Women are greatly outnumbered by men in Pakistani media industry.

 Gender prejudice in assigning news beats  Negative public perception  Sexual harassment  Cultural and traditional constraints  Unfriendly environment and lack of facilities

 Portrayal of women in stereotypical roles as sex objects, beauty objects, as docile homemakers, and as victims  Absence of training and equal opportunities for career building in mainstream media  Women missing top level management  Low rate of higher education in women

 Less woman in upper management results in limited participation in decision making process  Increase in gender biasness in media sector  Absence of female role models and motivational figures for new comers  Half of the population is not getting its representation  Women related issues are not highlighted

To overcome this challenge, we have to work on 3 front lines :  Female media professionals’ front line  Male media professionals’ front line:  General Public Front line

Female media professionals’ front line  Technical Training programs for women working in media industry to step forward to overcome the hurdles.  Psychological and motivational training to serve their organization and to change the negative impression of working women in the media industry.  Managerial level workshops for female workers in media industry in order to improve their managerial level capabilities.

 Career counseling seminars in different universities for females about the awareness of a bright and respected profession in media industry.  Conferences about the legislations for the protection of their rights

Male media professionals’ front line  Seminars for the middle and top level management of media houses to change this perception that women are not good managers.  Training sessions for the male how they deal with female co-workers at equal level.  Social gatherings to build good professional and social relations with females.

General Public Front line  Workshops in media houses in order to educate the producers and directors regarding their media portrayal of professional women.  Seminars with the educational researchers and authors to add stories about working mothers in their text books to make the mindset of the children in the early age.  Convincing religious speakers to advocate the importance of the women education and overcome the religious constraint on women to join media as profession.

 Debates for the young male at college level to change their perception of professional women.  Engaging opinion leaders (teachers, local councilors, chaudhries/landlords) to raise awareness in public.  Social media interaction to develop understanding about media industry.

THANKYOU