Owners and managers of media houses in the country have been admonished to give equal opportunities to women in the fraternity. The Alliance for Women in Media Africa (AWMA) has expressed grave concern that women in media suffer various forms of inequality in their workplaces, a research it conducted validates.
“Many women are plagued by the internal challenges of unequal promotion practices, unfair remuneration, sexual harassment, inflexible work schedules, sexism, stereotyping, etc. that ultimately present them with a glass ceiling.”
This was contained in a statement to mark International Women’s Day. The statement signed by Shamima Muslim, the Convener of Alliance for Women in Media Africa expressed regret that there are no clear institutional channels to seek redress, leaving women in the media to suffer in silence or walk away from their dream.
This IWD, the Alliance for Women Media in Africa is calling on media managers and industry leaders to take far-reaching and deliberate affirmative action steps “aimed at promoting equity within organisations and to empower employees to realise their career aspirations as well as make meaningful contributions to their employers and Ghana’s development.”
AWMA called on media owners and managers to institute a gender and leadership audit of their organizations to determine and assess the existing gaps and take steps to encourage and support female leadership.
This year’s International Women’s Day is under the theme, ‘DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality’. The theme emphasizes how digital skills inequality is impacting negatively on women toward the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal 5 by 2030.
“Research shows that digital literacy levels amongst males and females are disproportionate against females making them constant victims of digital attacks, cyberbullying, harassment, and fraud. Digital literacy is crucial to get women trained on how to use the internet, ICTs, and particularly social media in more effective ways while also staying safe online”, AWMA statement added.
AWMA extends a hearty congratulation to all women in media for your gallant contributions despite all the challenges you face. We wish you more wins and look forward to a media that embraces equality.
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Joshua Asaah|Ghana
