Gender bias still exists in the workplace

On October 18, the "Gender and the Press" seminar took place at the United Nations Building. This event was organized on the occasion of the anniversary of the Vietnam Women's Union by the G4 group - the embassies of Canada, Norway, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in collaboration with the Women Journalists Club of the Vietnam Journalists Association.

The event aims to create a space for journalists and experts to share their knowledge, experiences and perspectives on gender and journalism.

At the discussion, journalist Tran Hoang Lan – Capital Women Newspaper talked about the difficulties faced by journalists in their work. Accordingly, the press is still subject to many prejudices from society.

For example, many localities, agencies and organizations still have the prejudice that women's newspapers are only interested in issues such as "fish, vegetable leaves", "mother-in-law-daughter-in-law relationships"... Gender prejudice has hindered the scope of activities and topics of reporters.

Many events organized by the press still have a majority of female participants, with few men attending, leading to the reality that "women talk to each other about their own problems".

Articles in the press have not yet achieved the effectiveness and scope of propaganda to men while they are an important force in implementing gender equality.

Female reporters, when participating in many cases, are also in danger and threatened by perpetrators of violence and abuse. When working on cases directly related to gender such as violence and abuse against women and children. Many victims refuse to report, cooperate or hide evidence from perpetrators (family members) due to psychological barriers or lack of legal knowledge.

Include women's voices and perspectives in your writing

Based on the story of journalist Tran Hoang Lan's contact with victims of violence and abuse, MSc. Tran Le Thuy - Director of the Center for Media and Development Initiatives MDI said that journalists need to understand victims and know how to approach and interview victims of gender-based violence.

At the discussion, Associate Professor Dr. Minelle Mahtani - Institute for Social Justice, University of British Colombia made recommendations when working with journalists through online platforms. Accordingly, writers need to be more careful in approaching victims of gender-based violence.

According to Ms. Mahtani, the image of women is not emphasized in the news today, they are still rarely mentioned or misrepresented. Therefore, as journalists, as a voice for those who have no voice in society, it is necessary to have deeper knowledge about gender in order to be able to accurately inform the public.

When it comes to female victims, their privacy and safety must be ensured. Women must be represented in each story, and their voices and perspectives must be included. In particular, journalists should not have a narrow-minded, gender-biased view when reporting information.

At the same time, it is necessary to consider and be careful in using images and words towards the victim. Especially with the pronouns, because it shows respect and understanding of the other person.

When dealing with victims, journalists need to foster confidence and trust so that they feel comfortable telling their story. No one wants to share negative, violent stories that have happened to them unless they feel they can trust the other person enough.

Sharing the same view with Ms. Mahtani, Ms. Tredene Dobson - Ambassador of New Zealand said that there should be training and awareness raising for journalists when they report on victims. At the same time, there should be more press agencies as well as groups promoting rights and eliminating gender-based violence .

Thu Huong