More Bahraini women need to get jobs in the media, according to a senior female rights advocate.

Supreme Council for Women (SCW) secretary-general Dr Hala Al Ansari added that would help change perceptions of women, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

However, she acknowledged that would need the support of men already working in the field.

"Today the media needs to do more to attract women to its workforce," she told the GDN. "They could benefit from those with capabilities and competence. Men make up the majority of media employees and they should be the main supporters of women joining the field."

Dr Al Ansari made her comments on the sidelines of a conference yesterday at the Kempinski Grand and Ixir Hotel.

The three-day Women's Portrayal in the Arab Media Forum is organised by the German Embassy in co-operation with the SCW and supported by the German Federal Foreign Office and the Deutsche Welle Academy.

It features journalists from around the GCC and discusses the status of women in the region's media.

"The idea is to correct the stereotype of Arab women, which has remained unchanged in the media," said Dr Al Ansari.

"This is despite many attempts to alter that image and to enable women to determine the direction of the media, rather than vice-versa. This is an ongoing problem that we hope the forum will be able to address and provide practical solutions."

She revealed the topic of the forum would form the basis of Bahrain Women's Day celebrations in December.

"The SCW finds that women's position in the media and their role in the development of the industry's topics is important," she added.

"For this reason, it has been decided by the SCW that media and the role of women in it will be the subject of Bahrain Women's Day in 2013 - which is celebrated by the kingdom in December each year."

Meanwhile, Deutsche Welle Academy representative Constanze Abratzky said women face the same problem all over the world in the news field.

"The aim of this forum is to enhance the role of women," she said. "As a first step we need to create a roadmap on the issue." – TradeArabia News Service