成人快手

Why media matters

The fight for gender equality unfolds daily - in villages and cities, boardrooms and kitchens, through quiet defiance and collective action. Yet, despite progress, women and girls often remain unheard, unseen, and underestimated. This marginalisation is not only imposed externally; it is also internalised, as societal norms and conditioning lead many women and girls to undervalue their own voices and potential.

Media, when harnessed creatively and sensitively, can help to rewrite this narrative - clarifying rights, igniting discussion, and addressing norms that sustain inequality. It provides not just visibility but possibility. A girl hearing her struggles echoed in a radio drama, a father rethinking his daughter鈥檚 future after a radio debate, a community shifting its stance on gender roles as they engage in television discussion shows 鈥� media has the power to both reflect the world and help to reshape it.

Our approach

Striving for gender equality benefits everyone. Empowered women and girls lead to healthier societies, stronger economies, and expanded opportunities for all. Equality is about lifting everyone, including men and boys, from restrictive gender norms. We acknowledge that shifting harmful gender norms involves challenging deep-seated beliefs, laws, policies, and practices, which can be met with resistance. This necessitates collaboration with multiple partners, allies, and institutions over extended periods, with media serving as a catalyst for change.

Our goal is a world where people of all genders, abilities, and backgrounds define their own paths. We strive for a more equal world through:

• Balanced, meaningful representation in media content and organisations, ensuring women鈥檚 and men鈥檚 voices are heard and valued and supporting media outlets to combat barriers to women鈥檚 full participation behind, and in front of, the camera and microphone.
• Strengthening gender-responsive media by training practitioners to create content that challenges harmful stereotypes and promotes inclusivity.
• Designing gender-transformative media content that supports access to health, education, and leadership opportunities while addressing societal pressures that limit men鈥檚 participation in care work and emotional labour, and impact their social connections and mental well-being. Our work also explores how cycles of violence, rigid masculinity, and social conditioning drive male violence and harmful behaviours. Through storytelling, information-sharing, and dialogue, we address norms and promote positive role models.
• Supporting media to hold decision-makers and leaders accountable on issues that disproportionately impact women, girls and marginalised groups. We ensure their concerns and lived experiences shape conversations on policy, social justice, and peace.
• Tackling information disorder which can reinforce discriminatory gender stereotypes, undermine the participation of women and marginalised communities in public life, and fuel on and offline harassment. We ensure access to accurate, trusted, and engaging media, digital literacy programmes and media training to help audiences recognise and resist false narratives. We also work to close the digital divide, ensuring women and marginalised groups can safely and skilfully engage in the information and communication ecosystem. 

 Our impact

Tackling barriers to access education and opportunities

In South Sudan, our long-running 鈥�Our School鈥� intervention (2012-2024) used radio and community mobilisation to champion girls鈥� education, reaching 46% of the population in 2024. Regular listeners were more likely to discuss education with their daughters and take action to support schooling than non-listeners.

In Sierra Leone, 31% of the population listened to the radio programmes under our 鈥�Every Adolescent Girl Empowered and Resilient鈥� project (2019-2023). Regular listeners were more likely to report enrolling their girl in school and take steps to support their girl鈥檚 education. In India, our 鈥�AdhaFULL鈥� multi-platform project (2015-2018) challenged harmful, gendered expectations around themes such as health and education. Results from a small randomised controlled trial found that young men who watched AdhaFULL were significantly more likely to reject traditional gender norms than those who watched a similar drama.

Shifting attitudes towards work and care

Our 鈥�Making Waves鈥� (2018-2022) radio programme in Somalia reached 24% of the adult population and helped women gain financial literacy and confidence to start businesses. Husbands, fathers, and influential men also reported that the programme had encouraged them to feel more confident in women鈥檚 ability to succeed in business and this had encouraged some to actively support their wives and mothers.

Supporting women to play leadership roles

In Ukraine, we supported the development of short films released in 2023 which showcased women and the LGBTQI+ communities鈥� leadership during wartime, challenging stereotypes and encouraging greater inclusivity.

In South Sudan, our long-running 鈥�Life in Lulu鈥� drama (2013鈥�2025) reached 38% of the adult population and highly engaged listeners of both genders were more likely than non-listeners to say that it is very important to involve adult women in resolving disputes.

A father of four children in Malakal, South Sudan, told our researchers: 鈥淎fter I listened to the Life in Lulu programme, I learned that forgiveness and the involvement of women in decision-making is very important. And for that matter, I decided to involve my wife in any decision that I take in the family. We have been discussing family matters and taking decisions together since March up to now, for instance, sending children to school and other family matters. My wife is so happy with me she does not quarrel with me any longer."

In Afghanistan, we鈥檝e supported female journalists for two decades, beginning with Women鈥檚 Hour - a program that provided a rare platform for women鈥檚 voices. Despite the Taliban takeover in 2021, we continue to support women-led radio stations, ensuring female voices remain on air. Men exposed to content produced under our 鈥�Her Voice, Her Rights鈥� project (2017-2020) 鈥� which supported women鈥檚 participation in decision-making at all levels of society - were more likely to support women鈥檚 economic participation (75% compared to 59% pre-exposure).

Safety and freedom from violence

In Zambia, locally developed radio programmes produced under our 鈥�Natwampane鈥� project (2019-2023) reached 84% of target communities through radio and local engagement. Regular listeners were significantly less likely to justify domestic violence and were more likely to report early marriage and abuse.

Dennis, a young man in Luapula province who was violent toward his wife and drank excessively, joined monthly discussions on Natwampane, where stories of marital life and alcohol abuse inspired him to quit drinking鈥攃hanges he, his wife and friends credited to the show.

鈥淭he issues we faced in marriage were resolved after I joined a listening group and I started listening to what we were taught by Natwampane on how a person should be and how he/she can stop sexual and gender-based violence in the community. There was a time when we were talking about alcohol and substance abuse, so that鈥檚 where I realised that I do not treat my wife well when I abuse alcohol,鈥� he told researchers. 

Holding leaders accountable for women and girls' rights

Our Tikambe (Let鈥檚 Talk) programme (2014-2024) in Zambia held schools in Luswepo accountable for refusing to readmit girls who had given birth, and exposed gender-based violence in Gwembe, leading to the arrest and trial of the perpetrator.

What works - lessons from our research

• Context-driven, research-informed approaches are essential: Understanding gender dynamics and drivers and barriers for a behaviour ensures interventions are relevant and culturally sensitive and guards against backlash.
• Multi-platform engagement enhances impact: Combining local discussions with high-reach media is particularly effective. Diverse formats sustain discussions and reach different audiences. Dramas address sensitive topics and help audiences empathise .
• Local partnerships strengthen trust and reach: Collaborating with local media organizations and civil society enhances content relevance, amplifies diverse voices and ensures the sustainability of the work.
• Long-term engagement is needed for lasting change: Transforming deeply rooted gender norms requires sustained media and communication interventions.
• Influencers and gatekeepers must be targeted: It is important to understand and engage religious and local leaders, family members and peers, men and boys to shift attitudes for a more supportive society.
• A multi-level approach fosters systemic change: Targeting individuals, families, communities and institutions creates an enabling environment.

Join us in shifting the narrative

Since 1999, 成人快手 Media Action has supported media to drive greater gender equality, reaching over 100 million people annually. With gender equality and inclusion at its core, our 2024-2027 strategy strengthens efforts to combat misinformation, support democratic participation, and promote social cohesion - ensuring media not only informs but helps to transform communities.

A more equal world benefits us all. Media is not passive鈥攊t shapes how societies see themselves and how they understand their world. Change happens not just in the telling, but in who is empowered to tell.

At scale, media has the power to shift attitudes at every level 鈥� individual, household, community 鈥� to foster collective visions of what鈥檚 possible, helpaddress social norms and support stronger societies. Let鈥檚 change the story together.

This article was authored by Becky Palmstrom and Storm Lawrence, senior advisors on gender; Nishant Kumar, project director, gender; Kaushiki Ghose, deputy project director and research lead, gender; Libby Burgess, senior partnerships manager, and Sonia Whitehead, head of research at 成人快手 Media Action.

We're grateful to the donors who have funded these projects, including Unicef, FCDO, Global Affairs Canada, Norad, the European Union, USAID, the Gates Foundation and others.

成人快手 Media Action joins partners in an event, Shifting the Story, at UN Women's 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, hosted at 成人快手 Studios on Friday 14 March.