Wesb1301
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The document summarizes a workshop on culturally sensitive, gender-responsive and human rights-based reporting on HIV/AIDS. The workshop covered analyzing current media coverage, defining key concepts, and recommendations. It found that media coverage can stigmatize or criminalize those living with HIV/AIDS. It emphasized understanding how culture, gender, and human rights impact transmission and treatment of HIV/AIDS to improve reporting.
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Wesb1301
- 1. 6 August 2008 from 2:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Venue: SBR3 XVII International AIDS Conference 3-8 August 2008 | Mexico City Skills Building Session Professional Media Coverage: Culture, Gender and Human Rights in HIV and AIDS Reporting
- 4. Perspectives on how the global media news reports on HIV and AIDS SESSION I
- 8. Placing Concepts: Culturally Appropriate, Gender Responsive and Human Rights-Based Reporting SESSION II
- 9. Different Definitions of Health Santé здоровье صحه Health Salud 健康
- 16. Why Culture Matters…? Need to supplement knowledge of the basic facts about the epidemic Challenge for journalists reporting on HIV and AIDS is to balance between Gender Human Rights Culture Education Politics Economics Law Health HIV and AIDS epidemic Culture
- 18. Gender - What do we mean? The term “ Gender ” is often confused with ‘ Sex ’: ‘ SEX’ The biological and physiological characteristics that define someone as a man or woman
- 30. Gender Human Rights Education Politics Economics Law Health HIV and AIDS epidemic Media Culture Media Where to go from here…?
Editor's Notes
- {First slide projected at the beginning of the workshop}
- First announcement : The workshop is being filmed by a conference film team. The sole purpose of filming skills building workshops is educational: session recordings will not be published anywhere and the recorded material will not be commercialized in any way. The material would only be used for closed screenings to small groups organized by the International AIDS Society (IAS) secretariat and UNESCO. As such, we would like to request the agreement of all attendees for the filming. Should anyone object, and please feel free to do so, the camera team will respectfully decline and leave the room. {Distribute Program Agenda, review objectives and agenda} - [Next slide]
- I want to stress that while we will begin with a media analysis, today is in no way intended to be a forum for confrontation. We are all here to share experiences and learn what we can do to improve our work and the collective response to the epidemic. This includes those of us here from the UN, as we have a lot to learn from each of you. And in fact, Mia Malan will lead a very rigorous session, discussing tensions between approaches, highlighting how some of our own UN recommendations can at times be unrealistic. Today is therefore an incredible opportunity to learn from you and we hope for all to learn from each other. And so while the media of course has it’s basic tenets of journalism, there is hopefully a spirit that we can always push ourselves farther and improve our work. This applies equally to the UN as well for civil society and all those interested in strengthening and improving the response to HIV and AIDS. On that note, I’d like to ask for a quick show of hands from folks, to help us get a sense of who is here today, and what sectors we have represented but please don’t feel obliged to do so if for any reason you prefer to remain anonymous. Media? Representation from affected community organizations? NGO? UN/Policy? Government? [Next slide]
- Introduce Session I [Next slide]
- Some of you may already be familiar with this report and the media analysis work of INTERNEWS and the Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+), together with International Council of AIDS Service Organization (ICASO), since the report was launched in 2006, and I believe, presented at the last International AIDS Conference in Toronto. We’re coming back to this report today in order to give a sense of where it is we are working from, as the report provides a bit of our foundation. And while the recommendations presented in the report can be responded to in a number of ways and means, the ideas we will discuss today reflect some of the key priority areas for UNESCO. The full report will be included in your packets, so for the time being, we will now briefly highlight just a few of the findings. [Next slide]
- Coverage: There has been a general unhappiness about the scope and character of HIV and AIDS coverage in the media. It is considered to be too marginalized, focusing too much on statistics and events like World AIDS Day, ignoring the complexity of issues surrounding HIV and AIDS. Language: The language used to report on HIV and AIDS is still perceived to be stigmatizing – portraying people living with HIV and AIDS as passive victims, or even criminalizing them. Conflict of interests: People living with HIV feel that the media’s goals and the goals of HIV activists oppose each other. While the latter seek to sustainably raise awareness about HIV and AIDS and to increase support for HIV-positive people, the media are perceived to be looking for stories of sensational and breaking-news character. [Next slide]
- Recommendations: 1 st and 2 nd Recommendations: The media should bring more investigative stories about social issues around HIV&AIDS, and also more stories about people living with HIV and AIDS to give the disease a face and a voice. 3 rd Recommendation: Portrayals of people living with HIV and AIDS should try to focus more on their positive living . They should show how HIV-positive people are often very proactive in their community and in the prevention of HIV&AIDS. 4 th Recommendation : Media organizations should employ journalists specialized in health issues to write about HIV&AIDS. Apart from training journalists, efforts should be made to sensitize editors to the importance of improved coverage. [Next slide]
- Introduce Session II [Next slide]
- At UNESCO we advocate for culturally appropriate approaches to HIV and AIDS, which for us means the development of policy and planning principles built on a thorough analysis of the cultural and social specificities of those communities concerned. However, within the context of the media, the focus changes a bit and instead to emphasis the need for understanding the relationship between culture and health and how many different definitions of health exist worldwide. This may seem obvious, but in fact culture is often overlooked within healthcare and there is instead an overreliance on bio-medical approaches to health issues, including HIV and AIDS. [Next slide]
- HIV and AIDS have traditionally been regarded as health issues requiring clinical and public health interventions which have tended to apply bio-medical approaches . This has resulted in an overreliance on bio-medical understandings of HIV and AIDS. This is the case in interventions responding to HIV and AIDS as well as reporting and media coverage addressing the epidemic. For example, the tendency of the media to rely heavily on statistics. This overlooks the diversity of ways in which health is regarded worldwide and how significantly social contexts influence the discussion, prevention and treatment of illness. [Next slide]
- Ask participants to give examples of each bullet – list on the flip chart Examples for your own reference include: First bullet) In some cultures, if someone is sick this is perceived to be the result of social disharmony, in other words it is thought that a person becomes sick because they may have broken some kind of social/community norm or rule. Second bullet ) Limited or no access to information is often cited as the reason why people will make bad health choices, but despite very wide spread health campaigns and information about the health risks of smoking in North America/Europe, smoking remained very popular due to peer pressure and because it was largely perceived as ‘cool’ (among other reasons). (Finally, a quick comment to explain how worldwide, in both the North and South, the relationship between culture and health is increasing. For example, providing culturally appropriate healthcare for Latinos has become a priority in many areas of the US. This point is important to mention, if time permits, in order to emphasize how culture and health have a relationship worldwide and not only in the ‘developing world’.) [Next slide]
- Text per bullet: First bullet : In some cultures, talking about sex either publically or even within the family is not permitted. Second bullet : In some cultures, it is difficult for women to make decisions about their own sexual and reproductive health (i.e. the decision to use a condom). Third bullet : In some cultures, people can often feel more responsibility towards their community/family than towards themselves and so this very much worked against many bio-medical approaches that emphasized personal and individual responsibility (i.e. campaigns emphasizing that individuals should "Protect yourself"). [Next slide]
- {Ask participants to give examples of how culture works positively – list on flip chart if possible} {Examples for your reference:} Using the cultural resources of a community/society for health education and communicate such as a community’s own artistic expressions (theater, music, etc.), presented in the languages people speak and in the cultural terms they can accept - journalists are often in the best position to do this when working locally or nationally. [Next slide]
- Obviously, accounting for every social and cultural factor impacting the epidemic is impossible. [Next slide]
- But building an awareness of these can make reporting more accurate, balanced and relevant for your audience. More accurate and balanced because you build a stronger and more comprehensive understanding of the epidemic by diversifying your sources of information. [Next slide]
- Therefore, the challenge for journalists reporting on HIV and AIDS is to strike a BALANCE between your knowledge of the basic facts of the epidemic with an understanding of the social and cultural factors at work. Not always easy and/or practical, but we would argue essential to the accuracy and quality of the coverage. [Next slide]
- What do we mean by Gender Responsive Reporting. Well for this approach there are two dimensions…. However, before describing these two elements, it is important to be clear and accurate about the term Gender and what it means. [Next slide]
- The term Gender is often confused with the term Sex which is different and refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define someone as a man or woman . ‘ Gender’ is also many times confused with the word ‘women’; which then often leads to the misinterpretation of ‘gender issues’ as ‘women’s issues’ but these are both incorrect. Gender is instead…. [Next slide]
- Gender is defined as the c ulturally constructed roles assigned to men and women influencing what behaviours, activities and attributes are acceptable for each sex. [Next slide]
- Gender inequality is currently both fuelling and intensifying the impact of the HIV epidemic. According to the latest (2007) WHO and UNAIDS global AIDS estimates, worldwide, approximately as many women as men are living with HIV and in sub-Saharan Africa, women constitute 61% of people living with HIV. While this trend is most notable in sub-Saharan Africa, it touches all regions: for example, in 2004 it is estimated that AIDS was the leading cause of death amongst African American women aged 25-34 years old. Gender inequalities as well as biological factors make women and girls especially vulnerable to HIV and to the impact of AIDS. (Statistics above from the WHO: http://www.who.int/gender/hiv_aids/en/index.html) [Next slide]
- Gender can influence… First Bullet : For example, in the case of access to information and education, gender norms often dictate that women and girls should not be informed about or discuss sex, in some cases they are encouraged to be passive about sex, all of which can leave them unable to negotiate safer sex or access to appropriate services. Second Bullet : Gender norms may also encourage men to have multiple sexual partners, to engage in risky sexual behaviours Third Bullet : Additionally, ideas of masculinity in some cultures can condone violence against women and/or MSM - men who have sex with men - both of which can increase HIV vulnerability These examples demonstrate how gender inequality is driving the epidemic which any journalist reporting on the epidemic should be familiar with. While this concerns the accuracy and quality of your content, there is also a second dimension or a flip side with gender that relates directly to your own working processes of information gathering and story composition. [Next slide]
- Everyone has personal, opinions, biases and stereotypes that can easily influence a person's work. Gender biases and prejudices within reporting and amongst media practitioners seriously jeopardizes the production of quality coverage by reducing the accuracy of reporting. [Next slide]
- Introducing a gender perspective into the media is important because it helps journalists and editors to understand how: Attitudes, Prejudices, Biases, and Socialization come out within reporting. Gender mainstreaming within the media industry itself is also crucial. For instance according to surveys by the International Federation of Journalists ( IFJ), 2001 and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), 2006, the status of women journalists all over the world is not satisfactory (quoted from Mechthild Masker, DJV for the International Federation of Journalists, April 2008). 38 % (Europe 47%) women journalists, but only 17 % (Europe 39%) in governing bodies 40% (Europe 50%) unions have a women committee or equality council Only 5 unions have adopted any kind of quota system into their union governing bodies Women in leadership positions are strongly represented in Iceland (60%) – however there are none in Greece and South Africa. In Germany, 48.000 full time journalists in German Media, 37% are female (1978: 20%) and only 22% are in decision-making positions and only 5 chief editors are female. In middle management 29% are female. [Next slide]
- In brief, the two gender dimensions within HIV and AIDS reporting described, outline how: 1) Gaining an understanding of how gender is impacting the epidemic is a necessary basis for reporting on the epidemic. 2) Adding a gender perspective to the reporting process improves the objectivity/balance, accuracy and quality of your reporting. Some examples of integrating this into your work process include asking: Who gets covered? From what perspective? What stereotypes are communicated? Does the coverage reveal gender inequality that reinforces or upholds traditional values and attitudes that diminish one’s rights? [Next slide]
- Human rights consist of : civil and political rights, and economic, social and cultural rights. Human rights express recognition and respect for human dignity: they are universal and belong equally to all human beings. [Next slide]
- Why should HIV and AIDS be given special consideration? What is different about HIV and AIDS is that they impact not only the physical health of individuals, but also their social identity and condition. The levels of stigma and discrimination surrounding HIV and AIDS are also extremely high. [Next slide]
- It also appears that the spread of HIV and AIDS is disproportionately high among groups that already experience a lack of human rights protection, social and economic discrimination, and/or are marginalized by their legal status. Quick Exercise: Before displaying next slide ask participants how an absence of human rights might impact the lives of those affected by HIV? List quickly on flip chart before moving on. [Next slide]
- When Human Rights are denied: Inadequate information can flourish. Medicines to protect the right to life and the right to health can be difficult to access and afford. Discrimination and denial of the right to employment is more likely to occur. There is often a loss of privacy, confidentiality and dignity. Increased likelihood that people will NOT seek counseling, testing, treatment and support. [Next slide]
- Hold this slide for the remainder of the workshop.