Communicating Gender Equality. Online Discussion Report

Transcription

1 Communicating Gender Equality Online Discussion Report

2 ISBN doi: / European Institute for Gender Equality, 2014 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. This publication summarises the views expressed by 14 people participating in an online discussion held on 12 November 2014 through the EuroGender online platform of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE). The findings, interpretations, and conclusions are entirely those of the authors and should not be attributed in any manner to EIGE. Neither EIGE nor any person acting on its behalf may be held responsible for the content of the information contained in this publication.

3 Contents Introduction 4 Organisation 4 Participation 5 Background 6 Summary 6 Conclusions and Follow-up 10 Annex I: Resources 11 Annex II: Transcript 11 Annex III: List of Participants 12

4 Communicating Gender Equality 4 Introduction The online discussion on Communicating Gender Equality took place on 12 th November 2014 with the aim of assessing the communication strategy of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) and of developing ideas for the follow-up communication strategy A second part of the online discussion was devoted to the issue of how men and women are represented in the media and in how far they hold decision-making positions in the media. Invitations were sent to a selected group of stakeholders (media organisations, journalists, gender equality experts and institutions, etc.), and the debate was promoted through the social media so that other interested people could participate. This report of the online discussion aims to enable dissemination of the insights and learning from the debate. It will serve to shape EIGE s future communication strategy and how the Institute will work with certain target groups (policy-makers, NGOs, journalists, etc.). This report summarises the key points made and themes explored during the debate. Inevitably, it is impossible to reflect in full the variety of ideas and perspectives brought forward. Organisation The online discussion was organised in three sessions. The first two sessions dealt with EIGE s current and future communication strategy, while the last session focused on stereotypical representations of women and men in the media. The main questions that were discussed were the following: Session 1: EIGE s Communication Strategy : Target Groups In this session, we assessed the target groups in EIGE s current communication strategy, and discussed whether EIGE should direct its future communication strategy to any additional target groups. These were the main questions debated in this session: EIGE has drafted a very extensive list of target groups both internal and external which is included in the current strategy. Are there any target groups missing? Which ones should EIGE focus on now and in the future? In how far is the general public a target group for EIGE s work? With respect to journalists, EIGE has already built up a very complete database of journalists, clustered by themes for which thematic network meetings are organised on a regular basis. Is there anything else that EIGE should do with respect to communicating with journalists? Session 2: EIGE s Communication Strategy : Messages and Tools The second session focused on messages and tools in EIGE s current and future communication strategy. This session explored the following issues:

5 Communicating Gender Equality 5 Is the positioning statement that EIGE is striving to become and position itself as the leading European knowledge centre on gender equality issues still the objective for the next period? What other key messages could EIGE communicate to its stakeholders? EIGE is currently using three main messages when communicating with external stakeholders: EIGE is established to become the key producer of reliable and relevant data and information for policy-making in the EU (institutional perspective); EIGE activities are contributing to better informed policy-making regarding gender equality in the EU (support to a better informed policy-making perspective); EIGE has much to offer for raising awareness on the advantages and challenges of gender equality issues among EU citizens and beyond (awareness perspective). Do these messages need to be revised or more detailed per target group? The main communication channels/tools EIGE is using at present include the website, an electronic newsletter, social media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Wikipedia), a media database, press releases, different event formats (press conferences, thematic network meetings, etc.), and publications. Are these the right tools for the target group in question in your opinion? Are there any other tools that EIGE should use? What should be the tactics behind these tools? E.g. building a bigger community of gender equality experts through the social media, raising the number of readers of the e-newsletter or the number of clicks on certain articles, etc. Infographics seem to be a new trend in EU communication to present complicated contents in an easy way. Should EIGE use them more in the future? What about audio-visual media? Session 3: Gender and the Media The last session was intended to explore how women and men are represented in the media today, and whether there is a gender balance in decision-making positions in the media. The following questions were discussed: How can we assure a better gender balance in the media, e.g. in decision-making positions? How can we avoid stereotypical presentations of men and women in the media? Do the social media give the opportunity for an alternative presentation of men and women? What is the role of journalists in changing stereotypical presentations of women and men in the media? What can EIGE do in this area in addition to the already existing studies? Participation Fourteen people either individual researchers, experts or representatives of NGOs, local authorities, and women s organisations actively participated in the online discussion, and a larger number of people attended. In total, they made over 100 contributions to the various debates. The participants were drawn from 13 different Member States (Estonia, Ireland, Romania, Spain, Finland, Belgium, Sweden, Italy, Portugal, Netherlands, Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania). The debate was held in English.

6 Communicating Gender Equality 6 Background In EIGE s Establishing Regulation it is stated that EIGE s objective is to contribute to and strengthen the promotion of gender equality [...], and to raise EU citizens awareness of gender equality by providing technical assistance to the Community institutions, in particular the Commission, and the authorities of the Member States. As a newly established agency, in 2011 EIGE adopted a communication strategy for the years that was fulfilling this objective at that moment in time. Meanwhile, having already developed and implemented a clear set of products and services for all gender equality stakeholders, and beyond, for all EU citizens, EIGE aims at revising its communication strategy for the years Therefore, EIGE stakeholders were invited to bring forward ideas on how to contribute to and strengthen the promotion of gender equality by giving feedback on the implementation of the current communication strategy. In a second part, the participants were also given the opportunity to discuss gender equality in the media and non-stereotypical portrayal of women and men. The Beijing Platform for Action adopted in 1995 and the resolution of 2000 on the follow-up of the Beijing Platform identified women and the media as one of critical areas of concern. Gender stereotyping in advertising and the media is one of the factors of inequality that influence attitudes towards equality between men and women. It emphasised the important awareness-raising role that media education and guidelines play in this. As key actions, the European Commission s Roadmap for Equality between Women and Men proposed support[ing] awareness-raising campaigns and exchange of good practices in schools and enterprises and non-stereotyped gender roles, and develop[ing] dialogue with the media to encourage a non-stereotyped portrayal of women and men. The European Commission s Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men also published an Opinion on Breaking gender stereotypes in the media in December We asked EIGE stakeholders to give us their ideas on how to assure a better gender balance in the media and what EIGE could do in this field in the future. Summary Session One: EIGE s Communication Strategy : Target Groups The first session focused on the question of whether EIGE is directing its communication activities to the right people. At present, EIGE s main target groups are policy-makers in particular EU institutions and bodies (e.g. European Parliament, European Council, European Commission, Committee of the Regions, European Economic and Social Committee, EU Agencies), Member States and their bodies, accession countries, civil society organisations (gender experts, academia, social partners, think tanks, NGOs, and business stakeholders), statistical and research organisations (e.g. EUROSTAT), EU information and distribution networks (EU delegations, EU Publications Centre, EU Bookshop, etc.), EU media, and the general public. Contributions and Key Issues All participants agreed that the current list of EIGE target groups is already thorough, but that it would probably be good to prioritise and strengthen efforts with selected target groups in the future. Journalists and the media were one of these groups. EIGE has built up an extensive database of 5000 journalists, representing key media in the 28 Member States, which receive regular updates on EIGE s work on gender equality. In addition, EIGE

7 Communicating Gender Equality 7 has created a thematic network for journalists (see Annex I), which meets twice a year and has selected 1-2 representatives per Member State, most of them journalists specialised in gender equality issues or at least in charge of these topics for the medium they are representing. EIGE invited all EuroGender participants to share additional contacts of journalists with them in order to be included in their database. You can send an to jesper.hansen@eige.europa.eu. Although the network of journalists generates up to 40% of media coverage on EIGE, some of the media are not very active at present (as an example, the Guardian has thematic sections for instance on female genital mutilation or NGOs). It was therefore suggested to identify these key media and try to establish better relationships with them. The facilitator and communication expert, Dorothee Fischer, underlined that the quality of contacts is often much more important than the quantity, and that it is worth investing in these personal relationships with journalists that could be of strategic interest to EIGE. Jesper Hansen, EIGE Senior Communication Officer, added that the Institute is already pursuing this strategy, having built up very good local media relationships in Lithuania, where the Agency is based, and now targeting specific countries such as Latvia, France, Germany, and the UK with the help of a PR company. Alexandrina Satnoianu, one of EIGE staff members, also advocated involving Faculties of Journalism in this process, as other EU Agencies are already doing. Several contributions focused on the question of training. Isabelle Wickler from Luxembourg underlined that training could be a very good entry point to raise awareness among certain target groups, and one could try to find out how gender equality could be brought to their training needs. Training journalists or communication staff of companies could be one option here, but other target groups should also be approached. Often the problem is that people are sceptical and reticent when it comes to gender equality topics in training; this is why the topics should be integrated in other trainings according to Winkler. One other target group that EIGE could concentrate on in the future is represented by NGOs which may help to better serve policy-makers with data they can use to improve their policies (Nicolaas Vlaeminck, EIGE Communication Officer). NGOs often need studies and statistics, and EIGE is a perfect source for this, but sometimes they may not have access to information provided by EIGE when using Google. A good search engine optimisation is therefore of growing importance. Another question was whether the target groups could also be categorised by age group and not only by type of institution. This may be easy for certain tools (e.g. social media are rather used by young people), whereas for other tools it could be very complicated to enter into such details. Interesting Link Shared by the Participants Session Two: EIGE s Communication Strategy: Messages and Tools The second session dealt with current messages and tools that EIGE is using, in order to develop ideas for the future strategy. In the EIGE positioning statement it is affirmed that the Institute is striving to become and position itself as the leading European knowledge centre on gender equality issues. In addition, EIGE is currently using three main messages when communicating with external stakeholders: EIGE is established to become the key producer of reliable and relevant data and information for policy-making in the EU (institutional perspective); EIGE activities are contributing to better informed policy-making regarding gender equality in the EU (support to a better informed policy-making perspective); EIGE has much to offer for raising awareness on the advantages and challenges of gender equality issues among EU citizens and beyond (awareness perspective). Contributions and Key Issues In continuation of the morning debate on journalists as strategic target groups, Loredana Ivan from Romania suggested establishing more media partnerships, also by rewarding media institutions that are more active in promoting gender equality. It could be a symbolic award or recognition instead of a real prize. Isabelle Wickler drew the attention to the

8 Communicating Gender Equality 8 Award for the Best Advertisement Campaign, which is awarded in Luxembourg every year. It is organised by a media and publishing company. Partnerships with this type of events could give EIGE more visibility, and could also help to connect to the social media accounts of the audience. EIGE has already established itself as the main producer of quality research so for me personally the part establish to become from the first message is no longer needed. Congrats to EIGE, you have made it. Irina Costache Another suggestion was to establish closer relationships between NGOs and EIGE, e.g. to organise events jointly or have EIGE staff participate in NGO events. This is already the case at present, but depends on the availability of EIGE staff. A simpler message would also facilitate this process. Gender equality offers many opportunities and challenges for EU Member States and their citizens. EIGE works to build awareness on this fundamental issue and offers varied analysis on gender equality in the EU and beyond or EIGE has much to offer for raising awareness on the advantages and challenges of gender equality issues among European citizens and beyond (awareness perspective). Irina Costache EIGE is established to become the key producer of reliable and relevant data and information for policy-making in the EU - institutional perspective. Gender equality is somehow missing in message number 1. Claes Sonnerby With respect to tools, EIGE has set up different social media accounts, and is now among the most active EU Agencies on Facebook with more than 12,000 followers. Although this is still far away from other EU institutions (the European Commission has more than 200,000 followers, and the European Parliament more than 400,000), the trend is positive in only one year (between 2013 and 2014) EIGE has doubled its number of followers (cf. Annex I Social Media Report). Nonetheless, some target groups (e.g. national Ministries) cannot access the social media, or do not have their own accounts to share and post information. EIGE has also produced a number of videos which are available on YouTube, and it was discussed whether future videos should be more based on pure facts/information or personal stories. The overall trend in European communication actually goes into both directions: more story-telling of personal stories, but at the same time, more infographics and animation to explain complex content in an entertaining way. Another current challenge is to be more present at the Member State level in all EIGE countries (e.g. national meetings), and several participants liked the idea very much of organising regular visits to the countries, thus reaching out to major stakeholders and civil society organisations to promote, for instance, the next edition of the Gender Equality Index. Additional Resource Mentioned EIGE videos on YouTube: Session Three: Gender and the Media Media content influences the way we perceive reality, and also contributes to conveying and shaping gender roles. There is a huge gap between what the reality of women s and men s lives is like in Europe, and how they are portrayed in and through the media. When talking about stereotypes in the media, researcher Julia T. Wood states that all forms of media communicate images of the sexes, many of which perpetuate unrealistic, stereotypical, and limiting perceptions. There are three tendencies: women are underrepresented in the media, and are unimportant or invisible. The media in general continue to depict public life as a male domain; men and women are portrayed in stereotypical ways that reflect and sustain socially-endorsed views on gender; depictions of relationships between men and women emphasise traditional roles and normalise violence against women.

9 Communicating Gender Equality 9 Contributions and Key Issues The participants confirmed that the assumptions by Julia T. Wood are still valid. María Luisa and her colleague Jimena Cazzaniga from Spain shared a research study carried out in 2008 with an example based on advertisements (see Annex I). Furthermore, they are currently working on another study concerning the way the media deal with prostitution and trafficking for sexual exploitation in Spain. The results show that journalists need training and tools for a correct approach to the topic without stereotypes. They concluded further that there are some obstacles in terms of gender perspective, regarding media routines and news treatment. The main difficulties are: the immediate time frame that the media work in; the increasing job insecurity within the media environment; lack of specialisation of media officers; lack of verification, and contrasting information; information deficits regarding relevant sources related to the feminist movement, academic experts, and above all, women affected by prostitution. Next to these structural limitations, we should also observe that women and men working in the media industry are also part of the social imaginary about prostitution and trafficking, which make them tend to normalise the situation and to abstain from presenting it as a stigma. The study will be shared with EIGE staff to be posted on the EuroGender platform once it is published. Several participants recommended investing more efforts in training and education. One target group could be journalists and communication people as mentioned above. A good practice from her network on combating sexual violence where they have tried to come up with a useful tool for journalists who work with cases/victims of sexual assault has been shared. The area is very sensitive and poses high risk for victims, so together with other NGOs we have tried to put together 10 simple guidelines for journalists to use when reporting on such cases. We hope this tool will be adopted by other stakeholders involved in media education. Irina Costache Setting more women s issues on the media agendas has been proposed, too. To move forward, we need well-educated, experienced gender-equality people to talk, write, express opinions in mainstream media. Irina Costache It was also discussed in how far the social media could give room for alternative opinions and presentations of women and men, and some examples were exchanged (see links below). However, one of the crucial challenges is to reach those people who are not already aware of gender equality issues. So, the question of how to reach the network of the others is a recurring one here. One suggestion was to take part in online or offline fora. Then, another question was in how far there is a direct cause-effect chain between representations in the media (e.g. violence) and behaviour (e.g. violent behaviour). Media effect studies have argued on this issue for the past 30 years. Whenever our messages are on gender-based violence and we need a supportive image, we try to avoid showing the action of violence itself (victims/perpetrator). We do so to avoid re-enforcing the idea of violence. Dimitris Tsousias As regards women in decision-making positions in the media, EIGE prepared a study on women and the media. New results have shown that there has not been any progress at all in recent years. Women in the media sector are quite present in general, with differences among countries, but they are seriously underrepresented in decision-making positions. In the year 2000, there were 9.3% women in top management positions in the telecommunications sector, and 3% of women journalists were in decision-making positions. And in general, one can say that the problems women face in the media professions are similar to those they encounter in the labour market in general: discrimination at all stages of recruitment, a pay gap averaging 18% in the EU, more precarious conditions and employment, and the existence of a glass ceiling (source: European Commission Opinion on Breaking gender stereotypes in the media ).

10 Communicating Gender Equality 10 Additional Resources Mentioned Alternative representations of women in the social media: Training/education/awareness-raising: (research institute founded by actress Geena Davis trying, among others, to promote different female role models in children s media); (organisation working on media education including gender representation). EIGE collection of tools on women and the media: Conclusions and Follow-up The debate confirmed that there has been little progress in the area of women and the media in recent years. Women are still underrepresented in decision-making positions in the media, and both women and men continue to be portrayed in stereotypical ways. There have been some positive counter-movements, in particular through the social media, and training journalists and other stakeholders could be an important tool for EIGE to raise further awareness on the topic in the future. The first part of the online debate also provided some interesting input for EIGE s future communication strategy. The participants confirmed that EIGE has managed to become the leading knowledge centre on gender equality in Europe in its four years of existence, and that most messages in the communication strategy are still convincing, although some of them could be simplified. The future communication strategy should also continue to focus on policy-makers, NGOs as well as the media and the general public. However, there is room for intensified cooperation between EIGE and NGOs as well as the media through media partnerships and bilateral contacts (also with the help of the already established thematic network of journalists). Some ideas for new tools were also discussed. EIGE should undoubtedly continue its efforts in the social media to reach an even higher number of interested citizens, and share its innovative tools such as its new database on gender equality to be launched in the autumn of On the other hand, country visits, trainings, media awards, or joint NGO-EIGE events were among the innovative proposals for EIGE s future work.

11 Communicating Gender Equality 11 Annex I: Resources The background documents made available on EuroGender platform during the discussion: Summary Communication Strategy Leaflet on the Thematic Journalists Network Social Media Report Red2Red Research Study on Gender Representations in Advertisement Annex II: Transcript Link to the online discussion transcript:

12 Communicating Gender Equality 12 Annex III: List of Participants Name Institution Country Alexandrina Satnoianu EIGE Lithuania Andrea Molocea Individual expert, Communication & PR Adviser, Department of Equal Opportunities between Women and Men in Bucharest, Romania Romania Claes Sonnerby Individual expert Sweden Dimitris Tsoutsias EIGE Lithuania Dorothee Fischer Cultura Lavoro Srl Italy Helena Morais Maceira EIGE Lithuania Irina Costache Individual expert Romania Isabelle Wickler Individual expert Luxembourg Jesper Hansen EIGE Denmark Jimena Cazzaniga Red2Red Consultores staff (Spain) Austria Loredana Ivan National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (Bucharest, Romania), Associate Professor Romania Maria Luisa Velasco Red2Red Consultores staff (Spain) Spain Nicolaas Vlaeminck EIGE Lithuania Silvia Sinmayer Individual Expert Austria

13 Communicating Gender Equality 13 Contact information European Institute for Gender Equality Gedimino, 16 LT Vilnius (Lithuania) Tel Tel

14 MH EN-N