The #MeToo and #TimesUp movements have put the public attention on the evident gender
inequality in the media and new technologies sectors. Although it seems to be a recent
issue, the gender and communication agenda has a history of more than five decades,
when feminist scholars initiated the first studies that evidenced the patriarchal
nature of media.
A milestone in the development of this agenda is the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA),
published in 1995 by United Nations. Thanks to the influence of scholars and journalists,
the BPfA included “Women and Media” as one of the strategic areas for the advancement
of women in the world. Known as ‘Section J’, this area identified two objectives to
achieve gender equality in and through the media and information and communication
technology (ICT):
These groups also managed to influence the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW),
the main multilateral body devoted to the promotion of gender equality and women’s
human rights. Supported by the United Nations Organization, in 2003 and on the occasion
of its 47th Session, this body focused its attention on the issue of women’s participation
in media and information technologies, and their impact on the advancement and empowerment
of women. The Commission then determined that the 68th Session, to be held in March
2018, would have it as review theme, in order to review the progress made by member
states since 2003. What was the balance made at the Commission? That the advances
have been incipient, and in some cases there are setbacks. One of the main obstacles
identified by the experts, is the resistance of media and ICT companies to promote
gender equality. The reiteration of sexist stereotypes and discrimination and violence
against women in content has spread to digital platforms, through what it has been
called as cyber-violence. Likewise, the limited access of women to decision-making
positions in the media and ICT, the precariousness of their working conditions, and
violence against women journalists, are a symptom of this resistance. Another obstacle
identified, is the instrumental perspective over new technologies. ICT are seen as
tools for the economic empowerment of women, as they can make them more profitable
for the market, when in reality the access of women and girls to media and new technologies
is directly linked with their human rights.
In response, UNESCO launched in 2013, together with more than 500 organizations, the
Global Alliance on Media and Gender (GAMAG). This multi-stakeolder alliance calls
for the participation of academics, civil society, journalists, regulatory bodies,
media and ICT, with the purpose of promoting this agenda within the global framework
and achieving gender equality in and through these sectors. Linked to GAMAG, UNESCO
announced during the International Meeting on International Cooperation in Gender
and Media, at United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in December 2015,
the creation of the UNESCO University Network UniTWIN in Gender, Media and ICT. The
purpose of the Network is to promote research, teaching and dissemination in gender
equality, media and new technologies in the universities around the world.
The Network includes the participation of universities from the five regions of the
world, recognized internationally for their contribution to research in gender and
communication. It is coordinated by UNAM, through the Center of Interdisciplinary
Research in Sciences and Humanities (CEIICH), the RMIT University (Australia) and
the University of Padova (Italy). Other universities are: Autonomous University of
Barcelona; Complutense University of Madrid (Spain); Hawassa University (Ethiopia);
Howard University (United States); Multimedia University of Kenya (Kenya); University
of Newcastle (United Kingdom); Polytechnic of Namibia (Namibia); Pontifical Catholic
University of Valparaíso (Chile); SNDT Women’s University (India); Universidad Iberoamericana
(Dominican Republic); Simon Bolivar Andean University (Ecuador); and University of
Gothenburg (Sweden).
The particular objectives of the Network are to:
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Promote gender equality in the media through the media, through research, education
and dissemination.
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Support training and research on media, information and communication technologies
(ICT), which are fundamental to the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment
of women.
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Work to stimulate and show some of the most important academic contributions to knowledge
related to women’s participation in all media platforms.
In order to support the achievement of the Network’s objectives, this issue of the
journal INTERdisciplina is dedicated to disseminating research in gender, media and
ICT led by members of the Network. All of them assume the two principles of feminist
research: it is scientific as well as political, since it seeks to transform social
conditions for the achievement of gender equality.
The Dossier section includes the contribution of the Australian researcher Lisa French,
who in the article “Women documentary filmmakers as transnational ‘advocate change
agents’”, examines the key role that women have played in the production of documentaries
in making visible and giving voice to women. The author points out that this work
empowers women and constitutes a form of feminist activism.
The article “Journalism of opinion and gender discourse: comparative analysis of the
columns of El País Semanal (El País) and Magazine (La Vanguardia)”, by the scholar
Soledad Vargas, represents a good example of interdisciplinary research. The author
puts in dialogue feminist critical theory, literary and journalism studies to analyze
the way in which gender determines the work of women and men, both at thematic level
and stylistic discourse.
Aimée Vega Montiel studies the structural conditions of violence against women journalists.
The author places special emphasis on the importance of promoting an international
report that allows to know periodically the dimensions of this problem and to be able
to influence policies and legislative changes, in order to guarantee the life and
freedom of women journalists in the world.
Melisew Dejene and Tafesse Matewos Karo, from Hawassa University, share the results
of a study conducted in Southern Ethiopia, aimed at identifying how media and technologies
impact on women’s lives, particularly their well-being and economic empowerment.
With the aim of addressing gender inequality in the media, Claudia Padovani and Karen
Ross share the project Advancing Gender Equality in Media Industries (AGEMI), which
aims to combat gender stereotypes and promote equal opportunities, through educational
resources aimed at inspiring and informing students and media professionals, and developing
a bank of good practices.
In “Education as a tool for social change: education in values and gender based violence”,
Isabel Rodrigo Martín, Patricia Núñez Gómez and Luis Martín analyze the role of education
in the prevention of gender based violence, inclusion and visibility of women and
the recognition of diverse identities that break with stereotypes and roles against
all forms of discrimination.
Edgar Vega Suriaga examines in “Gays and trans and then to gender/generic diversities:
two decades of descriminalization of homosexuality in Ecuador” the development of
an inclusive discourse both in public policy and in militancy itself, but also the
political strategies behind of this action, in the context of the emancipatory processes
of popular sectors and sexualities.
Lucía Sánchez-Díaz closes this section with the article “Street harassment perception
and it relations with self-objectification of women”. The author analyzes the results
of a study conducted in the Dominican Republic on the experience of women victims
of sexual harassment.
The Interview section includes a text prepared by Adina Barrera. The author interviewes
to the civil society organization Communication and Information of Women [CIMAC],
with the objective of knowing the possibilities and limits that this NGO identifies
in the access to the public information right, when it seeks for information on violence
against women journalists.
The section ‘Independent Communications’ includes a text by Toby Miller that analyzes
a current topic in the research agenda: the exaltation of hegemonic masculinity, through
the representation of the bodies of athletes as objects of individual and collective
consumption, through the use of marketing methods that allude to nationalism and social
referents. The other contribution, by Lucía Álvarez, adresses the issue of citzenship
in the context of growing informality.
The review introduces UNESCO’s latest global report World trends in freedom of expression
and media development. The document concentrates its attention on four dimensions:
Freedom of communication, pluralism and independence of the media, and security of
journalists. One of the main successes of the document is having incorporated the
gender perspective in the analysis of these dimensions.
In summary, what these works show, is the holistic nature of the feminist agenda in
communication and invite to take advantage of the possibilities of the UNESCO UniTWIN
Network in Gender, Media and ICT, to promote gender equality and the human rights
of women and girls.