Gender Mainstreaming in the Media

Abstract

Media sector, in Nepal, has been vibrant and it is flourishing across all media outlets with about 1,000 newspapers, 600 radio stations, about five dozen television channels and more than 2,200 online news portals currently in operation across the country. Despite such an impressive figure, the reluctance of media houses to spend on embracing the key dimensions of gender sensitivity including professional safety of women journalists at workplace has had a dropping effect on the entire sector. Women remain cut out of the key decision-making levels in media. Media houses do not have any comprehensive prevention, support, complaints, and redress system with regards to sexual harassment and bullying in the workplace. This chapter assesses the state of gender sensitivity in newsrooms of Nepal with reference to professional safety of women journalists. Observations indicate that media houses should give due priority to professional safety of women journalists.