" Gaining ground "

Women journalists set out their demands, but the road is still long

KUNDA DIXIT

VOICE OF WOMEN: Sunita Syangtan broadcasting a popular daily Tamang language program at Palung FM on Saturday with studio technician Usha KC.
Logshari Kunwar is the 22-year-old editor of the Morning Bell, a daily paper in Kailali. She is a petite, fragile girl, but brave enough to expose a case of corruption in a bylined article.

After the newspaper came out, a group of men stalked her for over a month and eventually beat her up. “Some guys insulted me and punched me in the face,” says Logshari, who lost two of her teeth.

Logshari has no intention of giving up journalism. “I am the publisher and editor of this paper. I like my job and I am committed to my career. I will stay on,” she told us in Kathmandu last week, where she was among 200 women journalists attending a conference organized by the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ).

Logshari’s story is not uncommon. Most women journalists work as volunteers or receive only symbolic pay. They are afraid of losing their jobs if they get pregnant, because maternity laws are not implemented. Promotions are very rare, and even the most capable and committed lag behind male colleagues in terms of salary and benefits.

But despite being heavily discriminated against, those who manage to reach key positions end up facing the same responsibilities, and the same dangers, as their male colleagues. Only 16 per cent of journalists in Nepal are women, a figure that seems very low in itself but is second only to India among South Asian countries.

Even though more and more women are joining the profession, they are much more likely to drop out than their male colleagues. Many of them are lured by prominent INGOs which offer better pay, others seek a more secure ten-to-five job to be able to look after their families. But many are simply discouraged by the difficulties of doing journalism in a predominantly male world.

The main grudge of Indira Aryal at Radio Lumbini is against local police. “If a male journalist goes to the police station, they are very friendly with him, sharing tea, but if I go I have to work really hard just to convince them that they should talk to me,” says Indira.

Women have to struggle on a daily basis with the psychological stress of reporting because of the unhelpful attitude of colleagues and the people they interview. “In a society where all decision-makers are men, most sources are sceptical of women’s skills, and sometimes they try to take advantage of the youngest and most inexperienced girls by subtly blackmailing them,” says Nirmala Sharma of Sancharika Samuha, a women communicators’ forum.

A male-dominated workplace can make women feel unwelcome. Even seemingly minor things like the lack of a ladies’ toilet can become a real problem. Creating a more gender-friendly environment was high on the meeting’s agenda.

“Sexual harassment is not only about physical violence, it is also about how people deal with you, the language they use, whether or not they show you respect,” says Yashoda Timsina, a reporter with Nepal who is the only woman among 35 male colleagues.

“A year ago I went to the office one morning, turned my computer on and a porn site popped up,” Yashoda recalls. “A male colleague had accessed it from my machine. I got very upset and complained to the editor. They never did it again.”

Despite the difficulties, editors and women activists believe this is a good time for women to embark on media careers in Nepal. There are new websites, FM and TV stations. Parliament has ruled that in every sector, including the media, at least one-third of employees should be female. Some women concede that the real problem is lack of competence.

“To be honest, sometimes it’s difficult for media houses to recruit women, because they haven’t received proper training and are not really as good as their male colleagues,” says Nirmala from Sancharika, which runs journalism courses for women in the districts.

http://www.nepalitimes.com/issue/373/Nation/14166 ...

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