discrimination within the media sector, for example when men’s stories are prioritised over
theirs, or when they face problems in the field because of being women, there are few
avenues for available for challenging and resolving these issues. Participants stated that
there are no gender-sensitive complaint mechanisms within media companies for women to
approach. As a result, women journalists often tolerate gender-based discrimination that
they witness or experience.
Women journalists are not represented in the media’s unions or associations. While there
are a number of women media workers within the institutions formed to represent the
interests of the media, they are very few in number (see Table 1). While they exist on paper,
in practice women within the trade unions and the Interim Press Council are almost never
publicly seen or heard, and it is unclear whether they take part in formal internal
meetings.131 None of the trade unions or Interim Press Council has a sub-committee
focused on women within the media sector. Participants were concerned that, without such
voices, the media’s representatives may focus on areas or subjects only of relevance to male
journalists. According to our research, none of the trade unions currently has any project
focused on gender.132
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ARTICLE 19 - Censored gender: Women’s right to freedom of expression and information in Myanmar - Page 41