ISLAMABAD (November 18 2007): ActionAid Pakistan, an international anti-poverty organisation concentrating on women rights as one of its key theme has started a project to sensitise journalists about different forms of women rights violations.
ActionAid representatives told Business Recorder here on Saturday that main objectives of the 2-day training workshop on Women’s Rights and Gender Sensitive Reporting of crimes against Women is to inculcate awareness among reporters about infringement and abuse of women rights.
They said that focus is on identification of patriarchal elements within and outside the society that result in women sub-ordination and from decision making process and to make media understand its role in promoting human rights and social profile of women.
ActionAid has invited suggestions and input for developing a code of conduct for gender sensitive reporting. ActionAid has invited media to select team of young journalists, to participate in this project and to contribute their experiences in making this a worthwhile experience.
Action researchers said that South Asia is considered to be the least gender sensitive region of the world where women carry out about 60 percent of the work but get only 10 percent wages and own less than 1 percent of land.
They said that the root cause of their exclusion and subjugation lies in the deeply entrenched patriarchal institutions, local customs, beliefs and socio-political systems.
Increasing violence against women, trafficking, lack of access and control over land and other natural resources, discriminatory wages, restrained political participation, lack of reproductive choice and freedom are common phenomena in all South Asian countries including Pakistan, they said.
This gets further compounded with the growth of fundamentalism, globalisation, privatisation, and increased incidents of violent conflicts in the region, they said.
Mass Media have an important role to play in promoting and safeguarding women’s rights in all spheres of life encouraging their participation and active contribution in economic, political and social processes of the country, they said.
Source: Business Recorder
Date:11/18/2007
