Zimbabwe’s female journalists discuss ILO’s report on Women at Work Trends
Marking International Women’s Day, the ILO in Harare invited female journalists to a launch of a flagship report on the latest trends and developments for women at work.
11 March 2016
The ILO Country Office in Harare organized the first interactive forum for women journalists to discuss key findings of the global report entitled “Women at Work Trends” in the context of Zimbabwe. Ms. Hopolang Phororo, ILO Director of the Country Office for Zimbabwe and Namibia, officially presented the report to the journalists to mark the 2016 International Women’s Day and set off a dialogue on how women in the media perceived challenges and opportunities it put forward.
“With 52% of the population not realizing their full potential, it therefore translates into 52% of the population not fully contributing to the country’s economy”, pointed one of the participants.
The absence of any women in the decision-making hierarchy of most newsrooms was highlighted as a key obstacle to promoting gender equality in and through the media, which in turn has kept most aspiring young journalists in the periphery of the profession.
Recent restructuring processes undertaken by most media houses in Zimbabwe has seen the laying-off of mostly female members of staff, noted another participant. This has left mainly junior reporters to cover for the constitutional 50-50 requirement for all public offices and work spaces.
There was call for more to be done on affirmative action to ensure that women who deserve positions in private and public spaces are not barred out by systemic discrimination to ensure that more women are able to speak and fight for other women.
Discussions also focused on different approaches to addressing the deficits of women journalists’ presence in the national media spectrum. Some participants voiced their concern on the fact that women are their own detractors because they seem to suffer from a ‘pull-her-down’ (PHD) mentality when one of them is recognized and promoted. Instead of celebrating the achievement as a collective, they busy themselves with tactics that create obstacles for the colleague to fully apply themselves in the new position.
Currently, male journalists are dominating newsrooms and editorials.
Focusing on the world of work, research was conducted in 178 countries which led to production of the report: Women at Work Trends 2016. In this report the statistics capture the already known inequalities at the workplace more poignantly.
It does emphasize that “genuine equality in the world of work remains an elusive goal and large gaps between women and men remain at all levels of the economy: labour market participation, pay and quality of work, work-family balance, domestic and caring responsibilities, voice and social protection. In decision-making and managerial positions, the glass ceiling remains firmly intact”.
“With 52% of the population not realizing their full potential, it therefore translates into 52% of the population not fully contributing to the country’s economy”, pointed one of the participants.
Unpaid work/vulnerable employment in the formal economy and domestic work…women and social security, 2. Old people/women looking after children due to HIV and AIDS and migration/Third age entrepreneurship and social transfers
- all hinder women's meaningful participation.The absence of any women in the decision-making hierarchy of most newsrooms was highlighted as a key obstacle to promoting gender equality in and through the media, which in turn has kept most aspiring young journalists in the periphery of the profession.
Recent restructuring processes undertaken by most media houses in Zimbabwe has seen the laying-off of mostly female members of staff, noted another participant. This has left mainly junior reporters to cover for the constitutional 50-50 requirement for all public offices and work spaces.
There was call for more to be done on affirmative action to ensure that women who deserve positions in private and public spaces are not barred out by systemic discrimination to ensure that more women are able to speak and fight for other women.
Low confidence levels and the “Pull her down’ mentality
The low confidence levels among women of an older generation and who have not positioned themselves for managerial and decision-making portfolios, has also been raised as an obstacle for more gender parity in the profession. It is therefore important for women who have made it to the top to coach and mentor up-coming female journalists to ensure better representation of women in the profession, stressed participants.Discussions also focused on different approaches to addressing the deficits of women journalists’ presence in the national media spectrum. Some participants voiced their concern on the fact that women are their own detractors because they seem to suffer from a ‘pull-her-down’ (PHD) mentality when one of them is recognized and promoted. Instead of celebrating the achievement as a collective, they busy themselves with tactics that create obstacles for the colleague to fully apply themselves in the new position.
Currently, male journalists are dominating newsrooms and editorials.
Background Information
The ILO International Women’s Day theme "Getting to Equal by 2030: The Future is Now" – is aligned to the global theme “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality” which is linked to the newly adopted UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.Focusing on the world of work, research was conducted in 178 countries which led to production of the report: Women at Work Trends 2016. In this report the statistics capture the already known inequalities at the workplace more poignantly.
It does emphasize that “genuine equality in the world of work remains an elusive goal and large gaps between women and men remain at all levels of the economy: labour market participation, pay and quality of work, work-family balance, domestic and caring responsibilities, voice and social protection. In decision-making and managerial positions, the glass ceiling remains firmly intact”.