domestic activities, and thus, with women. The agentic role is characterized by attributes such as assertiveness and independence, commonly associated with public activities, and thus, with men. Behavior is strongly influenced by gender roles when cultures endorse gender stereotypes and form firm expectations based on those stereotypes (Eagly 1987).

These socially constructed gender roles is considered to be hierarchical and characterized as a male-advantaged gender hierarchy. The activities men involved in were often those that provided them with more access to or control of resources and decision making power, rendering men not only superior dispositional attributes via correspondence bias (Gilbert, 1998), but also higher status and authority as society progressed. The particular pattern of the labor division within a certain society is a dynamic process and determined by its specific economical and cultural characteristics. For instance, in an industrial economy, the emphasis on physical strength in social activities becomes less compared with that in a less advanced economy. In a low birth rate society, women will be less confined to reproductive activities and thus more likely to be involved in a wide range of social activities. The beliefs that people hold about the sexes are derived from observations of the role performances of men and women and thus reflect the sexual division of labor and gender hierarchy of the society.(Wikipedia)

The consequences of gender roles and stereotypes are sex-typed social behavior because roles and stereotypes are both socially shared descriptive norms and prescriptive norms.

In summary, social role theory "treats these differing distributions of women and men into roles as the primary origin of sex-differentiated social behavior, their impact on behavior is mediated by psychological and social processes" including "developmental and socialization processes, as well as by processes involved in social interaction (e.g., expectancy confirmation) and self-regulation"

Social Construction of Gender Difference

This perspective proposes that gender difference is socially constructed. This perspective believes that gender is socially constructed. Social constructionism of gender moves away from socialization as the origin of gender differences; people do not merely internalize gender roles as they grow up but they respond to changing norms in society. Children learn to categorize themselves by gender very early on in life. A part of this is learning how to display and perform gendered identities as masculine or feminine. Boys learn to manipulate their physical and social environment through physical strength or other skills, while girls learn to present themselves as objects to be viewed. Children monitor their own and others' gendered behavior. Gender-segregated children's activities create the appearance that gender differences in behavior reflect an essential nature of male and female behavior.

Judith Bulter contends that "being female is not "natural" and that it appears natural only through repeated performances of gender; these performances in turn, reproduce and define the traditional categories of sex and/or gender."

A social constructionist view looks beyond categories and examines the intersections of multiple identities, the blurring of the boundaries of essentialist categories. This is especially true with regards to categories of male and female those are typically viewed by others as binary and opposites of each other. By deconstructing categories of gender, the value placed on masculine traits and behaviors disappears. However, the elimination of categories makes it difficult to make any comparisons between the genders or to argue and fight against male domination.

Feminism, masculinism and religious views

Some feminists thinkd that the issue of gender differences is caused by patriarchy or discrimination, although difference feminism argues for an acceptance of gender differences. Conservative masculists see gender differences as inherent in human nature, while liberal masculists see gender differences as caused by matriarchy and discrimination.

Gender inequality is an acute and persistent problem, especially in developing countries. This paper argues that gender discrimination is an inefficient practice. "We model gender discrimination as the complete exclusion of females from the labor market or as the exclusion of females from managerial positions. The distortions in the allocation of talent between managerial and unskilled positions, and in human capital investment, are analyzed. It is found that both types of discrimination lower economic growth; and that the former also implies a reduction in per capita GDP, while the latter distorts the allocation of talent. Both types of discrimination imply lower female-to-male schooling ratios." (Berta 2004)

History of the struggle of female journalists:

Men have always been the decision makers. Feminists are struggling against it since the 1960s. Feminists have argued that "it matters who makes it." When it specifically comes to the field of mass media "makers" have always continued to be men.

Struggle of the Women working in the media have made some inroads. International Federation of Journalists was formed to unite all the journalists worldwide on one forum. In 2001, the Federation reported that 38 per cent of all working journalists are women around the world. Studies conducted by Canadian researchers Gertrude Robinson and Armande Saint-Jean were two another researchers from Canada who did research to find out percentage of women working in Print media and according to their results 28 per cent of newspaper editors are female. And according to San Diego State University communications professor Martha Lauzen, 24 per cent of American television producers, writers, and directors are women.

Denis Monière, political analyst and professor at Quebec's University of Montreal expresses that "even if the female journalists have become much more visible in the last ten years, it doesn't mean that female journalists have gain victory." In 2002, the Canadian Newspaper Association reported that 43 per cent of Canadian newspaper employees are women. However, they account for only eight per cent of editors-in-chief and twelve per cent of publishers. Women employed in the sector tend to work in "pink-collar ghettos"; 70 percent of them are working in the advertising department and 80 percent as the accounting and finance staff or at administrative posts.

In addition to being un-represented in authoritative positions, women are also not considered eligible of covering the most important subjects like politics, economy and social trends. And when it comes to the evening news (hard news), women are almost invisible. The assigning of Sophie Thibault in 2002 as the ten o'clock news anchor for the national French-language channel TVA is a "first" for Canada. Most often, women are consigned to noon-hour shows, local newscasts, "fill-ins" and weekend spots.

However, men continue to occupy approximately 75 per cent of the positions of power in the mass media.

The 2001 study conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania is also very disappointing. The public policy Center reports that females only comprise 13 per cent of the top executive positions of American media, telecommunications and e-companies. And that 13 per cent is not even concentrated at the top positions. Women constitute only 9 per cent of the boards of directors for these companies, and they hold only 3 per cent of the most powerful positions.

CURRENT SITUATION:

Women in Islamic nations are now given importance after many years of ignorance. They are now increasingly being heard, seen and listened to. The credit of their success goes to some leading female voices that were determined to make a difference, despite many challenges ranging from motherhood to threats on their lives.

"Speaking Softly"  is a famous Saudi program, its renowned hostess says that she is among the first ones who brought change in  Arabic society and until recently, she did not see people like herself on television.

Muna Abusulayman is one of four anchorwomen of the show that deals with various important issues in a talk show format. Of the four, Abusulayman is the only one who covers her head and wears a hijab or headscarf. She is divorced and lives alone with her only child in Saudi Arabia.

Time is changing and there are many women in the Middle East who have taken up as anchors and presenters on Televison. And through their struggle now they have made up the majority of them. But according to Abusulayman, they are much less prominent behind the scenes, in decision making positions and in other media like print and radio.

Tasneem Ahmar, a renowned person, who runs a media and advocacy group in Pakistan as well as produce radio programs specifically focused on women's issues, agrees with Abusulayman.

With more than 25 years experience as a journalist, Ahmar says that, in Pakistan most decision-making jobs, top executive positions, and "tough" and "valuable" assignments which can be a lead story are given to men.

"Women normally are assigned very soft, social, trendy and cultural issues," she said. "in this profession , there are very few women who are participating in active journalism and doing hard political stories, economic stories or current affairs related programs."

Tasneem Ahmar thinks positive changes for women in the Middle East and the Islamic world are on the horizon. She predicts that a new wave of young women in the Pakistani media will have an impact in five to ten years in her country.

"These young girls who have come in, they're very ambitious and they're very hard working and I don't think anything is going to stop them from going to the top positions."

While there is still a lot of work to be done, the women hope that their efforts and successes in the media will inspire not only women but men too. Or maybe there is truth to the old adage, "the best man for the job is a woman."

May Chidiac  is another woman from the Middle East who cover tough stories brilliantly and speaks out on every issue. She is the host of a Lebanese TV program called "With Audacity."

Chidiac is known all over the Arab world for her tenacious journalism. A victim of an assassination attempt by suspected Syrian agents, she lost a hand and a leg in a car bombing in September 2005. After numerous surgeries, she went straight back to work to serve her cause.

Reporter of an English Newspaper from Dhaka says that in most cases, chief reporters/assignment editors (almost everyone are male) do not assign them something special/important or significant reports. They are still assigned soft stories, day's events, or light events. But male journalists get the preference to get a significant assignment, stories which might be lead stories.

But the interesting point is that, many female journalists in our country now protesting this kind of attitudes and they are getting serious kind of assignment after fighting with their bosses.

In Bangladesh, this is a very new phenomenon to appoint female journalists in electronic media, However, critics pointed that as female is more attractive then male in electronic media, so the media owners appoints the female journalists to attract audiences. About 15 percent female journalists are now working in country's 11 state and privately run TV channels.

On the other hand, in print media, we are very few female reporters are which any working journalist can count within 10 minutes.

There are some other sectors of the media where female are more visible then reporting like hazardous and glamorous job for unknown reasons.

Anam Istafa, Sub editor, National Herald Tribune openly admits that female journalists are usually assumed to be dumb and so tender hearted for Hard news coverage especially of blasts and natural disasters. She says that very rare females are at the executive positions in media news media business. Most of them usually follow guideline and policies by their male bosses. Policy and decision makers are predominantly men.

Despite the increase of women's visibility in media organizations, journalists in South Asia are hardly seen in the decision-making positions.

This was one of the several issues highlighted by more than 200 women working in the media from every SAARC country, who came together for the first time in Lahore, Pakistan, for a two-day meeting on 'Women in Media - Challenges, Opportunities and Partnership'.

Women media persons from Maldives, Bhutan and Nepal pointed out that none of the print media in their country has ever had a female journalist heading the newsroom. Participants from India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka raised similar concerns, and also pointed out that man in their media organizations outnumbered women.

Most of the participants cited long and difficult working hours, lack of incentives and appreciation to keep women working in the media, fulfilling household obligations and unequal wages as some of the reasons why women in the media are under-represented at various levels in South Asia. These were also some of the reasons why most female media persons, after working for few years, leave the profession for other jobs.

Portrayal of women in the media as victims was also discussed extensively. Some of the participants pointed out that women make news in several South Asian news media only when they are victims of conflict, crime, natural disasters or terrorism.

However, one of the guest speakers, Pakistan's federal information minister, Qamar Zaman Kaira, said: "Women journalists play an important role in voicing concerns of the victims in conflict areas, who are often women and children. Some of these victims are more comfortable sharing their experiences with female professionals." He urged women media persons to also take up more serious and hard-hitting issues relating to politics, security and conflict.

Senior journalist in Pakistan, Shehar Bano, said at the conference that international research studies indicate transformation in news content brought on by an influx of women into the news media. "Issues such as health, education, child care and women workers have gained prominent slots in newspapers," she said.

Bandana Rana from Nepal said, however, that there are also many female media persons, who are confined to covering only feature articles on art, culture and lifestyle and very few female reporters are assigned business, economics or political stories.

It was resolved during the meeting that female media persons should be given training opportunities to enhance their skills to cover all issues, along with mentorship programmes between senior and junior female journalists.

Former Chairperson, Department of Mass Communications at University of Karachi, Professor Shahida Qazi said she is happy that more and more Pakistani women are now joining media. She recalled when in 1966 she had joined Daily Dawn Karachi as a reporter, many people were surprised. She said now more than 70 percent of Karachi University students are women. She said in the Department of Mass Communications, there are more female students than males.

Former Secretary Information Department, and TV compere Mehtab Akbar Rashdi said declaration of the state of emergency and curbs on media in Pakistan have shocked journalists, writers and human right activists. She said the dream of gender justice and equality could not materialize until change of mindset in male population. She said even today in the practical field female journalists face many problems due to this dogmatic thinking.

Rashdi said steps for empowerment of women should be taken from the home. She said parents should encourage their daughters to get higher education and work in every walk of life.

Electronic media in Pakistan is highlighting gender-related issues in a better way in comparison to print media, because more women journalists work in TV channels. Pakistani women have entered the field of journalism after a tough competition. Now women journalists and photographers could be seen working in Pakistani society and it is a welcome change.

Association of Television Journalists (ATJ) only has 50 females among its 700 or so members around the country, but nearly half of them are concentrated in the business capital of Karachi. Women have highly gained visibility in the Pakistani media as anchor persons and hosts of talk shows on dozens of private television and radio channels in English, Urdu and various regional languages.

Zebunnisa Burki, who has been coordinating South Asian Women in Media (SAWM) said while expressing he views that Women journalists are paid less than their male colleagues for equal amount of  work and have to fight harder for getting political or other high profile assignments. Most of the female journalists identify sexual harassment as their biggest concern.

In Pakistan women journalists are highly visible in electronic media than print media, which to some extent shows that they are used more as attention grabbers than news providers.

Some of the most prominent women working in Pakistani electronic media are

Aasma Chuhdry

Dr Ayesha Siddiqa

Katrina Hussain

Bushra Rehman,

Najia Ashar

Naseem Zehra

Saadia Afzaal

Sheren Mazari

Asma Sherazi

Zahida Hina

Sana Bucha

Sumaira Nadeem

Sana Mirza

Ayesha Baksh

And many more

EFFORTS /STEPS TAKEN TO PROMOTE ROLE OF WOMEN IN MEDIA

Gender Equality

On International Women's Day,  8 March 2005, UNESCO's Director-General, Koïchiro Matsuura, launched for the fourth time the global initiative "Women Make the News". UNESCO appeals to all media organizations producing daily news to hand over editorial responsibility to female journalists for that day. This was a step towards building a more secure future for women reporters.

Journalism Awards in Pakistan

The Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) organizes the "Gender in Journalism Awards" to encourage gender sensitive reporting in the country and to honor those who report on the issue. UNESCO supports these awards, in which cash will be given will be given to Pakistani journalists.

Two awards will be given; one award recognizes models for excellence and best practices in coverage of gender related issues. It is open to both male and female journalists. The second award is specifically for the female journalist who has brilliantly covered any issue. Its aim is to promote and encourage women role models for other women who are either entering or planning to join this field of journalism. Journalists working in print media may nominate their own work, or editors and others may nominate articles that promote the objectives of the awards.

Radio Initiative by women and for women

femLINKpacific (Media Initiatives for Women), a women's media NGO, launched in 2004 femTALK 89.2FM, a mobile women's community radio project. In January 2005, as a result of the grant of UNESCO's Intergovernmental Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), the femLINKpacific is taking the suitcase radio to women in their communities.

The aim of the femTALK 89,2FM project is to not only create a new space on radio for community based discussion, but it also aims at providing practical opportunities for women within their own communities to highlight and address issues prevailed to them.

The main goal of femLINKpacific's range of community media initiatives is "women speaking to women for peace". The decision making positions still lack equal representation of women and the ability of women, especially from the under developed population, to communicate openly on common issues and problems.

International Women's Media Foundation

            International Women's Media Foundation  was founded in 1990 and ever Since its creation, the International Women's Media Foundation has conducted training programs in 26 countries of 5 different continents and over the Internet with the aim of strengthening the role of females in the news media worldwide.

The IWMF supports women in the media through groundbreaking projects, and innovative research and training designed to help women develop their skills and become leaders in their profession. Since 1990, the IWMF has honored more than 50 extraordinarily brave and hardworking journalists with Courage in Journalism Awards. The only international awards designed to recognize the contributions of women on journalism's front lines, the Courage awards recognize women who have faced physical attacks, prison terms, beatings, rape, and death threats to themselves and their families.

Training Women Media Professionals

Internews is one of the world's leading trainers of female media professionals, training more than 25,000 women in media skills since 2003 alone.

Internews  makes female journalists appearance more prominent in newsroom and other media especially  in societies where their participation has been marginalized and they are assigned only to report on insignificant issues. They train them to do reporting on all issues ans not just particularly women's issues.

Mainstreaming Women's Issues

To ensure that the media meet the needs of all audiences, Internews works to promote women's leadership in the media organizations and to highlight and mainstream the issues of utmost importance to women.  

Internews is specialized in developing specialized programs for women and by women to throw light on gender sensitive issues such as gender based violence and women's health issues, especially in areas where such issues are not reported or not given much importance.

Pakistan's First Radio Program by and for Women

In Pakistan, where only three percent of journalists are women, Internews has worked to increase the number of women working in media, training women at journalism programs established by Internews at universities from Peshawar to Rawalpindi to Balochistan. Internews launched Meri Awaz Suno (Hear My Voice), the country's first independent syndicated program that features women as both producers and subjects.

In 2003, Internews built a state-of-the art independent radio production facility in Islamabad where women journalists are trained from experts in the field of radio reporting and production. All production and pre and post production work is done by female journalists.

The radio show airs on 19 independent radio stations across the country, and focuses on issues such as politics, education and health. Before these training, most reporters working on Meri Awaz Suno had little or no experience of working in radio or of journalism. Now they are leaders of their field. It is no doubt the factory for producing independent female journalists and role models for young ones at entry positions.

Establishment of Forum Named :Women Journalists Pakistan (WJP)"

The women journalists of twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad formally announced Women Journalists Pakistan (WJP) forum to address professional problems faced by them and find out ways to nurture their skills.

The ceremony was organized at the National Press Club, Islamabad in which Javed Akhtar, Director News Associated Press of Pakistan, Absar Alam, Anchor person Aaj TV, Qatrina Hussain, Anchor person Express TV and Fozia Shahid Anchor Person ATV shared their through provoking ideas and views with a large number of female journalists present there.

According to WJP members, the body is a non-political and intellectual-based forum that aims to provide platform to working women journalists in the print and electronic media.

In addition to raising a collective voice on issues faced by women journalists, the forum will initially focus on two basic aspects - networking and facilitating journalists avail media-related career-building opportunities.

The WJP hierarchy is:

Myra Imran of The News (Convener); Saadia Khalid, The News and Humaira Sharif of APP (Resource persons).

Working Group: Ayesha Habib (Dunya TV); Sehrish Majid (Apna TV), Anila Bashir- (Samaa), Asma Ghani (The Nation), Maimoona (Khabrain), Siddrah Bokhari (APP), Naheed Akhtar (APP), Shumaila Noreen (APP), Zahida Mahmood (APP), Ghazala Noreen (News-One TV), Saadia Masood (Rohi TV), Nazia Hameed (Channel 5), Afshan Qureshi (Ausaf), Rukhsana Mussarat (Radio Pakistan), Shazia Seher (Apna TV).  

The WJP Advisory Board comprises the following:

Qatrina Hussain (Anchorperson, Express TV); Absar Alam (Anchorperson Aaj TV); Ghazi Salahuddin (Member Editorial Board, Jang Group of Newspapers); Javed Akhtar (Director News, APP); Muhammad Ziauddin (Executive Editor, The Express Tribune); Shamsul Islam Naz (Secretary General, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists); Asma Shirazi (Anchorperson Samaa TV); Mazhar Arif (Executive Director, Alternate Media) and Fozia Shahid (ATV).

Establishment of Aasha (the Alliance Against Sexual Harrasment) and a code of conduct for workplace

WWO is among the civil society organisations which got together a few years ago to form Aasha, the Alliance Against Sexual Harassment (www.aasha.org.pk) in collaboration with the International Labor Organisation (ILO) and Pakistan's Ministry of Women Development.

Keeping in view the need of the time, Aasha developed a code of conduct for the workplace and a proper procedure to deal with the cases of harassment and discrimination. Geo TV, the largest private television network in Pakistan is among the few media organisations Aasha lists as a 'progressive employer'.

"It's not necessary for every case to be a federal issue," commented a television producer who worked with Geo when Aasha started. "Often the tension arises because of the widespread gender segregation in our society - many of these youngsters don't know how to interact with each other. This leads to misunderstandings that the code helps to clear up."

Another reason for growing sexual harassment may be that, with education, more people are crossing class barriers.

"Women coming into journalism earlier were relatively well-connected and self-confident. Many now come from lower-middle class backgrounds and have less confidence. Men find it easier to take advantage of or intimidate them," observed a senior journalist.

Problems Faced by Female Journalists

(Pakistan)

It is an established fact that women are an integral part of the Pakistani media. Professionally, they match their male colleagues and their analytical and investigative skills are quite impressive. With their distinctive approach to political, economic and social issues, women journalists have successfully highlighted the human angle that had previously remained neglected. They have proven themselves, both in the print and the electronic media.

Less than a decade ago, there were very few women in journalism.  But things have now changed and with the opening of a string of television channels, many new faces have joined in. These motivated girls have been a valuable addition to the Pakistani media. Viewers, readers and listeners, have all appreciated their work.

However, unfortunately the working conditions in the media houses have remained unchanged. Low salaries, downsizing, lack of professionalism, non-existence of basic facilities for employees like health, old age benefits etc, no job security and non-conducive work environment in majority of media organizations especially in the Urdu print media are indeed big hurdles.  

This has greatly affected women journalists because they are often the first ones to become victims of downsizing. Mainly due to social pressures, they cannot work in two or three places like their male colleagues and unlike their male colleagues women are reluctant to seek favors.

The constraints they face due to overall environment in media industry become a hurdle in their way to assume journalism as a career but another dimension of this issue is the problems female journalists face within their community - the biggest is their continuing struggle to become registered journalists within media bodies.

Unfortunately, majority of the women journalists have only been granted associate membership which is actually not regular membership. The condition is worst in under developed areas where women, in most of cases, don't apply for membership.

This apparently small problem has long lasting effect on the overall situation of female journalists and their growth in media industry. Due to non-registration and inadequate data available of women journalists, they are almost always ignored in capacity building initiatives.

Women journalists are considered fair game by their male colleagues and others as objects for twisted fantasies and sexually oriented remarks and innuendo. Sometimes it goes up a level or two.

Take the Maheen Usman saga, for example, which forced the senior Dunya TV broadcaster to resign this June after she was hounded and ostracized for alleging sexual harassment by the channel's Managing Director, Yousaf Baig Mirza.  At least she had the guts to bring it out in the open. Many others don't and continue to suffer on a daily basis.

True the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) defended her, although their attempts to do so were met with a stone wall and even found to be quite hilarious in some quarters. The case did, however, move the director of current affairs at Dunya TV, Naseem Zehra, to defend Maheen. Try as she did though, Naseem was unable to get colleagues to sign a petition in favor of Maheen, speaking volumes for the apathy with which such things are treated in Pakistani newsrooms.

Although the affair seems to have died down, it continues to surface in various online forums with all sorts of accusations and counter accusations flying around. Even the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) stepped in, but in the end nothing really got done. The bigger picture remains untouched.

Female journalists continue to get crank calls and text messages on their phones. These are usually suggestive in nature. While some messages ask female journalists to become 'a friend' others usually consist of smutty jokes and comments or poetry that greatly disturb the receiver because of their obvious nefarious nature.

One female journalist in Islamabad, who did not wish to be named, even received death threats if she did not comply with the wishes of a person who constantly barraged her with sexually explicit phone calls and messages.

Other female journalists have received messages from senior male journalists offering them better jobs but if only they would accept their 'friendship'.

Such messages and attempts are not only generated by male journalists but also by politicians and men in positions of power.

While many female journalists try to ignore such attempts at unsolicited 'friendship', it is easier said than done. "When I get such messages, I get so angry that I cannot function properly," remarked one female journalist who works for a top television channel. "It comes in the way of my work."

"Many young female journalists are married and support their husbands to run their homes. "It's impossible to run the home with a single salary these days," one of them observed, "but these animals don't take that into consideration. They think we're here to have fun and games. This is so wrong. We are professionals and have ambitions to do better in our work, but not like this."

Although Pakistan has a sexual harassment law many young women journalists feel it is never implemented and that rather than side with the complainant one becomes a victim to a never ending investigation that usually results with the victim resigning from her job with an uncertain future ahead.  (http://journalismpakistan.com/stories/120.html)

Various studies reveal that although the participation of females in journalism has been increasing gradually but their participation in decision-making process is still not prominent. The study reveals that though the participation of women in journalism has been increasing with time but infact their participation in decision-making precedure is still not prominent.

According to the findings of the study, around 23 percent of women felt that men and women journalists of equal competence get equal opportunity in the media industry. Meanwhile, 80 percent women respondents felt that women journalists do not get equal priority compared to their male counterparts in matters of getting assignments.

Various studies have found that there is no maternity policy in media organizations and authorities permit the leave as per their own wish.

Causes of Sexual Harrasment

The causes of sexual harassment at work can be complex, and rooted in socialization, politics, and psychology.   Working relationships can be quite friendly and intense at the same time.  In a working environment employee's are dependant on each other for work and help, and their appraisals, success and promotions are directly under control of their bosses.  In short they need each other to run a system. Such closeness and intensity can blur the professional boundaries and lead people to step over the line.  Problems caused by poor management, workplace maltreatment and job/financial insecurity, etc., can create hostile environments that affects working relationships.  

Cases of sexual harassment is very common in almost every occupation but reports of such cases is specially higher fields that have traditionally marginalized women such as media organizations, labour work etc

Provision in law regarding protection of women

According to Protection of Women (Criminal Laws Amendment) Act, 2006, it is necessary to provide relief and protection to all women against misuse and abuse of law and to prevent their exploitation.

Article 14 of the Constitution ensures that dignity of man and, subject to law, the privacy of home, shall be inviolable;

WHEREAS Article 25 of the Constitution guarantees that there shall be no discrimination on the basis of sex alone and that the State shall make provisions for the protection of women;

AND Article 37 of the Constitution encourages promotion of social justice and eradication of social evils.  

Code of Ethics:

Pakistan has adopted a Code of Conduct for Gender Justice in the Workplace that will deal with cases of sexual harassment. The Alliance Against Sexual Harassment At workplace (AASHA) announced that they would be working with the committee to establish guidelines for the proceedings. The definition of  sexual harassment by AASHA is much the same as it is defined by the U.S. and other cultures.

The Alliance Against Sexual Harassment (AASHA) has welcomed the decision of the National Assembly in unanimously passing the bill; The Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace 2009.

This is landmark legislation for providing a safe and comfortable working environment for working people so that men and women can earn their livelihood with respect and dignity without any fear and intimidation from each other. And the passage of the Pakistan Penal Code Amendment to section 509 to define sexual harassment as a crime by both the National Assembly and the Senate.

The passing of these legislations by the National Assembly will make it essential for the management of the organizations to adopt the Code of Conduct and form a three member inquiry committee to deal with the complaints of sexual harassment within their organizations. The management will have to form the committee and notify the employers of the Code of Conduct within one month of the passage of the bill. Any management that fails to get the Code of Conduct instituted within their organization or to establish a three member enquiry committee can be taken to court and can be fined up to Rs. 100,000.

In case the perpetrator is too senior or is the owner of the business himself and the victim is not satisfied with the decision of the committee or feels that the committee cannot do justice can go to an Ombudsperson which will be established only for this purpose.

The Alliance against Sexual Harassment has been working since 2002 in instituting the Anti Sexual Harassment Policy in organizations over 300 organizations have adopted the code.

Three main types of sexual harrasment defined by "Equal Employment Opportunity Commission" EEOC are

Quid pro quo sexual harrasment

Quid pro quo means "this for that". In the workplace, this type of situation occurs when a job benefit is only given to an employee if he agrees to give sexual favours.  An example would be if a boss/employer asks an employee to go out with him on a date or asks for other sexual favours so often in exchange for promoting to her or giving her a raise. Quid pro quo harassment also occurs when an employee makes an evaluative decision, or provides or withholds professional opportunities based on another employee's submission to verbal, nonverbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.  Quid pro quo harassment is equally unlawful if the victim either resists and faces the threats and harms or submits and thus avoids all types of harms and threats.

Hostile environment sexual harassment

Hostile work environment sexual harassment, on the other hand, occurs when a co-worker, manager or supervisor in the work place makes unwelcome sexual advances which interferes with work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, or learning environment in the case of students. The sexual harassing conduct could be verbal, non-verbal, visual or physical. Example of a verbal harassing conduct is when one makes a sexual comment about a person's clothing, anatomy or looks. In cases of non-verbal sexually harassing conduct an example would be leering, staring or glaring at someone. Visual sexually harassing conduct on the other hand could be displaying sexually suggestive calendars, photographs, posters or cartoons in the workplace. Physically harassing conduct is when someone gives a massage around the neck or shoulders and the victim did not ask for it and regards it as offensive.

In this type of sexual harassment, even the employer is liable if he has knowledge or should have knowledge of the sexual harassment perpetrated on one of the employees and the employer either does nothing about it or even faulted the victim for the happening of the sexually harassing conduct.

In both cases, it would be to the best interest of the victim to secure the services of a lawyer immediately to protect the victim's legal rights.

The line between "quid pro quo" and "hostile environment" harassment is not always clear and the two forms of harassment often occur or merge together. For example, an employee's job conditions are affected when a sexually hostile work environment results in a constructive discharge. At the same time, a supervisor who makes sexual advances toward a subordinate employee may communicate an implicit threat to retaliate against her if she does not comply.

"Hostile environment" harassment may acquire characteristics of "quid pro quo" harassment if the offending supervisor abuses his and force the victim to participate in the sexual conduct. Sexual harassment may result in a retaliatory discharge if a victim tells the harasser that she will no more be his victim and will not submit herself to him, and is then fired in retaliation.

Retaliation

Retaliation usually occurs when an employee reports about sexual harassment, file a grievance and after that he/she faces reaction from the abusive party. Negative actions can include being fired, demotion, suspension, increase in unnecessary workload, hurdles in  promotion, poor evaluation, unfavorable job re-assignment-any adverse employment decision or treatment that would be likely to dissuade a "reasonable worker" from making or supporting a charge of discrimination. Retaliation is as illegal as the sexual harassment itself, but also as difficult to prove. Also, retaliation is illegal even if the original charge of sexual harassment was not proven.