Media’s role in curbing: gender-based violence stressed

PESHAWAR: Training was arranged on Friday for media persons to sensitize them on the norms of reporting the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) cases.

Blue Veins, a civil society organization, had arranged the training under a project “Policy advocacy and research to strengthen the implementation of pro-women legislation and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) response services in KP”. The Australian government and Trócaire are funding the project.

Journalists from six districts of KP associated with different sections of the media including print, TV, radio, bloggers and photojournalists attended the training. Qamar Naseem, Program Coordinator, Blue Veins, stated that the media role in curbing the GBV is acknowledged in a country like ours where gender discrimination and instances of rape, abuse, mental and physical agony and honour killings are reported increasingly.

He said the training was being conducted to address the language barriers that we often come across in various newspapers so that these trends can be addressed, and if the need is, corrected.

A reporter Isa Khankheil stated that GBV was on a rise in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said the media could play a leading role in the society's fight against violence against women. “The media can help a great deal in mitigating sexual and gender-based violence and sensitize the public on the issue,” he explained.

Mohsin Khan, a photojournalist, said training like this was a right step to increase the skills and knowledge of journalists to report the sexual and gender-based violence. Naheed Jehangir, a reporter said the biggest challenges that women and girls faced related to the attitudes, practices and views which were deep-rooted in the traditions and social norms of our country.

“The media can play a role to influence the situation for bringing about a positive change,” she added. Siraj Yousafzai, another reporter, said it was a must to promote the rights of all individuals and reduce GBV while lessening its harmful effects on the individuals and communities.