Media Strategies for Promoting Gender Violence Free Society in Nepal

Ms. Banda Rana describes Nepali society as strongly influenced by patriarchal norms and values where "discrimination against women begins right from birth" and leads to "torture and violence against women and children that is rampant in the family." Domestic violence particularly is not considered to be an offence punishable by law by the society. Therefore, most of these cases of violence against women go unreported."

Ms. Rana states that this patriarchal culture is greatly reflected in the media when it treats severe forms of violence as normal or routine. "Observations reveal that every form of media mostly portray women in roles within the home, or as victims of some form of emotional and physical violence perpetrated by men and society and women as passive, non-vocal and subservient service providers. One hardly gets to read of women who face problems such as violence in the home, forced abortion or sexual abuse. Even when these are reported it is made sensational leading to further victimisation of the victim."

Ms. Rana argues that it is only through "effective media interventions that we can help society to deal honestly with the problem, ensure justice and support to the victims, and enforce sanctions against the perpetrators."

In 1996, Sancharika Samuha (SAS) was formed to mainstream gender issues in the media with the goal of promoting "Communication for Equality". In this article, Ms. Rana describes several ways in which SAS has used media to combat gender violence in Nepal including providing gender training for media professionals, writing media monitoring reports, printing a monthly publication "Women's Feature Service", developing interaction programmes, and estatablishing the "Sancharika Equality Award" honoring a journalist who has written the most outstanding report on gender issues.

Ms. Bandana Rana is the Founder and Executive President of Sancharika Samuha (a Forum of Women in Media) which has been active in Nepal since 1996, to harness the media to promote equality-based development. She has over seventeen years of experience working in the field of development and has worked as communication consultant with various UN organisations in Nepal such as UNDP, FAO, UNICEF and UNIFEM. She is on the board of a number of media organisations such as Nepal Press Institute, World View International, South Asia Free Media Association and the International Association of Women in Radio and Television. In addition, she has made several documentaries on the issues of violence against women in Nepal.

Click here for the full article online. Click here to visit the Sancharika Samuha (SAS) website.