Women's Media Watch Group - MEDİZ
We have established MEDİZ with the help of 23 women organizations in the year of 2003.
Our statement of establishment was:
All kinds of violence and discrimination faced by women after gender inequalities are the issue of all society, not only the issue of women. Hence media institutions and media members should treat the violation of women's human rights as a societial issue and behave responsible in order to prevent and stop violation of women's human rights either. However, apart from behaving responsible in order to prevent these kinds of violations, we bear witness to the media's own violation of these rights.
Media is implementing the violation of women's human rights in various ways. For example:
• With it's use of sexist news, language of presentation and visual material
• By displaying privateness/invading immunity of private life and restricting the freedom space of women,
• By exercising jurisdiction to individuals being subject to sexual crimes such as assault and violence using sexist judgements, interrogating the "morality" and "life style" of the individual being subjected to assault or violence, in other words by exercising jurisdiction not to the criminal or the crime but to the woman who receives the crime using sexist a-priori decisions,
• By making a magazine issue over women and the crimes against women, converting them into a rating/visual material fostering erotic and pornographic voyeurism...
• By not giving place to women in news and commentaries, ignoring women's existence in all spheres of life,
• By not operating its internal inspection and education mechanisms when the issue is violence and sexism against women,
• While addressing to different domains and issues related to women, by not buying the line of women and women organizations who are struggling in their domains for years and whom have an important information and esperience accumulation.
Media is harming to material, mental and emotional integrity of all women through the medium of increasing exposure, making a magazine issue, eroticizing and production of pornography. By these means, not only violates the media women's human rights but also affects the growth of crimes against women and reproduces the current sexist discourse. In conclusion, both women and all the society come to harm from these violations of rights.
Combining as women, women organizations and institutions; we have composed Media Watch Group (MEDİZ) in order to stop violation of rights and making of the crimes against women foster through the medium of media, and to give an end to this discrimination. As Media Watch Group, we are asking all media institutions, members and related units for behaving sensitive and responsible, and declaring that we will be following up the violations.
Statements of MEDİZ until today:
"Stop Haydar Dümen's Sexual Harassment and Provocation of Violence Ever!",
"To İsmet Berkan, Executive Editor of Radikal Newspaper",
"We are Asking To Hasan Pulur and Milliyet Newspaper:
"What Does ‘Becermek' Mean?",
"Serdar Turgut",
"Can't Be Women Genius, Men Beautiful?",
"To Akşam Newspaper, All Media Members and Related Professional Organizations",
"51 Women Deputies both at the Parliament and at the Media",
"How is Assault News Given?",
"Do Media Leave Giving Support to Violence?"
Lastly;
- Creating media where women do not receive violation of rights, exposure and gender discrimination,
- Preventing the representations of women around traditional roles such as victims, sexual objects, holy mothers, symbols of honour, and as a second sex dependent to men,
- Stopping the ignorance of women's existence in the arena of politics, economics and international relations which fall outside the magazine and 3rd page news,
- Prompting to represent women in media with their various skills, professions and sides in a balanced manner,
- Giving place to women in "head"s (administrationa) and "corner"s (column, commentaries) where men dominates nearly all,
- Composing media ethics which is not sexist by discussing with all the respondents,
Bearing these aims in mind, we are carrying on the Campaign of End to Sexism in Media! in order to play a changing/transforming role to stop sexism in media. Our campaign will start with Media Watch Analysis and "For Nonsexist Media" Conference.
- Media Watch Analysis; includes two weeks research which is going to watch violations of women's rights, discrimination and sexism forms in media by following television and radio channels, daily newspapers and web sites. We are going to share the results of the research in the conference and publish in our web site and in the book covering the conference content.
- International conference: "For Nonsexist Media": In our conference which is going to be held in Istanbul Bilgi University - Dolapdere Campus on the 3 - 4th of May; we will discuss how media can be non-sexist with media managers and workers, media watch groups and agents from feminist media, academicians, women journalists and women organizations.
- We will announce and continue to the campaign via the media also with the help of media insitutions.
We are aiming to come into action For Nonsexist Media with the campaign in which we are going to announce the results of the research about representation of women in different media examples, coming together with media institutions, workers and all media watchers/listeners/readers. Because media which is not sexist can be achieved only with contributions of all of us...
Women's Media Watch Group / MEDİZ (Adana Kadın Hukukçular İnisiyatifi, Amargi, Ankaralı Feministler, Avcılar Ev Eksenli Çalışan Kadınlar Kooperatifi, Avrupa Kadın Lobisi Türkiye Koordinasyonu (AKL-TK), Denizli Kadın Platformu, Feminist Kadın Çevresi, Filmmor Kadın Kooperatifi, İris Eşitlik Gözlem Grubu, İstanbul Kadın Hukukçular İnisiyatifi, İzmir Kadın Dayanışma Derneği, İzmir Kadın Hukukçular İnisiyatifi, KADAV - Yeni Adım Sitesi, KA-DER, Kadın Dayanışma Vakfı, Kadının İnsan Hakları - Yeni Çözümler Derneği Kadınlarla Dayanışma Vakfı, KAMER, Kırk Örük Kadına Yönelik Şiddetle Mücadele Kooperatifi, Mor Çatı, Pazartesi Dergisi, SOGEP, Van Kadın Derneği, Yaşam Kadın Çevre Kültür ve İşletme Kooperatifi )