Communication Policies and Gender in Argentina. 28 years after Beijing

Abstract

Introduction: In 1995, at the Fourth World Conference on Women, government representatives from all over the world agreed on the Beijing Platform for Action. The media appeared, for the first time, as one of the areas of special concern for achieving gender equality in the world.

Objective: To carry out a critical monitoring of the communication and gender policies developed by the Argentine State regarding the fulfillment of the strategic objectives set forth in Chapter J: women's participation in the labor structure of the media; and the eradication of sexist and stereotyped media content.

Method and technique: A documentary research with a qualitative approach was developed and the technique of content analysis was used. From this, especially for the elaboration of conclusions and recommendations, a methodology for the gender analysis of the legal phenomenon was used as a reference.

Results: Most of the policies promoted by the Argentine State comply with the second strategic objective of the Beijing Platform for Action. In the year 2021, a law on gender equity in the media was passed, which responds to the first strategic objective; however, it has not yet been regulated.

Conclusions: There are pending challenges in relation to possible reforms in the current legislation on violence against women; the tensions between regulation and freedom of expression; access to justice in cases of media violence; and the need to advance in the fulfillment of strategic objective one.