Women at the workplace: ‘Hire the best presenters, not the prettiest’

ILO forum, workshops aim to raise awareness of challenges facing working women.

LAHORE:

Media organisations contribute to the objectification of women at the workplace by prioritising looks over talent when looking for female presenters, said speakers at a forum discussing the media’s role in promoting gender equality at the workplace here on Tuesday.

The forum was the second of four being held by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Pakistan’s major cities as part of the Gender Equality for Decent Employment project.

Moneeza Hashmi, a long-time television executive and president of the Commonwealth Broadcasters Association, said the media needed to avoid portraying women as sex objects. It should also shift its focus from sensationalist news to development news, she said.

Hashmi said that there had been a greater emphasis on gender equality at the workplace since a third of the seats in the federal and provincial legislatures were reserved for women. She also discussed the impact of the Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act of 2009.

Dr Anjum Zia of the Lahore College for Women University said that there was a pressing demand from media organisations for the good-looking media students, instead of the smart and talented students. Objectifying women at the workplace encourages a gender bias, she said.

Other participants stressed the need for raising awareness not just among the general public, but also at the policy-making level. “Media ethics and policies are established by media owners and management. There is an urgent need to bring them to the table,” said Dr Ahsan Akhtar Naz from the Institute of Communication Studies, Punjab University.

Farida Khan, the national coordinator for the project, revealed the alarming statistic that women employed in the textile industry are paid 70 per cent less than men who have the same skill set.

Khan said that besides promoting equal employment opportunities for women and enhancing their skills, the Gender Equality project hoped to improve the media’s capacity to raise awareness of the issues of working women.

Media analyst Adnan Rehmat said that media agencies should formulate policies that identify gender issues as a priority. This “missing prioritisation” should be addressed as a human rights violation, he said.

The project organisers are planning to hold 39 three-day workshops across Pakistan to train about 800 journalists and 300 journalism students from the top ten universities in the country.

(Read: Acknowledging needs - Denmark to give $28 million for journalists’ capacity building)

The Gender Equality for Decent Employment project is funded by the Canadian International Development Agency.



Published in The Express Tribune, September 21^st, 2011.