The inclusive role of females in ethnic media in Myanmar and the news coverage about women voices remain weak, the people from the media and the activists working for women affairs said, at an online talk titled “Ethnic media and voices of women” organized by the Burma News International (BNI) on 15 February.
Due to the conservative ideas that women should not be related to media, the female inclusion ratio in media remains low till date, Nan Paw Gay, Chief Editor of Karen Information Center (KIC) said.
Activists working for women affairs pointed out that although the mushrooming of ethnic media in Myanmar is welcomed. The news coverage about the voices of women expressing the difficulties of women in ethnic areas is still needed.
Zu Padonma, Joint General Secretary of the Burmese Women’s Union (BWU) said: “The news coverage by the media from the women’s point of view has not reached a satisfactory level yet.”
“Women still need to talk much about female issues. The media need to cover a lot of daily news about politics, economy, crisis and international affairs from the female point of view. The media platforms need to cover the news about the voices of women in ethnic areas,” said Zu Padonmar, Joint General Secretary of the BWU.
Following the military coup, the news coverage about the role of women and the women’ voices see little progress, the activists working for women affairs said.
It is found that ethnic media has set a policy for the 30-percent inclusion of women in ethnic media. Women themselves should try to be included in every sector, said Sai Meng, Chief Editor of the Shan News.
“Women will remain oppressed if we don’t develop a policy which prioritizes women. Nowadays, the communities come to think about the idea of giving more priority to women than men. So, they adopt the policy that the female inclusion ratio must be 30 per cent.”
Women in Myanmar still face sexual violence, psychological violence and verbal and physical oppressions till date.
To overcome these situations, the inclusion of women in the areas such as politics, economy and activities is still needed. Women should also be in the workplaces that have the right to decide, some people pointed out.
Sent by Aung Htein (DMG)
