Africa

Negative Representation

• Cultural and historical factors like traditional gender roles and lack of education and training are responsible for the shortage of women in the mass media. • Women in the media in Uganda comprise only 20%. • In Kenya and Nigeria, 1 in 5 Editors-In-Chiefs are women. In South Africa, 40% of editors are women whereas in Kenya 13% of editors are women. • The allocation of roles and resources in newsrooms is often gendered, which impacts the ability of African women journalists to report on topics such as politics.

Positive Representation

• The 2022 Global Gender Gap Report indicates that sub-Saharan Africa has bridged 68.7% of its gender gap, the highest gender gap score in 16 years. Rwanda and Namibia have made significant improvement and are placed number one and two respectively in the region. • Most newspaper journalists in Namibia are female.

Recent Positive Changes

• Visibility Project – developed in partnership with Wikimedia Nigeria Foundation to increase the number of African women visible on Wikipedia, and the number of African women who are Wikimedia editors. • 300 African female journalists were trained, and 598 new profiles were created of African women.

Barriers To Change

• Cultural – diverse continent so it’s difficult to arrive at a position that everyone accepts. • Economic – significant gender gap in mobile ownership and internet access. Lack access to quality mainstream print media and rely on the limited sexist and corrupt television and radio for news and information needs. • Social – women face gender inequality in financial access and inclusion.

What More Needs To Be Done?

• Systematic action is required by governments, companies, communities, and individuals. • Invest in the education of girls and women. • Create economic opportunities. • Enforce policies and regulations. • Shape attitudes.

TV & Film Recommendations

• Love Or Something Like That – directed by Shirley Frimpong-Manso from Ghana. This film follows a surgeon as she makes a horrible discovery about her past, putting her career and marriage on the line. • Flower Girl – directed by Michelle Bello, a British-Nigerian filmmaker. A romantic comedy in which a shy florist teams up with a movie star to push her lifelong boyfriend into proposing marriage. • Suwi – directed by Musola Cathrine Kaseketi from Zambia. A young woman who is handicapped after an accident becomes attached to an AIDS orphan. • Frontier – directed by Apolline Traore from Burkina Faso. Four women from different regions develop friendships during a bus journey across West Africa.

Click on the posters below to learn more about these films and TV shows