One-day Media Dialogue

Women in Digital Spaces: Shaping Media, Politics and Democracy

Speakers during one-day dialogue on “Women in Digital Spaces: Shaping Media, Politics and Democracy” have said that, digital media has proven to be a revolution for women. The digital media is the first platform that has given space to women. It is a different matter that it is also being used negatively against women and regular campaigns have been launched against many women

The dialogue was organized by the Women Media Center in Karachi. Prof. Dr. Tauseef Ahmed Khan (Renowned figure of Academia, columnist), senior journalist/analyst Mazhar Abbas, Munazzah Seham (Joint Secretary of CPNE (Sindh Chapter), Sidra Dar (Senior reporter Voice of America), Shahr Bano (senior reporter of English daily ‘The News’), Shazia Hassan (senior reporter of Daily Dawn), Shaheen Atiq (Head of ARY Digital), Maria Ismail (senior reporter of Awami Awaz) and Quratul Ain (human rights activist) along with large number of journalism students from various universities participated in the session.

The session was organized in collaboration with WMC and the National Endowment for Democracy. Fauzia Shaheen, (Founder and CEO of the Women Media Center and Editor of Dastak) welcomed all the guests and participants. While starting the dialogue, she said that digital media has proven to be a revolution for women, where their struggle for women’s rights has intensified and issues that were not highlighted are now being discussed. However, along with many positive aspects, women also face many challenges in digital spaces, including online harassment, cyberbullying and threats. To combat them, it is very important to use social media platforms safely and have safety mechanisms. Elaborating her point of view, Sidra Dar said that digital media is the first platform that has given space to women. She said that it is a different matter that it is also being used negatively against women and regular campaigns have been launched against many women. She said that the problem for women is not digital space but the problem is a specific mindset. Until this

mindset changes, resolution of the problems is not possible. She said that very few women have been seen in decision-making within media houses, gender bias still exists there and

women will have to struggle a lot to eliminate it. Quratul Ain said that in my opinion, the “Aurat March” is a big struggle for women’s rights. She said that the problems of all women are similar and almost the same, because the role of women has been tied to a specific paradigm. She said that whenever the name of ‘gender’ comes up, a woman is

considered a “commodity”. The performance of any woman is not judged as an individual but by her character. Giving an example, she said that whenever the female Chief Minister of Punjab is talked about, then her purse, bag, cosmetic surgery is mentioned, similarly the performance of other female parliamentarians is also judged by their character. She said that when men speak on TV channels, no one takes notice, but if Asma Shirazi speaks, than her character assassination starts, this situation is a reflection of the patriarchal thinking of the society. She said that equal representation of women in the media is necessary, if more women come to this field, the situation will improve. Quratul Ain said that there is a very fine line between “gender sensitivity and gender opportunity”. No one should be ignored just because she is a woman, here women are kept away from opportunities based on “gender sensitivity”. She said that for its solution, attitude and resistance are necessary, resist the patriarchal society.

This five-thousand-year-old system of thought will not end in five days Speaking on the topic, Professor Dr. Tauseef Ahmed Khan said that in our society, any change is not accepted willingly but forcedly, which is why now that women’s capabilities have started to emerge through new digital media platforms, peoples with specific thinking in society are unable to digest it. He said that this mentality was present in print media, electronic media and now it remains in the digital era. He further said that it is a separate question that what should be done on digital media, how much should be done, because there is no editor’s institution or any check and balance on this media, so such problems are being faced. He

said that the work of women and their abilities should be accepted with an open heart and they should be encouraged at all levels.

Senior journalist Mazhar Abbas said that the exposure of digital media is very high and fast, similarly its damage is also high and fast, the more your rating increases, the more you will be afraid of threats, the main reason for all these problems is that there is no check on it. He said that our society’s attitude towards men is different while it is different with women. Unfortunately, political parties are also unsuccessful in improving it. Giving an example, he said that before 1990, women did not get representation in the Sindh Club. However, when the representation of women in parliament was increased during the rule of General Musharraf, their voices started to be raised at the national level. He said that now it is the responsibility of the unions in the field of journalism to increase the representation of women. If the number of women in media houses is more, then the problems will automatically start reducing.

In the dialogue session, Munazzaa Seham, Shaheen Atiq, Shazia Hassan, Shehrbano and Maria Ismail also expressed their views while answering the questions of the audience. Finally, WMC CEO Fauzia Shaheen thanked all the guests and participants for participating in the dialogue.

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