3-Day Workshop on

GENDER & MEDIA

WITH PESHAWAR BASED JOURNALISTS

MAY 8TH TO 10TH, 2009
“ Never doubt that a small group
of thoughtful committed people
can change the world, indeed it is
the only thing that ever has.” M.Mead

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Working with Journalists
 is a national NGO that works on the
issues of emotional health, gender and violence
against women and children.

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 ROZAN’S MISSION
STATEMENT
Rozan's mission is to have worked with all
people, especially women, youth, and
children, to collectively strive for a society
that is self-aware, violence free, and
accepting of itself and others

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 Rozan Strategies

 Capacity building of state and non state actors

through workshops, curriculum development,
TOT’s and mentoring
 Awareness Raising
 Psychological support and referral
 Advocacy

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 ROZAN’S PROGRAMS

AANGAN

Working on the emotional health of children, focusing on

child sexual abuse

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 ROZAN’S PROGRAMS

ZEEST

Working on emotional and mental health of women,

addressing the issue of violence against women in
particular

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 ROZAN’S PROGRAMS

YOUTH HELP LINE

Providing telephonic postal and e-mail counseling

services

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 ROZAN’S PROGRAMS

RABTA

Sensitizing policemen on issues of self-growth, gender and

violence against women and children. Its achievement is
its module which is part of police syllabus now.

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 Rozan’s
Media Initiative

Munsalik

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 Munsalik
Rozan’s media initiative that aims to sensitize media on
gender and empower them so that they advocate for a
gender-just society

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 Project Activities
 Gender-sensitization of working journalists
 (trainings and refreshers for crime/social beats reporters)
 Gender-sensitization of upcoming journalists
 (seminars with university students)
 Gender-sensitization of 1 media house and 1 TV channel at
all tiers.

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Objectives of Workshop
 To highlight the importance of sensitive portrayal of
women
 in media especially survivors of violence.

 To collectively identify alternative sensitive reporting

module.

 Socially responsible journalism.

 Handling cases of violence against women in war zone.

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 JO-HARI WINDOW
I KNOW I KNOW
THEY DO NOT THEY
KNOW KNOW
Body Language Appearance Education
Expression Name Experience

I DON’T KNOW I DO NOT KNOW

THEY KNOW THEY DO NOT
KNOW
Secrets Dreams Suppress Desires
Rears Fantasies Past Experience

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 3-Day Workshop on
Gender & Media

DAY TWO

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 Understanding Gender
 Sex describes the biological differences between men
and women, which are universal and determined at
birth.
 Gender refers to the roles and responsibilities of men
and women that are created in our families, our
societies and our cultures. The concept of gender also
includes the expectations held about the
characteristics, aptitudes and likely behaviors of both
women and men (femininity and masculinity).

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 Difference Between Sex & Gender
SEX GENDER
Male or Female Masculine or Feminine
Biologically defined Socially Constructed
Refers to Biological condition Refers to the position of men
of men and women and women in society

No change possible Changes over time

Women and men are in the
same category
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Differences between men and
women along culture, class,
caste, religion, age etc.
 Domestic Violence

Domestic violence refers to any act in which a family

member uses to control, humiliate, frighten or overpower
another family member.

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 ..... Domestic Violence
Forms of Domestic Violence

 Physical abuse (e.g., pushing, slapping, beating, etc)

 Verbal or emotional abuse (e.g., pattern of criticising,
intimidating, putting down, threatening, etc)
 Economic abuse (e.g., controlling all finances)
 Sexual abuse (e.g., rape, forcing certain unwanted sexual
acts)
 Social abuse (e.g., restricting mobility, meeting family,
etc.)

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 Rape
 Rape refers to forced sexual intercourse against a person’s
will. It is a violent, hostile assault that a person commits
to dominate, overpower and humiliate the other person. It
is an act of power and control.

 Rape may or may not involve actual overt violence. A

person can be raped if he/she is coerced into performing a
sexual act. Coercion may take a variety of forms. It may
involve physical force, threats of bodily harm, financial
deprivation or dire consequences. A common feature of
this coercion is the abuse of power to control the victim.

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 Some facts...
Reported incid
t h at ents alone
a te d indicate that r
It is estim n in every ape occurs
woma sehold in every 3 hours
in Pakistan.
u
third ho s a victim The real figure
s are likely
a ki s ta n i
P to be much, m
f d o m e stic uch higher
o since the majo
.
violence pment in cases never ge
rity of the
m a n D evelo g en d er t reported
(Hu ia. Th e at all.
South As 2000) (HRCP)
-
question

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 Child Abuse
Child Abuse can be defined as a deliberate physical, sexual or
emotional act that makes a child feel uncomfortable, unloved and
shameful. It decreases the worth of a person and affects his/her
healthy and natural development.

Child Abuse is carried out in many forms but its impact is always
the same: the abused child is inevitably hurt by the abuser,
if that abuser is someone s/he loves and trusts and who is
supposed to be responsible for him or her.

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 Child Physical Abuse
 A deliberate physical act, which makes a child feel
uncomfortable, unloved and shameful. It decreases the
worth of a person and effects his/her healthy and natural
development.

 Physical abuse ranges from hitting, slapping, kicking,

beating, to more severe forms of physical violence such
as torture etc.
 
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 Facts about Domestic Violence
 Domestic violence occurs in every socio-economic class

 Violence is never justified (except in self-defence), no matter how much

anger a person provokes or how unreasonable the person is being.

 No woman is happy or satisfied in an abusive relationship. However, many

women choose to continue living with their violent partners due to reasons
such a financial dependence, for the children, fear of social disapproval, self-
blame, lack of support from family, inadequate laws & social services, fear
for their personal security. All abused women are affected in some way.

 Being violent is a pattern & a tendency to control and show one’s power. It
does not happen because of a momentary loss of temper, loss of control,
general, frustration, stress, drugs/alcohol, economic problems, etc.

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 Facts about Rape
 Rape is a violent, hostile assault that a person commits in order to dominate,
over-power, control and humiliate the other. It is an act of power. Sex is
merely used as means of control and humiliation.
 Rape may or may not involve actual overt violence.
 Most women are raped by men known to them, not by strangers.
 Rape can happen to any woman or girl regardless of her age, physical
appearance, her clothes, character, life style, education, her socio-economic
status, etc.
 Rape can occur anywhere and at any time of the day. It does not only occur
in dark, deserted places.
 Rape is always traumatic and its implications are severe although different
women may react in different ways, ranging from being shocked to appearing
very calm to terror and hysteria.

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 Facts about Child Sexual Abuse
 Child sexual abuse is a problem of all socio-economic areas
 Abusers are usually people whom the child knows
 Very young children can also be abused
 Boys and girls are equally vulnerable to sexual abuse
 CSA is not necessarily accompanied by physical violence or force
 Although abusers are predominantly men, women can also be abusers
 Abuse always affects children in some way even if they do not remember
details of it.
 It is never the child’s fault if s/he is sexually abused

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 Abuse and Power
 The word “abuse” refers to the abuse or manipulation of one’s power to
control another considered less powerful. Thus, abuse is always about
power and control – not about anger, stress, frustration, etc, although
these may at times, trigger abusive behavior.

 In cases of violence against women and children, the abusers’ sources

of power are gender and age. In other words, there is an obvious power
imbalance between different members of our society: men in relation to
women; adults in relation to children. Society allows the powerful the
authority to do whatever they like to those they consider less socially
and physically powerful than them.

 Thus, the solution lies in promoting equality, justice and respect for all:
women, men and children.
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 Types of Power
 Power over is the type of power that is most
commonly seen as ‘aggressive’, or the dominating
kind. It assumes that power is a finite quantity,
which, if shared with others, would lead to a
reduction in one’s own power. In power over, the
strong use their power to dominate the weak.

 Power to is the kind of power that comes from having

the ability and skills to do something, such as the
power to make friends, write well, etc. It is the power
to be creative and solve problems.

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 Types of Power (Conti…)
 Power with is when the sum is greater than the whole; the
power that comes from collective action, like when
lobbying for human rights or starting a revolution; an
abuse of power with, is mob behavior during riots.

 Power within is the power that stems from the spirituality

deep within us, and results from self -acceptance, and
self-respect, which is extended to others.

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 Forced Emotional abuse
marriage

Abusive
language
Power threats

Restriction on
Control
mobility

Restriction on threats
education
threats

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 EFFECTS OF VIOLENCE ON SURVIVORS
Domestic Violence :
Short Term Effects:
 Physical injury
 Shock
 Shame, embarrassment, humiliation
 Feeling lonely
 Anger and aggression
 Feelings of hatred towards self and perpetrator
 Helplessness/hopelessness
 Self pity
 Low self esteem
 Sadness
 Self blame/guilt
 Feeling of insecurity, nervousness and anxiety

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 ...EFFECTS
Long Term Effects

 Serious psychological problems like depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation

 Sleep disturbance/ nightmares
 Excessive use of drugs (e.g. sleeping pills etc)
 Severe stress reactions with psycho-somatic complaints
 Learned helplessness
 Denial
 Low self-esteem
 Relationship issues, e.g. dependency, people pleasing, attention seeking
 Difficulty in making decisions

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Effects on Children Who Witness Domestic
Violence
 Emotional injuries such as low self-esteem
 Depression
 Aggressive behaviour towards others
 Delinquency
 Poor school adjustment
 Runaway episodes
 High risk to alcohol and drug use
 Early marriages
 Acceptance and continuation of violence in adult relationships
 Recurring thoughts of harm or homicide towards batterer
 Feelings of needing to protect the mother
 Inability to experience normal childhood and
adolescence
 Nightmares
 Taking on roles inappropriate to age
 Suicidal ideation

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 ...EFFECTS
Rape:

Immediate concerns of rape victims

 Coping
 Shame and guilt
 Fear
 Venereal diseases
 Pregnancy
 Telling significant others

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 Effects of Rape
 There may not necessarily be an
immediate change in behaviour – the
victim may seem to be carrying on as  Impaired sexual; functioning
normal
 Shock  Guilt and self-blame
 Embarrassment  Fantasies, day dreams and
 Disorientation
nightmares
 Powerlessness
 Preoccupation, distraction  Intense anger or hatred
 Loneliness
 Fear and anxiety (may fear for her life)
 May be reluctant to discuss the
 Blocked expression of emotions assault with the members of her
Feels humiliated, demeaned, degraded family, friends
and “damaged”
Will never be the same again
 Injury, venereal diseases, pregnancy
 Unusual mood swings and outbursts

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Long Term Effects
 Serious psychological problems like anxiety and depression
 Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
 Excessive use of drugs
 May develop a pattern of unhealthy relationships
 Low self esteem
 Self-destructive behavior and suicidal ideation
 Suicide
 Psychosomatic complaints
 Sexual deviations/dysfunctions
 HIV Aids, STDs

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 Effects of Abuse on Children
 Anger (anger at abuser, at self, at others who were present during the time of
the abuse
 Betrayal (especially significant if abuser is a family member
 Constant worrying
 Fear
 Sadness
 Shame
 Guilt (feelings of responsibility for the abuse)
 Rejection
 Helplessness
 Depression
 Anxiety
 Sleep Disturbance
 Low self-Esteem
 Learning use of violence
 Stubbornness

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 Effects of Abuse on Children

 Extreme mood swings

 Decrease or increase in eating habits
 Use or increase in use of alcohol or other drugs
 Sudden impulse to cry or cry constantly
 Self-mutilation
 Lack of control/out of control
 Physical symptoms as menstrual difficulties, bladder
infections, headaches, body tensions, bed wetting,
 Impaired interpersonal relationships.
 Delinquent behavior
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 3-Day Workshop on
Gender & Media

DAY THREE

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 Women and Media

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 The process of collecting, editing and
choosing what is news is not purely
objective and is heavily influenced by
processes operating within media.

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 Responsible MEDIA

Media can act as catalysts for social change through

coverage of injustices and the marginalization of
populations in society which often have little
access to expression in the public sphere. In other
words, the media can give a voice to those who
often find their voices marginalized

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 Responsible MEDIA

Serve as the channel through which the public

communicates to policy makers and through
which policy makers communicate to the public

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 Responsible MEDIA
 Shape public opinion and attitudes and through
that public discourse and priorities

 Reinforce or challenge gender, racial and other

stereotypes and norms

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How Media is covering VAW

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 Effects on the Society of such
Coverage
 It restricts women’s mobility
 It reinforces their traditional roles
 It reinforces myths around VAW
 It effects their private life and dignity
 It also effects their independent decision making
 They become discussable commodity for public
 Seeing above mentioned effects, other women fear to
speak out for their rights.

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 Responsibilities of a Sensitive
Journalist
 Confidentiality
 Consent
 Pictorial coverage
 Interview’s Method
 Follow-up
 Referral

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