A number of media men were recently groomed on how to report gender-based violence and s*xual discrimination. BAYO AGBOOLA writes on the workshop.
As part of its determination towards ending discrimination against women, Gender Based Violence, (GBV) and other issues related to s*xual and Reproductive Health and Rights(SRHR) in and across Nigeria, Vision Spring Initiatives (VSI) few days ago assembled media practitioners from across the South-west states for a day workshop in Lagos to further forge the ways forward on the crusade.
VSI is of the views that as a critical stakeholders in the war against GBV and SRHR as well as in the on going crusade to end the menace among others, there is the need for journalists/media practitioners generally to be updated on the reasons to be sensitive in their reports about intersectionality.
sxual Reproductive Health Rights embraces certain human rights that are already recognised in national laws, international human rights documents, and other consensus documents.They rest on the recognition that all individuals have the rights—free from coercion, violence and discrimination of any kind—to the highest attainable standard of sxual health; to pursue a satisfying, safe and pleasurable sxual life, to have control and decision-making powers over matters related to their sxuality, reproduction, sxual orientation, bodily integrity, choice of partner, gender identity and the right to the services, education and information, including comprehensive sxuality education, necessary to do so.
Setting the mood for discussion
In the words of the project director of Vision Spring initiatives, Ngozi Nwosu-Juba, there is no doubt in the fact that media practitioners are key stakeholders in the fight against gender-based violence as well as issues of s*xual and Reproductive Health and Rights, thereby necessitating that they must always encourage government to formulate policies that will safe women from any form of discrimination or harassment in the society.
She stressed that Vision Spring Initiatives has done so much through advocacy, empowerment, education, and training on gender equality, girl-child, s*xual Reproductive Health and Rights and all issues relating to the vulnerable in the society whose certain laws and policies of government have been affected and that media should always reports more on these to further draw government attention on the issues, adding that nobody should be discriminated against and no one must be left behind in attaining their rights.
The lecture proper
A legal practitioner and guest lecturer, Omolara Oriye while speaking on ‘Intersectionality of rights in media reporting’, tasked media practitioners to be sensitive to intersectionality while filling their reports on Gender Violence and s*xual Reproductive Health and Right matters, noting, that “Intersectionality recognises that people’s lives are shaped by their identities, relationships and social factors. These combine to create intersecting forms of privilege and oppression depending on a person’s context and existing power structures such as patriarchy, ableism, colonialism, imperialism, homophobia and racism.”
Lecture continues
On her part, Kimberle Crenshaw describes intersectionality as the ways that different forms of injustice intersect in ways that compound experiences of discrimination and violence.
“Intersectional analysis provides that we should not understand the combining of identities as additively increasing one’s load, but instead as producing substantively distinct experiences. In other words, the intention is not to demonstrate that one group is more victimised or privileged than another, but to reveal meaningful distinctions and similarities in order to overcome discriminations and put the conditions in place for all people to fully enjoy their human rights.’
Defining Intersectionality, she said it is basically a lens, for seeing the way in which various forms of inequality often operate together and exacerbate each other.
“We tend to talk about race inequality as separate from inequality based on gender, class, s*xuality, or immigrant status. What’s often missing is how some people are subject to all of these and the experience is not just the
sum of its parts.”
On why intersectionality matter?, she noted that,
“An intersectional lens is required to reach the furthest behind first and achieve substantive equality that leaves no one behind, more inclusive and responsive policy making and service delivery, better use of resources: improved stakeholder collaboration builds a better understanding of the context, solution and results in more tailored services.”
Without an intersectional approach, she said the global pledge to leave no one behind will remain aspirational as it would merely lead
to ask about who is left behind, why and under what circumstances.
“Failure to examine these elements risks to undermine the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the perpetuation of intersectional inequalities.
“A journalist would only make a difference if they are able to show a diverse source of sources and subjects when reporting on SRHR and discriminatory practices.”
The guest lecturer cautioned the journalists against using words such as ‘defilement’, ‘deflowered’, ‘have carnal knowledge’ among others when reporting rape incidents, noting that the meaning can make the victims and survivors to be more emotionally injured rather than the perpetrators and that journalists should expose bottlenecks that people face in accessing s*xual Reproductive Health and Right through their reports and to always educate government and other critical stakeholders on their roles at strengthening it.
“The media advocacy on access to s*xual Reproductive Health and Right would lead to abandonment of discriminatory practices and encourage policies and practices that would enable women to take control of their SRHR by expressing their own demands and finding solutions to their own problems, When there is a culture of silence, a culture of abuse will thrive. “Journalists and editors are advised to make their reports sensitive by avoiding the use of stereotypes in their portrayal of women, sensationalistic and blown-up titles that highlight the brutal details in their accounts about violence against women and by focusing on investigative stories that paint a bigger picture of the phenomenon of violence against women, its causes and consequences,” she said.
Adding further she said, “The media must assume a more active role in the prevention of violence against women and always keep in mind the effects of their stories when this type of violence is concerned. To report professionally and with impact, journalists need training on s*xual Reproductive Health and Rights to not only help put SRHR issues into perspective but also help change negative and retrogressive cultural norms.We recognise SRHR as an advocacy issue and the media being a key partner in driving this agenda.”
Omolara in her presentation said, “Journalists and editors are advised to make their reporting gender sensitive by avoiding the use of stereotypes in their portrayal of women, sensationalistic and blown-up titles that highlight the brutal details in their accounts about violence against women and by focusing on investigative stories that paint a bigger picture of the phenomenon of violence against women, its causes and consequences. The media must assume a more active role in the prevention of violence against women and always keep in mind the effects of their stories when this type of violence is concerned.
“To report professionally and with impact, journalists need training on sxual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) to not only help put SRHR issues into perspective but also help change negative and retrogressive cultural norms. We recognize SRHR as an advocacy issue and the media being a key partner in driving this agenda. In Nigeria, gender relations are characterised by unequal power relations that are dominated within a culture of shared beliefs, values, customs and behaviours. It is within culture that women and girls face violations and discrimination of their sxual Reproductive Health and Rights.”
According to the guest lecturer, “Culture is a learning process which changes over time and journalists can play a huge role in changing social thinking and attitudes to enable women and girls achieve human development and lead long healthy lives where their rights are respected. The media advocacy on access to SRHR will lead to abandonment of discriminatory practices and encourage policies and practices that will enable women to take control of their SRHR by expressing their own demands and finding solutions to their own problems.
On the expected role of media in advocacy, Omolara stressed, “The mass media in Africa has an excellent potential to promote good sxual and reproductive health outcomes through consistent coverage given their ability to disseminate information in a broad, timely, and accessible manner, the mass media constitute an important source of information for the general public and policymakers. Poor sxual and reproductive health is a persistent and major problem in developing
countries.”
According to UNFPA, illnesses and deaths from poor reproductive health account for one-fifth of the global burden of disease. However media often fails to prioritize s*xual and reproductive health and rights issues or report them in an accurate manner. In sub-Saharan Africa media coverage of reproductive health issues is poor due to the weak capacity and motivation for reporting these issues by media practitioners.
The training which featured awards presentation for individuals that have been supporting the Vision Spring Initiatives on the fight against women and gender- based violence, networking and group photograph with media workshop was attended by both print and electronic news reporters from various media houses, news editors, publishers, bloggers, social workers, among other stakeholders that were selected from Oyo, Lagos, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo states.
