KARACHI: A three-day training workshop on ‘Reporting Gender and Labour Issues’ was organised by Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The workshop was aimed at creating awareness regarding gender and labour issues, and soliciting media’s feed back on how to promote gender sensitive reporting.
The event was attended by a large number of media persons as well as representatives of PFUJ and ILO. Main speakers of the event were Imran Shirvanee, media expert, Tabinda Sarosh, Manager (Research) Shirkat Gah Women’s Resource Centre, Rabia Razzaque, Programme Officer, GE4DE, senior journalist Kamal Siddiqui and others, who highlighted core issues and problems faced by women in the society.
They were of the opinion that women have to come forward for seeking solutions of their problems in the male-dominated society. They said that there were several human right organisations and institutions to provide them assistance.
They said that these types of workshops were important for gender equality. They noted that of late there had been a positive change in media’s approach as far as women-related issues are concerned. They agreed the specific mindset of treating women like a tissue paper is prevalent in the society, which needed to be changed.
The speakers said that the media, which is growing fast, was impacting every sphere of life, need to identify and highlight all odds of the society. The media should deal gender-sensitive issues carefully and responsibly and play a positive role in addressing such issues, they added.
A few findings of media monitoring analysis conducted by the ILO were shared with the participants. In the closing session, certificates were distributed among the participants.
