Special Commendation — Drivers of Change — Civil Society: Gender Links
When Gender Links was started six years ago, everyone involved knew it was not going to be an overnight success. They knew mindsets on gender and how women are portrayed in the media are not altered quickly. They also understood that time is a crucial ingredient to the process of change. But their commitment to gender issues led to the establishment of one of South Africa’s premier gender organisations.
“We knew we were in it for the long haul; to draw attention to gender issues is not something that will happen miraculously. But now it looks as if we are working ourselves out of a job because so many people are empowered to take up gender issues themselves,” says Colleen Lowe Morna, head of Gender Links.
The organisation promotes the fair portrayal of women in the media in Southern Africa and was rewarded for its work with a special commendation in the Drivers of Change Awards this year.
The organisation spread its wings recently to include programmes that deal with gender and justice, as well as gender and governance, monitoring the way women in government are portrayed in the media. A media literacy programme has been launched to teach people about the use of media and how it can help to improve their lives.Lowe Morna says Gender Links managed to capture a niche market in gender issues that has not yet been “oversubscribed” — how the media treat women.
“Anyone can criticise the government, but no one wants to criticise the media,” she says. The successes so far have shown that criticising the media need not be a battle with only losers. The use of sources who are women increased from 19% to 26% in South African media and the last election coverage showed “tremendous progress” in the portrayal of women, not only as candidates but as voters.
There has been a tremendous increase in the quality and quantity of coverage of gender violence.
But the organisation is careful not to rest on its laurels. “There are no quick wins. We are conscious of our rapid growth but, if we grow too big too fast, something would be wrong. We need to help others do the work. We are in a phase of consolidation, Âsharing Âknowledge as we go along,” Lowe Morna says.
Knowledge, she believes, is generated over time. Therefore, the media and diversity centre was set up by Gender Links to conduct its own research and gather knowledge. “There has been criticism that we have been too reactively driven. This is a way to be proactive. We are an emerging democracy; there is new thinking and new ideas that we need to harness and embrace,” she says.
Is it more difficult to conduct gender training and develop gender sensitivity in Southern Africa, where communities are often less likely to prioritise these issues than in the developed world?
“Actually it is not. There is a cynicism in the West that ‘we’ve done it all’. Their newsrooms, for instance, will be filled with women, but still only 21% of their news sources will be women.”
Gender Links is set on empowering other people and groups to keep gender issues in the spotlight.
“Even though we have captured a corner of the market and there is a lot of progress, there is still a lot of need. We cannot sit back and take it easy now.”