Media urged to respect dignity of women and men

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100127/local/media-urged-to-respect-dignity-of-women-and-men

The National Council of Women has strongly deplored the publication and subsequent "sensational" media follow-up items on a students' newsletter "that depicts men and women in a degrading and offensive manner, under the pretext of 'fiction' or 'literary' work".
Without going into the legal provisions regarding such publications, NCW has urged the government, media outlets and the relevant authorities responsible for media publications, including print and audiovisual media, to ensure "by appropriate means" that respect for human dignity and the integrity of the person, in particular women, are guaranteed and that these are neither directly nor indirectly discriminatory nor contain any sexist insults or degrading images of women and men.
It also expects that publications do not contain material which, judged in its context, sanctions, promotes or glamorises all forms of violence, including sexist violence against women.
Action should be taken against sexist insults or degrading images of women and men in all publications, the MCW said.
It called for rules or codes of ethics where these are missing and to provide sanctions for lack of compliance with such rules.
Finally, the NCW said efforts to combat gender stereotypes in all forms of media should be accompanied by educational strategies and measures to cultivate awareness from an early age and to develop critical faculties from adolescence onwards.