'Gender bias starts in womb itself'

Why media? Gender discrimination starts in the womb itself. Recently a report saying India is the worst place in the world for girl child was published.

Ratio of girls is falling down with female mortality rate rising in India, while it should be the reverse, said Nandini Sahai, honorary director of Media Information and Communication Centre of India (MICCI) inaugurating the national seminar ‘gender discrimination: myth or reality’ at SBRR Mahajana First Grade College, here on Saturday.

The data shows that female mortality is high but established biological factors say that girls are better survivors of early infancy. It is the result of foeticide or infanticide, she added.

India has been better than China and Bangladesh in taking strong strides in adopting gender policies in media companies. However, sexual harassment in the news room is swept under the carpet. Though more and more women enter the media but their survival is least. Women are given soft stories to cover. There is a invisible glass ceiling for them. They drop out at this point with only a few women passing through it, Sahai said.

Child care facilities and maternity leaves are the two major reasons for women journalists to walk out of the media. The dilemma of these two versus profession is what they face regularly. But sexual harassment is the major concern, she added.

Rajeshwar Dayal, senior media advisor of FES India said, Media has become an industry now. Probably the thought is men make more  profit and thus women are kept out of higher positions in media. They face the camera as anchors and news readers. Principal of the college K V Prabhakar and journalist Eshwar Daithota were present.