- Panel Discussion On understanding gender policies within media houses
- Song recital with students turning a sexist song into a feminist song
· Study based on 87 respondents from 36 media organizations across languages
Mumbai, 28th July 2017: Population First, the communication and advocacy initiative working towards gender sensitivity has conducted a study on ‘Media: How Gender Sensitive, How Inclusive’ in collaboration with Gender Issues Cell of K.C. College, Mumbai. The report of this research was released in an open event in the presence of several dignitaries & students on Friday 28th July at KC College, Watumull Auditorium, Churchgate. The report covers 36 media organizations from 87 respondents which saw Mapping of Gender Distribution, recruitment & promotion, Equity Policies, Proactive Measures, Sexual Harassment.
The findings of the study were shared in a panel discussion with eminent media and advertising leaders – Ms. Kalpana Sharma (Former deputy Editor, The Hindu), Mr. K V Sridhar (Founder, Hyper Collective), and Ms. Devleena Majumdar (President HR, Culture Machine). An offbeat entertainment recital on feminism will be performed by the students of KC College with the help of lyrics from ‘Gaana Rewrite’ campaign of Akshara Foundation. The whole idea was to pick top Bollywood songs that are rewritten to cull out sexism. This is a great chance to turn a sexist song into something that one can sing along too without cringing”
Dr. A L Sharada, Director, Population First shared, “The study was conducted with funding support from UNFPA. The project was restricted to media organizations within Mumbai Metropolitan Region and covered a total of 87 respondents drawn from 36 media organizations across languages. The conclusions, thus, are derived from the rich data gathered from interviews with media personnel and from review of previous research studies and existing literature on the subject. Data on gender distribution at different levels within media houses have clearly reflected gender disparity. Board members, Founder members, CEO etc are predominantly men. Women are found in large numbers as HR personnel across print and advertising but are less in number in broadcast. The presence of women camerapersons, photographers in technical sections is dismal across all media. The study also throws light on beats being highly gendered, awareness of Prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace, demands of work and family life came out as a major hindrance for women professionals in media and more”