by Delphine Zulu
– Zambia –
One of the key challenges facing Zambian female journalists is sexual harassment. “There are very few female Zambian journalists who have not experienced sexual harassment at the hands of male counterparts, [but] few [cases] have been reported,” says Pauline Banda, former Gender Editor at Zambia Daily Mail – one of the country’s biggest papers. She says the resulting frustration forces many female journalists to remain in lower positions or abandon the industry altogether.
Some simply cave to the pressure. “This is clearly seen in [cases where] female journalists rise “fast” in their positions outstripping [those with seniority], but victims will not reveal how they [they were promoted] even without proper qualifications,” she explains. Banda feels female journalists should prove themselves through their work and maintain their pride, rather than allowing themselves to be used sexually at the expense of so many risks like HIV/AIDS.
According to AIDS Alliance, an NGO that supports community action on AIDS in developing countries, “Young women [in Zambia] between the ages of 15 and 24 are around four times more likely to be infected than young men of the same age.” People living in Zambia’s urban centers also have twice the rate of infection than those in rural areas. So for a country with a 14.3% adult infection rate that shows no socioeconomic bounds, this health threat is significant for urban working women in all sectors.
Now a features editor, Ms. Banda says that she has encountered “violent” reactions from men – especially her superiors – on a range of issues, including women’s rights in marriages. She says that Zambian male journalists in particular import stereotypes and prejudices from the communities in which they live into the newsroom. “Dealing with entrenched negative perceptions against women is an uphill battle, because with time some women have come to believe that they cannot be as good or even half as good men in the workplace,” she says. Due to continued unreported sexual harassment in various newsrooms, Ms. Banda is now calling for the establishment of a sexual harassment law to protect women journalists.
Margaret Mangani has been working in the newsroom for 20 years, 17 of which she spent on the news desk and three in features as a chief reporter. She says the workplace environment has a substantial bearing on achieving gender parity in media houses. “I have watched colleagues whom I trained outstrip me and I know that often those who get promoted to a senior position have campaigned (given favors to management) for it. I believe my work should speak for itself,” she explains. Mangani says she has asked several times for a promotion, and each time has been told to wait.
Recently the South African NGO Genderlinks, which deals with gender issues in the region, conducted a survey in Zambia to establish whether media houses will achieve gender parity by 2015 – one of the SADC Millenium Development Goals. The study was carried out in nine Zambia media houses (Guardian Weekly, Monitor and Digest Newspaper, Zambia Daily Mail, Mobi Television International, Radio Phoenix, Yatsani Radio, Zambia News and Information Service, 5FM Radio and Multimedia National Mirror), with a total of 416 employees interviewed.
Released in Lusaka on September 22nd, the Glass Ceiling report found that the proportion of women in media houses in Zambia (33%) is lower that Southern Africa’s 41% average. Men were more likely to be employed on a full-time basis, while women dominated part-time positions at 70%. The study also showed that “women occupy 11% of top management posts, compared to 28% in the region.” Men far out numbered women in top management positions and on boards of directors, making up 89% of employees in top management and 77% in the region. Men dominated the departments related to printing (94%), designing (89%) and technology/IT (83%), while women fared better in finance and administration (49%), advertising and marketing (46%) and editorial (38%). In all departments, Zambia’s averages for female employees fell below regional averages.
Only two of the nine media houses surveyed achieved parity – Monitor and Digest Newspaper (59%) and Mobi TV International (53%). Zambia News and Information Services and Zambia Daily Mail fell within the bottom five, with 32% and 27% female representation, respectively, while Yatsani Radio (17%) and 5 FM (18%) came in last.
Not unlike the gender division in media found in most countries, the imbalance in Zambia’s reporting is still pronounced with a few exceptions – male journalists dominate all of the “hard beats” such as agriculture (100%) and investigative (80%), while women journalists predominately cover entertainment (63%) and lifestyle (60%).
And none of the surveyed media houses have strategies to fast-track women, though a third said gender was a consideration in promotion. The Southern region doesn’t fare much better – only 10% of media houses have such career-pathing strategies in place. Equally as troubling, less than a third of Zambian media houses have gender policies or sexual harassment policies. Though only 11% reported sexual harassment in the workplace, the good news is 78% expressed interest in developing a gender policy or improving an existing one.
Media Institute of Southern African chairperson Henry Kabwe says the cases highlighted in the study justify the reasons why the nation must keep emphasizing gender parity, not only in media but in other sectors of society as well.
“When we talk about gender issues, we are talking about balancing the platform opportunities for both women and men,” he explains.
Though Mr. Kabwe is happy to see that a number of media houses in Zambia acceded to the gender and HIV/AIDS workplace policies that were launched early this year, he says the battle is far from over.
“One of the key findings of this study is that while there are no comprehensive policies to advance women, there is a high level of commitment to gender equality in media houses. An equal percentage of men and women (37%) ranked management’s commitment to gender balance as good,” he says.
But commitment does not guarantee achievement. Calling on the media houses to implement the key strategic follow-ups recommended in the study, Mr. Kabwe is convinced that most media houses in Zambia are still far from achieving gender parity unless management changes its mindset on women journalists.
About the Author
Delphine Zulu is a Zambian journalist and has worked for The Times of Zambia newspaper for seven years. She also contributes to the online South African publication, Genderlinks.
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