The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has adopted a resolution aimed at enhancing gender equality in media and education across member states. This decision reflects a growing recognition of the need to address persistent gender stereotypes and promote equitable representation.
Ukrainian delegate to PACE, Yevheniya Kravchuk, who authored the resolution, announced the approval via social media. The resolution received support from 94 members, with 10 voting against it.
Key recommendations of the resolution include:
- Developing media literacy at all educational levels to help individuals recognize gender stereotypes, misinformation, hate speech, and manipulative content;
- Implementing nationwide information campaigns, particularly targeting youth;
- Ensuring sustainable funding, institutional support, and protection for organizations working on gender equality, women’s rights, media literacy, youth policy, and violence prevention;
- Demanding transparent policies and effective mechanisms from social media platforms to combat gender-based harassment, hate speech, deepfakes, and the algorithmic spread of misogynistic content;
- Promoting equal representation of women and men in news coverage, political and sports reporting, culture, advertising, and among media experts.
Kravchuk highlighted that the resolution incorporated feedback from the civil society organization “Women in Media” and the PACE Committee on Culture, Science, Education, and Media. Notably, the document addresses the risks associated with artificial intelligence, which can perpetuate and amplify gender stereotypes.
Additionally, the resolution includes recommendations for countering the illegal dissemination of digital impersonations and encourages the use of AI to promote equality and enhance the representation of women not only in media content but also in decision-making roles related to editorial and creative processes.
The recent resolution by PACE underscores the importance of addressing gender stereotypes in media and education. It outlines a series of actionable recommendations aimed at fostering gender equality across member states.