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Well, of course community media are also men’s media, they are the media of the young and the old, the media of those living in the cities and in the rural areas, they are the media of … all! But my point is meant to stress the importance of women’s and girl’s involvement in community media. With (much!!!) less of an equal representation in the professional, mainstream media, women’s voices, perspectives and experience have a significant potential role in community media – they are simply really, really important! This is realised in many communities and countries.
“Promoting Gender equality through and within radio” was the theme of the World Radio Day 2014, celebrated worldwide. EMPOWERHOUSE’s Birgitte Jallov was invited to deliver the keynote at the “Nepalese Women Broadcasters and Producers’” celebration in their capital city Katmandu, organised by the Story Kitchen – and to minimise costs, the presentation was flipped on to a large screen, Birgitte speaking from her home in Denmark. Listen in (10 minutes):
Community Radio and Women
All over the world women are at the core of community life. Women care for the new and old generations, transmit the history and the values of the community to the young, and sacrifice to create opportunities for their children. In short, women are the fabric and the continuity in families and communities. Women are, at the same time, severely suppressed in most communities. When wanting to do something about this through improving women’s voices on air, you can: (i) map women’s role, place and actual circumstances in the community as an important and integral part of the initial community mapping, when planning your community medium; (ii) having a representative number of women active in the community radio station; and (iii) by ensuring an appropriate image and role of women is presented in the station’s programmes. Finally, (iv) it is important to join hands with women in women’s organisations and maybe academia, to document the situation and map out the most urgent needs and possible ways forward. Starting in the mid 1970s, feminists all over Western Europe joined hands in community radios, forming all women’s stations, women’s collectives in mixed stations, or engaged in the production of regular – maybe weekly – women’s programmes in community radio stations. In 1996 the second directory of women in community radio in Europe was published by the international community radio association AMARC, documenting developments, reflecting on the experience and showing the way forward [read more here]. And in 2015 a reflection on where we are, women in community radio, globally: [read more here] Additional aspects to consider, when wanting to engage women in community radio are the following:- Some organisations start ‘women’s community radio stations’
- Human Rights are also ‘Women’s Human Rights’
- Ways to work with FGM and other locally taboized issues and Stigma
Why is community radio/media so special for advancing women’s opportunities?
“Promoting Gender equality through and within radio” was the theme of the World Radio Day 2014, celebrated worldwide. EMPOWERHOUSE’s Birgitte Jallov was invited to deliver the keynote at the “Nepalese Women Broadcasters and Producers’” celebration in their capital city Katmandu, organised by the Story Kitchen – and to minimise costs, the presentation was flipped on to a large screen, Birgitte speaking from her home in Denmark. Listen in (10 minutes):