Reversal of W is M; Stop Violence on Women: IAA Seminar on Gender Sensitization

When India wakes up to a brutal crime on one Monday morning it goes berserk crying for legislation, blaming the media, television and the film industry and so on and so forth as the reason that propagates crime. There are regular debates, protests and people turn out in large number to express their solidarity. But to what effect, the question remains. For India will go back to the same old days of redundancy as the press finds a better more pressing issue to cover and people will find their mundane life calling them back home and to office. In times like these the need of the hour is not empty talks and useless protests but meaningful action. Keeping this ideology in mind Indian Advertising Agency (IAA) organized a one day sensitization seminar Vow on 16th February, 2013 which was a one of its kind initiative to stop violence on women. An initiative that saw the coming together of advertising heads, advocacy groups and film and television personalities not to engage in frivolous conversation but to bring about a meaningful act by sensitizing the industry towards the violence on women.

The event saw the participation of eminent people like Ms. Anuja Gulati, State Programme Officer of UNFPA India, Dr A.LSharda, Programme Director Laadli, Prof Anjali Monteiro, Prof & Dean School of Media and Cultural Studies, TISS. The occasion was also graced by the presence of Ms.Geeta Ro, Creative Director, Geeta’s List, Ms. Sangeetha Narsimhan, Executive Creative Director, R K Swamy BBDO Pvt. Ltd. Ms Tista Sen, National Creative Director, JWT, Mr Rajat Ray, Sr. Advocacy & Communication Officer, UNFPA India, Mr. Sonal Dabral, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, DDB Mudra, Mr Josy Paul, Chairman & National Creative Director, BBDO India. Mr. K V Sridhar, National Creative Director Leo Burnett, Mr. Abhijit Avasthi, Executive Creative Director Ogilvy India, Dr Nandita Gandhi, Co-director Akshara, Dr Nandita Shah, Co-director Akshara were also present to share their valuable thoughts on the issue.

Mandira Bedi, Mr Ajay Balwantkar, Head of Programming, Zee, Ms Rupal Tyagi ( of Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke fame), Dr Shyam Benegal, Film Director, Ms. Zoya Akhtar, Film Director were also there to discuss the impact of tv and cinema on society.

Speaking on the issue every veteran in the industry agreed that a lot needs to be desired on part of the industry professionals to bring about a sensitization in their content for it reaches out to a large audience. Sangeetha Narasimhan, Executive Creative Director, R K SWAMY BBDO, said, “Content in media and advertising does have an impact on people’s view on women. So content creators need to deal with the subject of women at all times with affection in the heart and put aside lust. Only then will we begin seeing some degree of positive movement in attitudes to women.” She prescribed a list of do’s and don’ts and urged the media and advertising professionals to stop being coconuts, white from inside and brown from outside.

Geeta Rao, Creative Director, Geeta’s List, said, “Communication is critical and gender sensitization is imperative in advertising. Sensitisation does not mean sanitization, sensitization does not mean glorification, we have to find ways to break stereotypes in an engaging way.” Every one present decided to take a vow by the end of the seminar to bring about a change in their own individual manner and behavior to address the issue on a larger scale by putting it to action in their professional lives.

IAA’s effort to sensitize and bring about a change did pay off and this was evident through the seminar’s success. Srinivasan Swamy, President IAA, said, “We are delighted to have been able to bring together people from television, feature film and advertising. The people who are content creators hopefully have been sensitized in the way they think about portraying women in various forms of content. I do believe the seminar went well.

As Mr Dobral said Vow is a wonderful initiative so here’s hoping for more such events in the future which will initiate more concrete steps from the professionals to mark a change and not just a Vow.