Presented at the Public Relations Council of India seminar on `Gender Equality: Communications Strategies' on 07/09/2013

2. Language
Representation
Institutions
•News, analysis, interpretation,
education
•Public relations, Advertising
• Who represents whom and how?
• Stereotypes
• Depiction
• Urban rural divide
• All representations have
consequences
• Create, arrange, design, put
together, print, broadcast,
advertise, distribute
• Who owns? What is the policy?

3. Participate Experience Influence
Seek
gratification

4. • Socially constructed differences, which change in time and place. There is
still an understanding among most development practitioners that, in
practice, ‘gender means women’.
Gender
• The needs, aspirations, and interests of women and men are equally valued
and favoured in a way that both benefit from the development process and
fully enjoy their human rights. Attention is paid to women because they are
the majority in the poorest groups, suffer the greater abuse of rights, enjoy
less power, and have more limited access to resources and decision making
than men at all levels.
Gender Equality
• The process of promoting gender equality in all policies, programmes and
projects at all levels and at all stages. The ultimate goal is achieving gender
equality.
Gender Mainstreaming

5. Liberal
• Sees technology
as neutral.
• Improve
women’s access
to technology in a
society that s
gendered by
stereotypical
roles.
Marxist
• To examine the
social relations of
technology in
terms of class.
• Technology is a
reflection of
power as well as
capitalist
domination.
Developing
world
• Argues the
inappropriateness
of Western /
modern
technologies
• Puts too much
emphasis on
people based
knowledge
systems
• Rejects possible
adaptation of
modern
technologies for
Progressive
purposes.
Gendered
• Technology is
inherently neutral
or masculine
• The relationship
between gender
and technology is
seen as the core
issue.
• Blames society
and its systems
including
technical
innovations for
gender divide.

6. Access
• To technology
• To technical education
Media
• Ownership such as Radio set, TV set etc
• Use and Access
• Traditional sexism replaced by modern sexism ?
Time
• Domestic responsibility
• Lack of leisure time

7. Policy makers
•integrating gender perspectives into national policies
•raising awareness among gender advocates about the importance of
national plans for gender equality
•promoting gender-responsive governance
Technocrats
• effective use by women of ICTs and the need for relevant content
• promoting women’s economic participation in the information economy
Mass Media
• promoting democratic media, and combating the use of any Media to
perpetuate violence against women.

8. Strategies
to address
specific
cultural
context
Barriers to
access to be
removed
Creating
opportunities
for
participation
Dissemination
of information
about women
Check
stereotypes
and
demeaning
coverage
Rise above
narrow
commercial
and
consumerist
purposes.
Ensure women
participation
equally in both
the technical
and decision-
making areas of
communications
and the mass
media

9. Participation
• Access of women to
expression and decision
making in and through the
media
• New and traditional
technologies of
communication be made
within reach
Media
• Balanced and non-
stereotypical portrayal of
women in media
• Awareness raising –
Gender sensitivity
• Capacity building media
practitioners
• Awareness generation
about policy
• Development of
community media
• Ethical dimension
Policy
• Adoption of sexual
harassment policies
• Promoting women’s
contributory role in society;
workers, thinkers, leaders

10.  Develop an initial communication strategy
that will support sustainability efforts
 Consider methods and tools available when
designing plan and in the long run
 Begin to define the following:
• Audience
• Key Messages
• Method of Communication
• Frequency of Communication
• Who Delivers the Message

11. Communication
for social
change
Strengthening
media and
communication
environment
Behaviour
change
communication
Persuasive
communication
Communication
for advocacy
Media Literacy

12. Unaware
Aware
Knowledgeable
Ready to
change
Change in
behaviour
Sustained
behaviour
change
Continuous media messages
Variety of messages
for each stage

13. .
 Improve professional and institutional infrastructure necessary
to enable:
• a free, independent and pluralist media that serves the public interest
• broad public access to a variety of communication media and channels,
including community media
• a non- discriminating regulatory environment for the broadcasting sector
• media accountability systems
 freedom of expression in which all groups are able to voice
opinion and participate in development debates and decision-
making processes
 To carry on over and over again with the same cycle.
Communication strategies have to be planned well, sustained
over a period of time and continuous. They never end.

14. School of Communication Studies, PU, Chandigarh
archanarsingh@gmail.com