Women Journalists Enjoy Rights Training

"Women don't know their rights. I was not aware of the gravity of the problem. The media is a huge force; we can do positive things if we use it in the right way. There is a lot we, as women, should do. You have given everyone certain responsibilities. I am ready to do my best. I design the pages in the newspaper too. They may regret having sent me to this training," said Gulsen Cinar from the Antalya "Sahil" (Coast) newspaper, smiling, at bia2's training on women's rights in Adana.

The fifth of the Training Programs on Women's Rights and Reporting on Women's Rights by the Network for Monitoring and Covering Media Freedom and Independent Journalism (BİA²), was held in Adana on November 26-27.

Thirty-three local reporters and representatives from non-governmental organizations working on women's issues participated in the training program facilitated bia project advisor Nadire Mater and journalist Ipek Calislar.

Women's rights activist and lawyer Hulya Gulbahar, Associate-Professor Doctor Hulya Ugur Tanriover from the Communications Department of Galatasaray University, Selen Dogan from "Ucan Supurge" (Flying Broom) women's organization, and Beyhan Demir from the Pazartesi (Monday) magazine, discussed regulations on women's rights, women's representation in the media, programs prepared with a man's point of view, implementations in reporting on women's issues and opportunities in women's reporting.

In the workshop directed by Mater and Calislar, the participants worked on how to rewrite three news stories taken from the mainstream media with a perspective on women's rights and reporting on women's issues.

Calislar underlined that women's name is not mentioned at all in some newspapers. Other papers carry many stories on women, said Calislar, adding that she is happy to see stories of women who are spending efforts.

Calislar also showed examples of news stories which focus on men despite the fact that women are the main subjects. She said it is surprising that in some papers, even the sports pages are filled with stories about women.

Anatomy of a story in terms of women's rights

The participants, during the workshop, analyzed the news stories published last week in dailies Hurriyet, Milliyet and Cumhuriyet, about construction worker Kadim Duman. Duman, who had taken his wife's cousin as a second wife, injured his wife, two sisters and cousin with a gun. The participants discussed how the news stories could be rewritten within a framework of reporting on women's issues.

Two working groups were made up of women reporters while the third one was made up of men reporters. The participants found the following:

* Words like "execution, revenge, gun shots" legitimize violence. Current news tempt people to acquire personal weapons.

* The news stories present violence as an act of women. With the attitude, "women do it too," murder dominated by men, becomes legitimized.

Nadire Mater emphasized the fact that the news stories are based on information given by police. "We need to remember where we get the news from," said Mater. "It is important to know how the police got the information and under what conditions."

Lawyer Hulya Gulbahar stated that words like "execution and revenge," in news, point to planned murder attempts and added that in such cases, the journalists need to investigate the possibilities of rape, violence, forced polygamy, or forced detention.

Mater: It is possible to make women visible

Nadire Mater gave the following advises to local media to make women visible:

* Increasing the number of women contacted when consulting or asking for opinions.

* Preparing news stories about women's initiatives, formations and successes.

* Examining the news story in terms of reporting on women's issues. To ask the question: "Have we made the woman visible enough?" We should do this when preparing the news story, choosing photographs and choosing a theme.

* Using stories by women reporters. Such stories could be encouraging for other women.

Gulbahar: Violence dominated by men is aimed at keeping a grip on power

Gulbahar stated that there are positive developments in terms of women's rights in the new Penal Code and the Civil Code. She criticized the fact that the property sharing regime is effective for property acquired after 2002 and said, "in the coming days, we will witness some very sad divorce stories."

"The system dominated by men brings about violence via economics. The desire to dominate the woman's labor, body and sexuality brings about violence via honor. Woman is an instrument of investment. We need to see the economic reasons that lie beneath violence via honor.

Tanrıover: Women's rights are being violated in the media

Hulya Ugur Tanriover from the Communications Department of Galatasaray University analyzed how women are represented in the media. She summarized the violation of women's rights as follows:

The media violates women's rights by

* highlighting their sexuality, presenting them as sexual objects to satisfy men's pleasures and insulting them

* not representing women by ignoring their works, successes, efforts, rights and gains, and by symbolically destroying them

Dogan: We need to ask where the women are in every field in life

Selen Dogan from Ucan Supurge talked about implementations in reporting on women's issues. "In every field in life, we need to ask where the women are in the media," said Dogan, talking about the importance of making women visible and to make the unknown known.

She argued that local media managers and newspaper owners need to ask the question: "How can we include women in the decision-making mechanisms in the local media?"

Demir: Every issue is a women's issue

Beyhan Demir from the Pazartesi magazine said they are trying to contribute to women's written history. "Every issue is a women's issue," she said.

She added that they stand by every one "hurt and made to become 'the other' by the system dominated by men. She also talked about the importance of asking women questions about every issue. (TK/EA/YE)