Promoting Gender Equality within and through Radio

by Birgitte Jallov

#ShoutingBack: Using technology to #ShoutBack for gender equality is a wonderful initiative, and I am happy to share one more entry point here with you.

Starting with myself and my own history, as we used to do in the women’s movement of the 70s and 80s where I have my own #ShoutingBack roots, I here share with you my ‘World Radio Day’ address to the Nepali Women Broadcasters last year, 2014. The theme was ‘Promoting Gender Equality within and through Radio’, and my 10-minute talk shares stories of how the good-old technology of radio can be a mind-blowing tool for #ShoutingBack, when taken into the hands of ordinary people.

This effect becomes even more overwhelming when the hands belong to women, who have maybe never before considered being the agenda-setters; those who call authorities to account; promoting the actual legal rights of women; and throwing cheating, violent husbands’ behaviour back to them through a sound mirror – and all of this by the use of radio – by the use of audio-programmes.

Besides from elements of my own radio story of empowerment and change, in my talk I share elements of the stories of women using the radio for #ShoutingBack in Mozambique, Kenya, India and Lao PDR. And these stories represent women’s stories from many countries around the world, where I have met women and listened to their stories of change – often with many similarities of empowerment and change – using the radio.

Sit back and listen in. Radio can be really, really, powerful!

If you want more of these stories on an ongoing basis, please like EMPOWERHOUSE on Facebook and visit the EMPOWERHOUSE website.