Population Firsts E-newsletter March 2007 issue
A gender-just media lauded
The first ever media awards for gender sensitivity in India, sponsored by the Public Health and Family Welfare Department, Govt. of Maharashtra, were launched on the evening of March 6, 2007 at the Tata Theatre, National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) Mumbai. With the theme as The other side depicted by light and darkness or white and black, the event focused on the near-absence of a gender perspective in the media. Yet the evening had a celebratory note as the occasion focused the positive efforts in the media that highlighted the gender perspective in editorials, news reportage, advertisements and feature films. The event was well-attended the awardees, members of the Jury, Advisory Board members, Laadli spokesperson, Suneeta Rao, UNFPA goodwill ambassador UNFPA, Lara Dutta and Principal Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra, Anna Dani, our programme partners and supporters were present. The evening started with a curtain raiser film titled Why is the media silent conceptualised by Population First, scripted by Sushmaa Ahuja and Jay Shah, co-ordinated by Aditya Raut and edited by Yogi Chopra. The film reiterated the power of the media in shaping mindsets and changing behaviour, and also its silence on addressing gender issues.
The event was inaugurated by chairman, Board of Trustees, Population First, Keshub
Mahindra, actress Kirron Kher, singer Suneeta Rao, Lara Dutta, Bobby Sista and Dr.
Sharada. Hon. Minister of State, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Renuka
Chowdhury, the chief guest, was unable to be present at the function due to unforeseen
events at the capital. However, she sent in a message in support of the campaign and the media advocacy efforts. In his opening remarks, executive trustee, Population First, Bobby Sista, clarified that these awards were not really a contest but more in the nature of acknowledgement of some commendable work that is being undertaken in the media. He took the opportunity to announce that Kirron Kher has graciously agreed to be Laadlis goodwill ambassador. Her association with socially responsible and women-oriented films and her passion for the issue are sure to
augur well for the campaign, he said.
This was followed by a presentation by programme director, Population First, Dr. A.L. Sharada who unveiled the icon of the Laadli campaign the red wave. She said it is a red ribbon unbound and stands for freedom, movement, aspiration and celebration all that a girl should rightfully be entitled to in this world. She said that the red wave denotes the issue of sex selection and hoped it would bring all those working on the issue to come together to create a movement and be as popularly identified with the cause as the red ribbon for HIV/AIDS or the pink ribbon for breast cancer.
Anna Dani expressed her appreciation for the Laadli campaign and acknowledged the commitment of Population First in partnering with the state to address gender inequities and work towards arresting the falling sex ratio. The Chief Editor, Loksatta, Kumar Ketkar (Loksatta was our media partner) gave an impassioned speech calling upon each and everyone to be the keeper of Laadli. He urged people to stop turning a blind eye, to
stand up and speak out for the girl child and her rights.
The function also saw the launch of Der na ho Jaaye, a film on sex selection conceptualised by Population first, based on a story idea by Mini Nair, with screenplay and dialogues by Sushmaa Ahuja and produced by the UNFPA for the Govt. of Maharashtra. It was launched by Lara Dutta.
The main agenda of course, was to felicitate those sparks of hope in the media who had
done their bit to present the other side in their work. Twelve entries were selected for the awards three in the category of advertising and electronic news media each and four in the category of print news media. In keeping with the philosophy behind the awards that of challenging and redefining gender roles and perceptions, the award in the category advertising (TVC) product was given to Saatchi & Saatchi for its Tata Tetley ad titled
Couple in Train. The ad used humour to highlight prevailing gender stereotypes and encourages women to stand up for themselves. Ogilvy & Mather won the award for its print campaign against domestic violence for the Ponds ad titled Excuses. The jury opined that takes great courage for a brand promoting a beauty product to bring out the bruised and agonised faces into the public and exhort women not to hide domestic
violence.
So also the TVC for HDFC Standard Life Insurance titled Papa by Leo Burnett stood out by breaking the gender stereotypical ads, particularly in the financial services sector, which show parents making provisions for a sons education and daughters marriage.
There were several entries in the category of news media (print) but the award in the news media editorial (English) was unanimously given to Kalpana Sharma, Chief of Bureau, The Hindu, Mumbai. She was actually nominated by Population First based on her impressive body of work championing the cause of women and providing the much
needed gender perspective in social, economic and political developments. In her acceptance speech, while she lauded the Laadli media awards for gender sensitivity she looked forward to the day when gender sensitivity would be an abiding and inherent
value for all journalism and reportage not requiring special mention.
Similarly, the jury voted for The Week, the English weekly for its in-depth features on womens issues and analysis of events from a gender perspective. Mumbai bureau chief Sreevalsan Menon accepted the award. Other award winners in news media were Atul Kulkarni, Dainik Lokmat, Shyamlal Yadav India Today (Hindi), Mamta Kandpal, Zee News, Priya Jadhav Doordarshan Sahyadri, and CNN-IBN.
In addition to these, the jury was of the view that the feature films Dor and Matrubhoomi
deserved special mention for their handling of critical and sensitive gender issues. Two Special Mention Awards were announced for the same. One of the entries for the awards was from the advertising agency Lowe for their TVC Condom Bindaas Bol. This entry did not fall within the criteria of gender sensitivity, but its effort towards addressing the hesitancy and embarrassment in even uttering the word condom was unanimously considered commendable and worthy of recognition. This commercial has high recall and impact. The Population First Special Award 2007 for effective communication on population issues was given to Lowe. The presentation of awards was interspersed with performances by eminent singer and Laadli spokesperson Suneeta Rao and calligrapher Achyut Palav who put on show a unique jugalbandi at the end of which a beautiful painting of Laadli emerged on the artists canvas. Next was a tabla recital by Anuradha Pal and poetry recitation by Ilaa Dev Pal on the theme of the journey of the woman from oppression to emancipation. The grand finale was an Odissi ballet by Daksha Mashruwala and her troupe, which beautifully and eloquently depicted the male and female elements/energies and celebrated the harmony between the two.
We thank all those present at the function. We feel very encouraged to receive your support.
Contact us:
Population First
Shetty House, 3rd floor, 101 M.G. Road, Mumbai 400 001
Tel: 91 22 2262 6672/ 76 Fax: 2270 2217
Email: info@populationfirst.org
Website: www.populationfirst.org
Burning issue!
Is it ok not to want a girl child?
Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development (Independent Charge),
Renuka Chowdhury recently announced a palna scheme for the girl child.
We want to put a cradle, or palna, in every district headquarters. What we are saying to
people is, have your children, dont kill them. And if you dont want a girl child, leave her to us, Chowdhury said. The government will bear the expenses of bringing up these girls. The palna scheme will be introduced in the upcoming 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-2011) in coordination with state governments. This is part of our ministrys Integrated Child Development Scheme, an official said, adding that the proposal had been submitted to the Planning Commission. (Hindustan Times.com, New Delhi, Feb. 18, 2007).
What the govt. says What the activists say The initiative is the governments attempt
to curb the rampant practice of sex selective abortion (female foeticide) and infanticide. The gender-based crimes have severely skewed sex ratios across the country and made the practice of purchasing brides, sex slavery and polyandry commonplace in several villages in north India.
Activists say the governments new proposal is absurd. According to them, it will send out the wrong message that it is OK to not want and abandon girl babies. It does not address the basic issue of gender bias in society. Chowdhury feels that the scheme will offer girl children a chance to live. It will be better than killing them, she replied when asked whether the scheme would encourage more parents to abandon their girl children. The minister said that many parents who abandoned their daughters were likely to have a change of heart later.
Parents who abandon children do come and take them back.
It is also not going to arrest sex selective abortions as most of the girls are killed before birth, not after birth. So where is the option of abandoning girls if they are not born at all?
What we, at Population First, feel:
The issue is not just about ensuring that the girl child survives but to see that the girl child
enjoys all her rightful entitlements. The ability of the state to provide such support is
questionable going by the past experience with similar programmes. It may also force many women to go through repeated pregnancies and child-birth, putting their lives at risk. The financial and other administrative inputs required to sustain the programme are tremendous and the scheme may divert resources from pro-active initiatives that would promote the rights of the girl child.