MAINSTREAMING GENDER IN MEDIA REPORTING<\/p>\n
BY BETTY ABAH<\/p>\n
Presentation at JFC\u2019s workshop)
\nDefinition: Gender mainstreaming is the public policy concept of assessing the different implications for women and men of any planned policy action, including legislation and programmes, in all areas and levels.
\nGender Mainstreaming is about equality, equity, it is about justice, it is about balance.
\nWhy Gender Mainstreaming in the media?
\nBecause in Africa, most times, editors, reporters and even the reading public are victims of the socialization of patriarchy and tend to see things, almost always from the man\u2019s point of view. Most times, subconsciously, women, girls\u2019 and children\u2019s voices are silenced in the fine art of reporting. Many of us reporters can identify with this. Sometime you go to a community to report a disaster that has affected everyone including men, women, girls, boys, infants, yet it is the \u2018chief and elders\u2019 (meaning, ofcourse, male elders) who would speak on the behalf of everyone.
\nThus mainstreaming gender in the media is an urgent task that must be done \u2013 the need for reporters to report, as we often say but sometime don\u2019t practice\u2014 \u2018all sides of the story\u2019 meaning as the issues affect both sexes\u2014 i.e. the gender impacts.
\nIf this is not consciously done, left for communities, only men\u2019s voices would be heard and the situations will only be portrayed from the male points of views.
\nIn other word, it is called the \u2018gender lenses\u2019. It is a consciousness. It is required. It is just. It is fair. It is professional especially in light of our male-dominated world.<\/p>\n
GENDER ISSUES REQUIRING MEDIA HIGHLIGHT:
\nBesides the need to report using the \u2018gender lenses\u2019 in general reporting, it is pertinent for news media organisations to focus consciously on the often under-reported issues revolving around the plights of girls, women and children. Some of them are outlined briefly below with accompanying statistics to back up the fact of their importance and the urgency needed to focus on them.<\/p>\n
Girl Marriage
\n\uf06e Nigeria has the highest rate of girl marriage in Africa, according to UNICEF: over 50% of women in Northern are Nigeria married before or by age 16.<\/p>\n
\uf06e According to a recent report by Ford Foundation, about 48% of girls in Nigeria, predominantly in rural areas, are married off before age 18. Cases of VVF, maternal mortality, girls murdering their husbands in revolt against child marriages, have been on the increase especially in rural areas. <\/p>\n
\uf06e According to a 2013\/2014 UNESCO report, Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children, numbering 11 million. This owes mostly to economic hardship and government\u2019s indifference to children\u2019s and the non-implementation of the Access to Universal Basic Education law in addition to the on-going anti-western education insurgency in the north. Out of this, girls are in the majority. The gross lack of interest in girl education and welfare has given rise to child marriage as economically-hit families want to \u2018do away\u2019 quickly with their girl children so as to give priority attention to their boy counterparts. Besides poverty, a lack of awareness, illiteracy, cultural practice and government\u2019s general apathy towards rural development have also been blamed.<\/p>\n
\uf06e Many have also linked this to lack of political will and sincerity on the part of government both at federal and state levels to enforce the C Child\u2019s Rights Act. The mass abduction of the more than 200 school girls by the Boko Haram sect in Bornu State last April, obvious sexual violations and their alleged forced marriage to the sect\u2019s commanders, threw international limelight on how very vulnerable girls in Nigeria currently are. However, while the reports and researches on girl marriage prevalence have focused on rural and impoverished areas for a long time, recent findings have revealed a steady culture of girl marriage in communities in Lagos (Nigeria\u2019s most educated and most cosmopolitan state). This is highly prevalent especially the settler and secluded populations of the Hausa-Fulani, Nupes and other tribes from Northern Nigeria. Others are minority populations from Benin Republic and Togo. The communities include Makoko, Ottodo-Gbame, Badagry (both on and Island), Ojo, New Okoba among others.<\/p>\n
Rape. Rape. Rape
\nRape news has become a daily item on virtually every news medium in Nigeria. The fact that we have had only 18 convictions so far in Nigeria portrays a bleak reality of the weakness of our legal system in dealing with rape and the fact that culprits get away all the time to go commit yet another rape of the very innocent. More troubling is also the rape of minors which have become very prevalent now.<\/p>\n
AGRICULTURE AND WOMEN POVERTY
\nAccording to an Oxfam statistics, women own only about 11% of land globally while they do 70 per cent of farmwork. Closely associated to this is rural poverty. A diabolic mix of policies (such as the conditions by finance institutions which make access to capital by women almost impossible) and cultural inhibitions, women continue to be \u2018the face of poverty\u2019 worldwide.<\/p>\n
VIOLENCE\/Militarisation
\nWomen are the face of war victims everywhere, whether in Nigeria\u2019s North East (Boko Haram), Congo, Rwanda, Sudan or elsewhere. They are the \u2018spoils of war\u2019 by rebel and even government forces (eg the recent case of rape by UN Peace Keeping Forces in South Sudan).
\nIt is sad that most of the revealing and most comprehensive reports on the Boko Haram insurgency have been the ones covered by Western media such as the Washington Post, CNN, the BBC and Al Jezira. Where are our local media?<\/p>\n
Female Circumcision:
\n\u201cOver 6 million women in South West Nigeria victims of female genital mutilation.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Female circumcision (or Female Genital Mutilation aka FGM) still goes on in several communities in Nigeria. The physical, psychological and health implications (eg girls bleeding to death in the process) are things that must be explored and adequately highlighted in the media.<\/p>\n
Domestic Abuse:
\nOwing, perhaps to economic recession, widespread job losses and general social-economic pressures, domestic violence has now assumed a virulent dimension in Nigeria. As usual, women are at the receiving end of it all. Some of these even lead to death as exemplified by the Arowolo\u2019s case and that of the LUTH consultant, alleged also to be a case of domestic violence.
\nMost of these cases are not reported. Focusing media searchlight on them will help to secure justice for victims, encourage other victims to speak up and generally reduce the incidences especially when justice is done.
\nThese are just a few instances. A conscious policy to focus on women\/girl-related issues, give voice to voiceless citizens, in this case women, balanced reporting will go a long way to right wrongs and bring sanity to our country.<\/p>\n
The press has the power to do this. The press can. The press should.<\/p>\n
Thank you!<\/p>\n
Abah is a woman and child\u2019s rights right activist and Executive Director CEE-HOPE. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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