Pakistan recently held an election. Out of a population of more than 207 million people, there are 106 million registered voters, and about 44.1% of those are women.
Unfortunately, you'd never know that women participated in Pakistan's civil society, never mind in the democratic process. Taking a look at the sprawling coverage on global media giants such as Al Jazeerah, BBC, The New York Times, or The Guardian, and apart from the stray image of fully veiled women lining a sandy street, presumably on the way to the ballot box, women's voices and their participation in what is heralded as only the second democratic transition of power in 70 years - is largely absent. And that's an abhorrent mess.
In 2018, global media firms have an obligation to two unbelievably simple, yet consistently missed objectives: targeted reporting on issues of women's empowerment and gender equality, and mainstreaming gender throughout all aspects of their business and journalism at large: from workplace policies to visual representation of women in media coverage. It's not difficult. It's adhering to principles of basic human rights and equality. And yet, out of 207 million people in Pakistan, the global coverage reinforced the traditional stereotype of women absent from political life or influence in the country.
This matters more than you think. Sure, there are more women newscasters and writers, but coverage of national and global events remains, predominantly all male. Media giants can do a few key things to right these wrongs - and, yes, there are even some who have.
1. Stop making it a women's issue.
Yes, there are key issues that are predominantly women and girl's issues (sexual and gender-based violence, both in the developed and developing worlds - lest we forget, we've not solved that one, women's absence from spheres of decision-making and power, that seemingly unshatterable glass ceiling, sparse access to sexual and reproductive health and rights - including abortion and issues of access to abortion, the cost of sexual and gender-based violence on women's economic empowerment, unequal access to opportunities and resources, the undervaluing of women's work in the home and the burden of care, persisting lax laws on rape and sexual violence, structural discrimination and sexism, the gendered aspect of women in conflict zones ... you get it?). And by the way, the word issues is not the problem here - its the dominant violence, value systems and patriarchal structures that are of concern. But media giants can choose two approaches to reporting: they can conduct reporting as if women are a subset of humanity, second-class citizens, or they can report with the understanding that women have equal value, are holders of human rights and have particular needs and, thus, particular rights because of their sex.
Continuously minimizing and degrading this type of reporting reinforces the idea that women's issues are unimportant, and that men have no role to play nor do they benefit from women realizing their rights or having their needs addressed. This is lazy reporting. Global data sets reveal that the more equal societies are, the less likely conflict is to erupt. The more women participate in peacebuilding, the more sustainable peace will be. Countries with the most gender equal and empowering policies on rights, family leave and child care are also the ones with the highest levels of happiness and social cohesion. Media must begin reporting with the understanding that women's issues are issues that affect communities, economies, development, global systems.
2. If its broken, stop whining and fix it.
Yes, any change is difficult. But structural change from within should not only break down the old ways of doing, but build up the new. So it takes a little longer to find the women's organizations in Pakistan who can provide you with data on registered voters - find them. Establish relationships. So you're not acquainted with the Women's Commissions that can point out the key women's issues at stake in the elections or why registering women in particular regions has been difficult, or which feminist grassroots movements have had the most success - so what? Do the work. Factor in a few more days. Women are equal beings of value that participate in the political process, and this is especially true to represent in countries that devalue women. The democratic arena is not just reserved for men, no matter how conservative some parts of Pakistan and other countries might be.
3. Equal representation does not mean (exactly) what you think it means.
So you're Al Jazeera and you're congratulating yourself for having women in the pictures on your front cover. Equality achieved! Not so fast. Look at that picture. Who holds the power? Who has agency? What's your article about and who are the main voices? What about the rest of your coverage - is it consistent in representation? If women are being left out of the democratic process in Pakistan, then it is your job to cover, consistently, why this is the case and what is being done to combat it. This is not a side article, this is a predominant feature, because women are equal to men - and so their representation within coverage should be equal - even if they are not represented in the democratic process.
Too tricky to understand?
Sometimes to get to equality, we need measures of equity. Equity is basically understanding that we don't all begin from the same starting line and we don't all run the same race. Some of us have many obstacles ahead of us, and usually plenty of things holding us back. Others have clear paved roads. Equitable measures may mean that you need to do some extra work to give those left behind more voice, more representation, and thus, more coverage. Why? Because women are equal to men. And you should be representing them in an equal manner.
4. Finally, no, men don't have universal authority on truth
Hidden not so well behind the reporting not taking women's voices or experiences into consideration, or bunching women together into a nondescript buried on the last page 'women's issues' article is the idea that speaking to men is good enough, because men's voices and experiences apply to everyone. Their issues are the predominant ones. Theirs are the ones that matter.
This lazy coverage is getting boring. Just like I can no longer watch panels, movies or concerts that don't have women and non-white people in them, I'm done with reading reporting that pays homage to men doing men things as if men are the only ones who ever did anything. As Hannah Gadsby says, stop wasting my time.
If these global media giants are going to purport to be adhering to new policies on equality, to supporting international statutes on human rights, and lets admit it, even practice some basic common decency, then they better present, on one hand, some of the best reporting and coverage of crisis zones and political upheavals - and on the other hand they'd better also be demonstrating equality and gender mainstreaming in reporting.
Let me give you one incredible example, and an addendum. The National Geographic, in April 2018, published an entire issue devoted to race. They hired a preeminent historian to investigate their previous coverage and stated loudly and clearly that it had been racist, they understood it, and they were righting their wrongs. It was a searing admission of guilt, and a promise to do better. Instead of glossing over mistakes, they faced them, head on. It was breathtaking, groundbreaking. Of course lets see what is to come. But that's what I call moving in the right direction.
The New York Times is doing something similar. It has now devoted targeted reporting to gender, culture and race - with consistent reporting on women's issues, existing while black in America, and the killings of black people in the USA at the hands of the police. It has publicly recognized its own shortcomings when handling issues of sexual harassment and abuse of authority at the newspaper, and has increased representation of women and people of colour as reporters, in its podcast series and as voices throughout the stories. Among other new sections, there is one entitled Overlooked, my favourite, that states that since 1851, the NYTimes obituaries have been dominated by white men. But white men did not exist alone, nor participate in the world alone - and so the NYTimes is adding the stories of other remarkable people. It's a beautiful and much-needed section, that shows just how diverse our history's accomplishing people were.
For the rest of the media giants around, spouting responsible reporting, why don't you call bullshit and stop wasting everyone's time? It's tiring, because there are bigger problems to fight then holding companies accountable, continuously, every few months, when they consistently do the Same Very Bad Things. You know what those things are. Think Roger Ailes and the like.
But if they do recognize that investing in women and women in the labour force and women's social and economic empowerment and having women on boards and girls educated to the nines is actually the single way for countries to prosper and progress according to every single global data set in developed, developing and crisis countries, then invest. Invest in time. Invest in listening. Be open. You can read up, train yourself, hire training, set policies, keep monitoring, keep evaluating, keep learning - oh there's a whole portal of things you can do to ensure your reporting, your journalism, your work environments are aware that women exist. They have voices and experiences. They have rights. And we can exist in this world, together, respectfully and friendly(y).
And you know what, you can absolutely reach out to me, if you need a path to get there.
By the way - Pakistani women absolutely did vote. The UN and other feminist organizations have been organizing, over the past year, the registration of women throughout Pakistan to get out and vote. There have been campaigns and widespread advocacy efforts, from Lahore to KP. When the numbers do come in, invariably they will be less than men, and there are already accounts of women being prevented from voting, or having their voting cards denied.
Women's issues were also a large part of the election - mainly due to the increase in religious fundamentalist parties, and the way the top political parties courted them. This was of great concern to women's organizations, because they feared a backlash against new sexual harassment and rape laws that took years to obtain. It remains to be seen how the government of Imran Khan chooses to enact all the progress he's promised throughout his campaign.
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