On International Women’s Day, DUJ, IWPC Flag Challenges Facing Women Journalists

The Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) and the Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC), in separate statements on International Women’s Day, while highlighting the immense contribution of women in media and journalism, have flagged serious challenges facing them today in newsrooms and in society.

In its statement, the DUJ said it was proud to see women in leadership roles in media houses today.

It said women had played a leading role in the struggles for freedom of expression and for ensuring decent wages and emoluments for journalists and media workers in the country.

However, the journalists’ union also highlighted the tough challenges that women in journalism face.

“Challenges still remain. A recent report of the International Labour Organisation said… achieving gender parity in employment rates globally will take over 190 years. The report added that as of 2023, women hold just 30% of managerial positions globally.”

DUJ said this trend was not different in Indian journalism, too. “We need more women at managerial positions in newsrooms. This would make journalism a better profession,” it added.

On International Women’s Day, DUJ, reiterated its demand for establishing an independent media commission to study the work atmosphere in media, particularly of women journalists and professionals. “Only a media commission would bring out the realities of wage discrimination in the profession,” it said, adding that the implementation of the Labour Codes “will be a major blow to this process of ensuring parity in wages” as these undermine collective bargaining rights.

Calling for greater unity, the DUJ, along with the National Alliance of Journalists, Kerala Union of Working Journalists and Andhra Pradesh Working Journalists Federation also condemned “all attempts to muzzle all forms of independent media and try to replace all forms of media by government and select monopoly press media.”

The IWPC in a statement recognised and acknowledged the tremendous struggles of ordinary working women of the country, as well as the double burden of work many working women have to undertake as well as the unfairness of unpaid labour of household work.

“Even as there are achievements and milestones achieved by women individually, however, as a collective, the majority of women, are still deprived of equal economic, social and political participation. Equal opportunities of education, accessing health, employment and safe spaces still elude the vast majority of the female population,” it noted.

In the era of social media, the IWPC also expressed it concern over the “growing forms of misogyny and the exponential increase in the culture of violence against women.”

“Such violence acts as a deterrent for equal participation by women in all spheres of life including in the media,” the statement read, hoping that policy makers would take an urgent notice of the challenges faced by working women, including in the media “so that the full and complete participation of women as equal stakeholders in every sphere is realised.”