Thirty years after the landmark Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA), global media advocates are reflecting on the progress and challenges in achieving women’s communication rights. Section J of the BPfA, which focuses on “Women and the Media” highlighted two strategic objectives: Increase the participation and access of women to expression and decision-making in and through the media and new communication technologies; and promote a balanced and non-stereotyped portrayal of women in the media.
In the past three decades, significant strides have been made, with more women holding leadership positions in journalism, media ownership, and digital platforms. However, persistent issues such as the underrepresentation of women as subjects and sources in news coverage, and tech-facilitated gender-based violence continue to undermine these gains.
To review the implementation status of Section J, global media advocates held a panel session at the 69th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UN-CSW), with the theme “Section J: Safeguarding Women’s Communication & Digital Rights”. The session was convened by the World Association of Christian Communications (WACC Global) and Global Alliance on Media and Gender (GAMAG).
The advocates shared regional reviews of women’s communications rights from Asia, Latin America, Middle East, and West and Central Africa.
Current Status at the Global, Regional Levels
Sarah Macharia, the Global Coordinator of Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP), shared that there has been little progress regarding the representation of women as subjects and sources in mainstream print and broadcast news across the world since the first global media monitoring project was conducted in 1995.
Macharia said nearly 30 years after, technological advancements remain the major change within the media ecosystem, noting that as of 2020, the number of women being covered in the mainstream media has only increased by 8 percent since the first monitoring in 1995.
According to the GMMP, as of 2020, Globally, women constituted 25 percent of the subjects and sources in traditional news media, marking a one-point increase from 2015. In digital news, women’s representation as subjects and sources also saw a one-point increase overall from 2015 to 2020.
This slow progress suggests that, at the current rate, achieving gender parity in news media representation could take at least another 67 years.
Macharia, however, warned that “to expect a monumental change might not happen but we are achieving gradual change in women as subjects and sources in mainstream print and broadcast news across the world.”
Sharing perspectives about the status of GMMP in West and Central Africa, Amie Joof-Cole, who covered BfPA in 1995 as a journalist, said, “we left Beijing in 1995 with a lot of hope, especially as women journalists but we faced challenges afterwards.”
While noting the impacts of BfPA on women’s communication rights over the years, Joof-Cole shared, “after the platform for Action was adopted, it made media houses to focus on women programming. It also enabled communication schools to incorporate gender studies in their curriculum.”
She however decried that “regulatory framework after Beijing at the African Union level was not fully enforced as it seems that neither our governments nor the organizations that were supposed to put into force the recommendations of Beijing were prepared.
“They neglected the commitments that they made to implement the provisions in the plan of action.”
Similarly, Cirenia Ortega, representing the Latin American region, shared that discrimination against Indigenous women persists, and their labour rights remain precarious.
“Despite progress in increasing women’s presence in news content which is largely due to women’s rights defenders pushing for gender parity laws, there have been greater political representation leads to greater media presence, yet media outlets have not transformed the sexist and stereotypical portrayal of women in their publications,” Ortega said.
Angie Handal, representing the Middle East region, decried the attacks against women journalists because they dared to speak the truth.
She noted that women journalists are being humiliated for the work that they do, and the Western media is downplaying war crimes, especially in Gaza.
On her part, Hang Pham, representing the Asia region on the GMMP, noted that there is an increase in access to information for women as the majority of women leverage social media to access information. She also noted that the number of women in journalism has changed with 20% in 1995 and 40% now, specifically in Vietnam.
TFGBV Worsening the Gains
In a presentation titled ‘Countering Misogyny and Tech-Facilitated Gender Based Violence in Nigeria’, Blessing Oladunjoye, the Publisher of BONews Service and the Project Officer, Journalists for Christ International Outreach (JfC), shared that as the digital spaces for communication expand across social media platforms, so has the infringement, repression, and oppression of the communication rights of women and girls translated from the traditional forms of physical violence to digital spaces.
Oladunjoye explained that different forms of TFGBV perpetuated against women range from cyberstalking, doxxing, sexting, deepfakes, revenge porn, to cyberbullying.
She emphasized that, according to the research, Cyberstalking is the most prevalent form of TFGBV at 45.5%, while doxxing is 10.6%, deepfakes at 6.1%, sexting at 3% and revenge porn at 1.5%.
Speaking about how this has affected women with intersectional vulnerabilities, Oladunjoye said that “women with disabilities face heightened risks of online abuse, including targeted cyberbullying and digital exclusion due to inaccessible reporting mechanisms. Women journalists and activists experience doxxing, harassment, and threats, forcing some into self-censorship or withdrawal from public discourse while rural women and low-income groups experience limited digital literacy which makes them more vulnerable to online scams, exploitation, and misinformation.”
Oladunjoye explained that online gender-based violence has been trivialized, and it affects women greatly, impacting their work and how they engage online and offline.
Regarding limited interventions taken by state actors to address misogyny and TFGBV, Oladunjoye said “while there are existing measures in Nigeria to tackle GBV, we need to understand that TFGBV is evolving and it is not considered to be a major threat.
“Nigeria has laws like the Cybercrimes Act (2015) and the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act, but enforcement is weak and they lack specific provisions addressing TFGBV.”
The Road Ahead
As part of measures to tackle TFGBV, Oladunjoye recommended the reforms of existing legal frameworks to meet with emerging issues of TFGBV, better enforcement of such laws, digital safety education for women and girls, and stronger collaboration between the government, civil society, and tech companies.
She remarked, “TFGBV is not just a women’s issue, it is a human rights crisis that undermines digital democracy. Without enforceable standards for tech accountability, access alone will never guarantee safety. We must shift from voluntary commitments to binding frameworks that make digital spaces truly safe and inclusive for all.”
Joof-Cole, who noted that we are now experiencing setbacks regarding some of the gains made after Beijing Platform for Action, recommended the need to build stronger alliances to ensure the gains remain.
Ortega also recommended that the law on Women’s Access to a Life Free of Violence must be enforced to ensure that media outlets do not perpetuate gender stereotypes or normalize violence against women, and that the BPfA’s commitment to financially support feminist journalism must be fulfilled.
Handal also called for actions to be taken to limit online censorship of women journalists.
Macharia, who harped on the UN Secretary-General’s remark at the opening session of the 69th CSW, said “women’s rights are under siege. The poison of patriarchy is back – and it is back with a vengeance: Slamming the brakes on action; tearing up progress; and mutating into new and dangerous forms. But there is an antidote. That antidote is action.”
Macharia appeals to all actors to continue to mobilize action till the gains are sustained.