RAW DEAL FOR WOMEN IN SWAZI MEDIA

There are significantly fewer women in media in Swaziland than men, a new report reveals.

A ‘glass ceiling’ exists that stops women from progressing in media houses and patriarchal attitudes dictate the pace of progress in the media industry.

Swazi women face invisible barriers in most departments, although they predominate in advertising and marketing, at which they excel, and in supportive roles such as finance and administration.

Also, the gender division of labour is still alive in the allocation of news beats in Swaziland media houses. The top three beats covered by women are Science & technology, Youth, Lifestyle. For men they are Sports, Sustainable development & environment, Disaster/War/Conflict.

These are the main conclusions of a report, Glass Ceilings: Women and Men in Southern Africa Media, published by Gender Links in partnership with the Gender and Media Southern African (GEMSA) Network in Swaziland.

One of the key findings of this study is that media houses are inconsistent in their commitment to gender equality. And there are no comprehensive, systematic policies and practices to narrow the gender gap, with quotas frowned upon by male and female media practitioners alike. None of the media houses indicated that they had a sexual harassment or gender policy, and only one stated that they needed a gender policy.

Other findings are that women fill fewer senior management positions (29 percent) than men; men get better work deals: 59 percent are far more likely than women (41 percent) to be employed in open-ended, full-time contracts.

Many of the respondents in the study believe family commitments, work being too dangerous, and a lack of role models are the primary reasons why women do not enter or stay in the media industry.

Many respondents blamed the patriarchal society and cultural norms that do not see women in certain professions, much less as decision-makers in those professions.

One male told the study, ‘Women are not taken seriously in most cases, considering the Swazi culture that a man is “head of a woman”. That’s what makes women less considered for higher positions.’

And another male agreed, ‘Women and men are not treated equally. Women are still considered as minors, even at the workplace. This is a norm with our culture, thus no matter how competent they may be, they are made to be subordinate.’

Unfortunately, these views are nothing new in Swaziland. As I reported in November 2007, research among Swazi media houses showed that some male journalists found it difficult to accept women as colleagues. One told a researcher, ‘Women make lousy journalists because they are incompetent and easily intimidated.’

In the latest report Gender Links / GEMSA say there is a need for awareness-raising in media houses. Media houses also need to ensure they have functioning sexual harassment policies and that training programmes are in place to manage mainstreaming gender at the workplace and in editorial content.

To read the full report click here.